Preperations underway for 150th anniversary of Lourdes apparitions

Preparations are underway among Catholics for the 2008 Jubilee celebrating 150 years since the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a young French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, from Lourdes.

The Jubilee celebrations aim to give thanks for the graces received, to raise awareness of the mission of Lourdes at the beginning of the third millennium and to "open even wider the gates of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes".

Planning for the celebrations began in Spring 2005. The celebrations also feature 12 "missions" of the Roman Catholic Church which Lourdes is able to contribute to. Examples include "the mission of the Church in relation to Christian unity" or "the mission of the church in relation to people with disabilities".

At the end of 2005, pilgrimage organisers were asked to take responsibility for one of the 12 "missions". Among those invited to take part were the Handicapped Children's Pilgrimage Trust (HCPT) who, along with Barcelona Hospitalité, were asked to take responsibility for "the mission of the church in relation to people with disabilities".

HCPT have organised a number of special events for 2008 in addition to its usual Easter Pilgrimage which normally has around 5000 pilgrims from across the UK.

The events include a concert involving all the countries of HCPT in which young disabled people will give performances. A special torchlight procession will be held on 25 March to celebrate the 16th Apparition when Mary is said to have revealed her identity to Bernadette.

An international conference is also scheduled to take place in Lourdes on 14 -16 November 2008. The theme of the conference will be disability and will feature speakers such as Jean Vanier, Fr Michael Drumm, Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP, Steven McDonald, Fr Nicholas King SJ and Rev Prof John Swinton.

Efforts are also being made in the town of Lourdes, in the Pyrenees, to allow pilgrims to walk on the same paths as Bernadette Soubirous on the Way of Jubilee.

The 2008 celebrations will also see the completion of the Mysteries of Light mosaics on the façade of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, designated by Pope John Paul II in 2002.