- 25-31 July (by air)
- 24 July-1 August (by coach/Jumbulance)
Our pilgrimage to Lourdes is one of the most significant pastoral events in our annual Diocesan calendar. Pope Francis has declared 2025 is a Jubilee year, the Lourdes theme is ‘With Mary, Pilgrims of Hope’. We are invited to set out on our pilgrimage journey with our Lady and St Bernadette, in the ‘hope born of grace, which enables us to live in Christ and to overcome sin, fear and death.’ (Pope Francis, Spes non Confundit 2025}
Lourdes is a place of renewal, a place where our relationship with Christ is deepened. Unlike tourists, visiting a popular attraction, we are pilgrims, making the journey together and staying together, entering a space in which we can be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in ways that, perhaps, we would never have thought possible before.
A priority for our pilgrimage is that we support the sick and vulnerable to travel and experience Lourdes alongside us, for this purpose we need others to volunteer their time and skills every day in Lourdes. Because of this, the allocation of transport and accommodation puts the assisted pilgrims and their supporters as a priority.
Travel is inevitably a challenge when planning a pilgrimage. The flights and coach bookings that are available to us will vary in time and location. Our first Mass, with the opening ceremony, is held on Saturday to ensure all are all together in our first celebration of Mass in Lourdes. We look forward to welcoming you,
The Lourdes Pilgrimage Office Team
Please read the following guidance notes before completing an application for each individual applicant.
Types of Pilgrim and UK Preparation Dates
When in Lourdes, all pilgrims offer our service to the Pilgrimage in one of these seven roles:
- Pilgrim (adult independent pilgrim; includes families with young children)
- Assisted Pilgrim
- Redshirt (School Years 10 & 11)
- Purpleshirt (School Year 12)
- Helper (aged 18-75)
- Doctor or Nurse & other healthcare professional
- Clergy & Religious
Click here for more information about each kind of pilgrim, to help you decide which role might be right for you.
Pilgrimage Preparation Events
Saturday 26 April & Saturday 14 June (10am-4pm): Redshirts
(Parents and carers are asked to attend the start of the day). These days are the Redshirts’ opportunity to meet each other and their leadership teams and learn what the Pilgrimage, and their role in it, are about, and then to begin to work in their small groups. Click for details: Day 1 - 26 April, and Day 2 – 14 June
Sunday 29 June (10am-4pm) - New Pilgrims’ Day - for Pilgrims and Assisted Pilgrim
An opportunity to discover what going on the diocesan pilgrimage is all about with opportunities to ask questions and prepare for our week in Lourdes. The day will include times of reflection and prayer with an introduction to this year's theme “With Mary, Pilgrims of Hope”. Click here for details.
Sunday 29 June (10am-4pm): Mandatory New Helpers’ Day
An important day for all first time Helpers, Clinicians, Assistant Chaplains and Purpleshirts. The information provided on this day is an essential part of the preparation of hospitalité, introducing the spiritual journey you will undertake through your service to others, your role, key practicalities of the pilgrimage, practice and guidance on using wheelchairs for your safety and the safety of the pilgrims you are helping. Please let us know if you are unable to attend as this may mean that you will not be able to help in Lourdes. Click here for details.
Sunday 20 July (9.30am-5pm): Mandatory Briefing Day - for Helpers, Purpleshirts, Nurses, Doctors and Assistant Chaplains
The purpose of the day is to meet your Lourdes hotel group and to receive important information and guidance to support your role in Lourdes; uniforms (if required) will be available for collection. Please let us know if you are unable to attend as this may mean that you will not be able to help in Lourdes. Click here for details.
In addition to the face-to-face preparation days, helpers, clinicians and those in other relevant roles will be required to undertake online training prepared by the British Lourdes Medical Association. Details on how to access this training will be sent by email.
Clothing & Uniforms
Our Helpers, Redshirts and Purpleshirts wear a uniform in Lourdes:
- Click for Helper Uniform Guide
- Click for Redshirt & Purpleshirt Dress Code
All pilgrims are asked to dress and behave respectfully within the Sanctuary at all times. Please make sure that shoulders and midriffs are covered, and that shorts and skirts are at least knee-length.
Finance
Full details of the costs for every type of pilgrim are on the next page. Thanks to donations from many of our supporters the pilgrimage is able to offer a number of subsidised rates for those on low or restricted income. Other funding options include parish support or local fundraising events, the Knights of St Columba and St Vincent de Paul Society and, for Catholics aged 16-25, the National Catenian Lourdes Award.
If, having explored the options above, you still need financial help to make your pilgrimage please contact the Pilgrimage Office. We have a small fund that may be able to assist young people, clinicians, chaplains and Assisted Pilgrims.
The final balance of your invoice must be paid by 31 May 2025 unless a monthly payment plan has been agreed with the office and is up to date. Click here for a sample payment plan.
Our ability to maintain reduced and subsidised prices comes from the kind donations of others and your donations are always needed. We do ask you to consider making a donation at the end of the application, if you are able to do so.
Passports & Visas
Please make sure you have a valid travel document (a passport or similar) to enter France. Pilgrims will be denied entry to France if they do not have a valid travel document - or try to use a passport that has been reported lost or stolen.
Your passport must be:
- Issued after 24 July 2015
- Valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the 'expiry date')
Please visit the Foreign Office travel advice page for France to check whether you need to renew your passport before travelling to the EU.
Non UK/EU citizens should check with their embassy and the French embassy about what travel documents they need. It is your responsibility to ensure you have valid travel documents. If you require a visa to travel to France, the pilgrimage office can provide you with confirmation of travel, accommodation, and insurance confirmations upon request.
To check if you need a visa please check via the French government visas website.
Insurance
All UK-based pilgrims are automatically included in group travel insurance. It covers individuals up to the age of 95 at the time of travel, as well as a multitude of pre-existing health conditions. Pilgrims with pre-existing health conditions will need verbal confirmation that they are not travelling against their medical practitioners’ advice and have this recorded in their medical records as evidence, should they be required to make a claim.
The pilgrimage insurance policy is provided to you as part of your pilgrimage booking on a non-advised basis. It is your responsibility to review the insurance, paying particular attention to the terms, conditions and exclusions, and decide if it fits your needs. If it does not meet your requirements you will need to secure your own personal insurance. Our policy will be shared to you when payment is made for your booking.
Please also check the value limits of personal items and equipment (i.e. wheelchairs, laptops, musical instruments) against the policy as you may need to take out additional insurance for higher value personal items.
Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC)
All pilgrims must have a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) which allows individuals to access the reciprocal health agreement between the United Kingdom and France.
A GHIC must be obtained to validate your travel insurance.
The GHIC provides free or reduced cost medical treatment in French medical centres and hospitals in the case of an accident or unexpected health problems. A GHIC can be obtained free of charge, click here to apply via the NHS website.
Click the button below to apply to join the 2025 Diocese of Arundel & Brighton Lourdes Pilgrimage:
