Pilgrims at Walsingham shrine mourn Pope’s death

Pilgrims at a Catholic shrine have been mourning the death of Pope Francis.

Over Easter, hundreds gathered at the National Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham, in Norfolk.

The rector, the Reverend Dr Robert Billing, expressed “his thanks to Almighty God for the outstanding ministry of Pope Francis and his deep sorrow at his passing”.

One pilgrim, Joseph Quinn, said: “It’s very sad, but joyous at the same time. I think the Lord kept him ’til Easter.”

He added: “He was just a brilliant Pope and they are big shoes to fill, I think he will be missed.”

Mr Quinn, from Greenwich, London, was visiting the holy site with Maria Gerlach-Quinn.

She said the atmosphere at Walsingham since the Pope’s death had been even more “reflective”.

“Walsingham is a very holy, very spiritual place in Norfolk.

“Coming here after such momentous news, it was important for us to be among fellow Catholics and others here,” said Ms Gerlach-Quinn.

“The really important thing that stood out for me with Pope Francis was his example of social justice.

“He really championed the poor, the marginalised. I think that needs to continue.”

Walsingham has been a place of pilgrimage for all Christian denominations since the Middle Ages.

It became known as England’s Nazareth after a Saxon noblewomen said she had a vision of the Virgin Mary, who told her to build a replica of the house where Jesus was raised.

Pilgrimage began in 1948 when about 30 male Catholic students and chaplains walked from London to Walsingham during Holy Week.

Father Billing added: “At a human level, [it’s] very sad, but not a surprise given he has been poorly for some time now.

“Even his appearance yesterday at the mass for Easter Sunday in Rome, you could see he was struggling really.

“So sad, but [I’m] thankful for all that he has done in the 12 years that he’s been Pope for us.”

In Norwich, the Catholic Bishop of East Anglia, Peter Collins, said he felt “sadness but thankfulness too, for a life well-lived, a life of service to the whole church and dare I say it to the whole world”.

Bishop Peter said the Pope had been a man “of great compassion” who had a “very direct, human way of communicating” and who “spoke from the heart”.

“In some ways he’s been interpreted as very radical.

“Some comments I’ve heard today perhaps sum it up: he’s both annoyed [and] agitated, some conservatives, and on the other hand agitated many liberals, so that’s always a good sign, I think.

“He hasn’t been in any one camp, he has always sought to search for and serve the truth.”