Day 4 - The Catholic Police Guild Pilgrimage To Rome 2025

Thursday 16 October

Ss Margaret Mary Alacoque, Hedwig and Richard Gwyn

Following on from previous day : the small matter of meeting His Holiness The Pope and afternoon tea in the UK Ambassadors residence, we resumed our pilgrimage and met once again at Piazza Pia for what was our last full day in The Eternal City.

This particular location is at the end of the Via della Concilliazione, the long road that leads away from St Peters Basilica and it is also the starting point for Holy Year pilgrims who, in their respective groups collect one of the crosses which is then used to lead the group towards St Peters and allows the stewards positioned along the way to clear a path for you.

We made our way towards St Peters with prayers and readings which were said by various members of our group and we all took responsibility at some point to carry the cross.

We then entered the magnificent setting of St Peters Basilica through the Holy Door as we had done in all the Papal Basilicas we had visited prior to this. Those reading this who have been before will know that the first time one enters St Peters you are simply blown away by its size and beauty. The Basilica was, to say the least, crowded but thanks to the Holy Year stewards we were able to make our way relatively easy through the throngs and had a final prayer and blessing in front of the High Altar and near to the tomb of St Peter.

We then had some free time to explore this most magnificent of Basilicas before making our way out to the steps where, some twenty four hours earlier, we had been presented to Pope Leo and took in the view once more of St Peters Square.

We then walked through another warm October day through Rome to The Venerable English College for our last Mass of our pilgrimage.

In his homily, our Chaplain Fr Barry Lomax reminded us that over the preceding days we had experienced the Church in its fulness, not only in our prayers and devotion but through the grandeur of basilicas, sacred art and architecture and also through those grace filled moments of eating, laughing and praying together. The goal of the pilgrimage was to offer an experience of Gods mercy and love and to be reenergised in our faith, for as the psalmist reminded us in the Mass we were celebrating "with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plentiful redemption".

Following Mass, we experienced once more the Rome Metro making our way to our final Papal Basilica, San Paolo Fuori Le Muro (St Paul Outside The Walls). One of the oldest church sites in Rome it is the burial place of St Paul.

It was here that, exactly seven days after our visit, that HM King Charles III visited during his state visit to The Vatican entering through the Holy Door. During an ecumenical service, The King received the title of Royal Confrater and then took his seat in the newly constructed throne bearing the royal coat of arms and the Latin inscription "Ut Unum Sint" - "That they may be one". The royal stall will be placed in the apse of the basilica, for future use by the King and his successors.

After our return journey on the Metro, we paid once more visit to see St Peters Square and the Basilica before eating out as a group on our last evening the the beautiful city of Rome.

Thanks go to my fellow pilgrims for being part of a truly memorable journey, one which I know we will all never forget, Chris C for getting the ball rolling and sorting out our itinerary, Maurice G for his contacts within the Vatican which allowed us our meeting with The Holy Father and Fr Barry Lomax for leading us spiritually on our pilgrimage.