Preparations for the next Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes are well under way. The dates for the 2008 pilgrimage are 23rd – 30th May. This will be a special year as it is the 150th Anniversary since Our Lady first appeared to Bernadette.

To be cared for by the medical and nursing team on the pilgrimage you must be a Registered Sick Pilgrim. (Or VIP as we like to say). Anyone who is not registered sick who becomes unwell in Lourdes would usually seek help via their tour operator who will arrange for them to be seen by a local French Doctor. This allows the pilgrimage doctors to give all their attention to the VIP’s in their care.

Mike Boyes, Executive Director of the Middlesbrough Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes, writes

The Organising Committee for the Middlesbrough Annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes has recently met and discussed tenders from three companies for the 2007 Pilgrimage. As a result of a full investigation of the submitted tenders and having considered all grounds especially the question of cost, the Committee has appointed Tangney Tours to be the agent for the Pilgrimage for both the 2007 and 2008 Pilgrimages. The latter Pilgrimage is, of course, the 150th anniversary of the apparitions in Lourdes to St Bernadette in 1858.

The Committee wish to record their sincere thanks to Bowen Travel Limited who have been our agents for the past three years. The Committee confirm that they have sought to obtain the best value whilst, at the same time, enabling our sick pilgrims to travel with an adequate number of helpers from Durham and Tees Valley Airport. Needless to say it is to be hoped that as many pilgrims will book for the 2007 and, indeed, the 2008 Pilgrimages and support the Diocesan Pilgrimage. The number of sick pilgrims that we can take to Lourdes is directly referable to the number of helpers who are able to join the Pilgrimage on the main flight from Durham and Tees Valley Airport.