St Philomena’s Way part of project for pilgrimage routes in all 22 dioceses of England and Wales  

The Diocese of Shrewsbury is promoting a new pilgrimage route called St Philomena’s Way as part of a national project to establish walking pilgrimage routes in each of the 22 Catholic dioceses of England and Wales.

The Pilgrim Ways: Hearts in Search of God project aims to provide a pilgrimage route in each of the dioceses, one which starts at the cathedral of the relevant diocese and then ends at a shrine within the same diocese.

The project organisers have been walking and reccing the routes during 2023 and will continue to do so during 2024. Once the routes have been established, further walking guidance and spiritual resources will be provided to enhance the journey, notes the project website.

Saint Philomena was a fourth-century 13-year-old virgin martyr whose remains were discovered in 1802 in the Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome, Italy. She is the patron saint of infants, babies and youth.

St Philomena’s Way heads northward out of Shrewsbury before roughly paralleling the border with Wales, to the west, as the route continues north to pilgrimage’s end on the English coast.

Having left Shrewsbury city centre, the Way passes Shrewsbury Abbey and then follows the north bank of the River Severn out of Shrewsbury to reach the remains of Haughmond Abbey.

The route then follows the Shropshire Way to Wen and the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. Continuing on to Hollingwood, the route then heads north across farmland to reach the Church of St George, Whitchurch.

From Whitchurch the Way follows a north-west direction along the beautiful Sandstone Trail. Farmland is crossed to reach the Shropshire Union Canal and to then follow the Two Saints Way to Chester.

After passing the Churches of St Werburgh and St Francis Assisi, as well as Chester Cathedral, the Way re-joins the Shropshire Union Canal toward the Church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, in Ellesmere Port beside the Mersey estuary.

After reaching the Mersey estuary and the King Charles III England Coast Path, the route finally turns inland to the Shrine Church of Ss Peter & Paul and St Philomena in New Brighton.

Along the route historical Catholic churches and sites abound. Walkers may visit St Patrick’s Well, Port Sunlight, and the churches of Christ the King, Bromborough; St John the Evangelist, New Ferry; St Anne, Rock Ferry; St Joseph, Birkenhead; St Werburgh, Birkenhead; Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Birkenhead; and Our Lady, Star of the Sea, as well as St Joseph, Wallasey.

The push by the Diocese of Shrewsbury and the organisers of Pilgrim Ways comes at a time of renewed efforts and vigour to seek out and bolster pilgrimage routes across the British Isles.

Among the tireless efforts of people, many of whom go about the pilgrimage-related work anonymously, the British Pilgrimage Trust has been at the forefront of such efforts to both reveal and enable people to engage with Britain’s sacred places.

As a result of the combined efforts, the likes of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham are seeing increasing numbers of pilgrims, helping spur the vitality of the Catholic Church in the UK.

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Photo: Shrine Church of Ss Peter & Paul and St Philomena, image courtesy Diocese of Shrewsbury.

For more information on Pilgrim Ways: Hearts in Search of God see: pilgrimways.org.uk

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