A pilgrimage of repentance

St Frideswide's Shrine Simon and Charlotte Dickinson Photos: Matthew Power

Up to 500 folk took part in a Pilgrimage at Christ Church Cathedral to mark Racial Justice Sunday. The event commemorated the 1000 years since re-founding of the Abbey Church after it had been burned down, massacring the 600 Danes who had taken refuge inside. The pilgrimage took people through parts of Christ Church which are usually closed to visitors. A cairn of remembrance was built in the Cathedral Gardens and the shrine of our patroness, St. Frideswide was beautifully decorated by the Cathedral flower arrangers, and pilgrims added to this with their own offerings. The event ended with a service in the Cathedral in the presence of many church and civic representatives, including people from our link dioceses (Kimberley and Kuruman and Vaxjo) and cathedral (Christ-church, New Zealand) and the Lord Mayor of Oxford. The Danish Ambassador received apologies for the atrocity as the service moved through repentance to rededication. A group of singers from Oval House in London added to the music of the Cathedral Choir and the singing of a new hymn by the congregation. Many found the events of the day exciting and moving. Marilyn Parry Director of Ordinands To mark the 1000th anniversary, Revd Simon Dickinson and his wife Charlotte completed a 20-mile pilgrimage from their home in Waddesdon to Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The walk took them two days taking a route which largely avoided roads in favour of footpaths and by-ways before joining the Old Road into Shotover Plain. Unhampered by two metal hips and a combined age of 130 years, they arrived at the Cathedral in time to join in the festivities. The sponsor money raised by the walk will go towards the Millennium Project to provide much needed facilities at their home church, St Michael and All Angels, Waddesdon. Natalie Abbott Door editorial assistant