The Archbishop of Canterbury preaches at Lourdes
during the Society's pilgrimage

At the Shrine: Dr Williams at the Grotto in Lourdes with Cardinal Kasper (to his right), after the International Mass on Wednesday

The Archbishop of Canterbury this week preached at an inter­national mass in Lourdes, in the French Pyrenees,
as part of the 150th-anniversary celebrations of St Bernadette’s visions of the Virgin Mary.

Dr Williams was taking part in a pilgrimage of bishops, clergy, and laity from the Church of England,
including the Suffragan Bishop in Europe, the Rt Revd David Hamid, which was organised by
the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and the Society of Mary.

In his sermon on Wednesday, Dr Williams compared St Bernadette’s visions in 1858 to Mary’s visit
to Elizabeth in Luke’s Gospel, when the baby leapt in Elizabeth’s womb.
“Mary appears to us here as the first missionary, ‘the first messenger of the gospel’
as Bishop Perrier of Lourdes has called her: the first human being to bring the good news of Jesus Christ
to another, and she does it simply by carrying Christ within her.”

The eucharist was celebrated by Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council
for the Promotion of Christian Unity.