PILGRIMAGE hotspots during the Year of Mercy have increased in the Brisbane archdiocese with seven new sites opening Holy Doors to the public.
The Catholic Churches in Red Hill, Clear Island Waters, Annerley, Ipswich and Nambour have been nominated as pilgrimage sites of Mercy for the jubilee year, which Pope Francis launched on December 8.
The Pauline Fathers, who run Marian Valley in the Gold Coast Hinterland, will also offer their shrine as a pilgrimage site.
The churches will make the Sacrament of Reconciliation readily available, with help from Brisbane archdiocesan priests including retired clergy.
Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge made the announcement of the pilgrimage sites during his Lenten Pastoral Message shared in parishes last week.
Catholics throughout Brisbane and Northern New South Wales have already begun their pilgrimages, with over one thousands walking through the newly opened Holy Door at Sacred Heart Church, Clear Island Waters in Surfers Paradise parish.
Parish priest Fr Tim Harris said pilgrims who walked through the Sacred Heart Church Holy Door would obtain any special graces attached to a jubilee year.
Confession will also be made available on Fridays in the parish.
“It’s amazing, a great blessing to the parish, really a gift to the whole Gold Coast region to have a Holy Door opened at Sacred Heart church,” Fr Harris said.
“It’s a blessing expected to touch many lives this year.
“All are invited to enter through these doors which lead into the heart of Christ and God’s overflowing mercy.”
The seven pilgrimage destinations follows Pope Francis’ request for every diocese and particular churches and shrines to celebrate a rite of opening a Holy Door.
Pope Francis asked Catholics to make a pilgrimage to churches with a Holy Door as a way of experiencing a God “who consoles, pardons and instills hope”.
By Emilie Ng
