Braving strong winds, rain and hailstone, the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, joined by more than 350 pilgrims, travelled onto his 23rd town on his three-week Pilgrimage of Reconciliation yesterday.
Having spent much of his first week walking through the towns and villages of west Clare where he was joined by hundreds of people from each parish, Dr Walsh began the ninth day of his pilgrimage yesterday with Mass in the village of Newmarket-on-Fergus.
Dr Walsh told the congregation that the pilgrimage was a way of "recognising, acknowledging, painful though it may be, serious wrongs have been done, and deep hurts have been caused by people working with our church down the years".
He added: "I have particularly in mind the scandals that have come to light in recent years related to the abuse of people in care, but I also have in mind any wrongs done or hurts caused where people have been treated in an unjust or an insensitive way by anybody working in the name of our church."
He said: "The pilgrimage is in some way an effort to express sorrow for the wrongs done or hurts caused and to ask for forgiveness in so far as people are ready to forgive. Sometimes hurts can be so deep that we find it almost impossible to forgive, so I hope at least that our pilgrimage would be some help towards a beginning towards forgiveness."
Mr Jim Jones, a past pupil of Bishop Dr Walsh, from Bunratty, said the pilgrimage was a good way of bringing the church back to the people. "It's simple, it's on the ground, it's no television spectacular and I think the way Bishop Walsh has gone about it will help to reconcile people with the church."
Ms Therese McAleer from Newmarket said it was an honour to walk with the bishop. "He's a lovely man and I'm just glad that I can come here and give him my support."
Speaking at Carrigoran House, the first stop on yesterday's pilgrimage, Dr Walsh said the pilgrimage has been one of the most joyous experiences he has enjoyed since becoming Bishop of Killaloe.
Stating that he did set out with a certain amount of apprehension, Dr Walsh said: "I am very happy the way the pilgrimage has gone and people have responded very generously in their welcome and in walking with me.
"I think it has been very refreshing for me simply to walk and talk with people without any special agenda. "To me that has been one of the joys of the pilgrimage, the other has been the friendship and warmth that has been between us as we have journeyed along the way and certainly I have been moved by some of the things people have told me."
After walking 60 miles since November 26th, Dr Walsh said he was holding up fine. "Ah, it's not too difficult. Nine miles is the most we walked in any day, though I wasn't too sure how I would hold up at the start."
Today, the bishop's pilgrimage takes him to east Clare village of Clonlara and will go on to Castleconnell. After passing through a further 16 towns and villages, the pilgrimage will finish in the bishop's home town of Roscrea on December 19th.
