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CANTERBURY-CYCLISTS Aug-28-2007 (670 words) xxxi
Group bikes to Rome to raise funds for Canterbury cathedral
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- An unusual group of pilgrims was given special treatment when they arrived dusty and sweaty in St. Peter's Square Aug. 26.
Escorted along Rome's streets by Italian firefighters, 27 men and women were greeted in the square by representatives from the Vatican and the Italian and British governments after cycling 1,110 miles from Canterbury Cathedral in England to Rome.
Archbishop Angelo Comastri, the archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica and the pope's vicar for Vatican City State, and Father Cesare Atuire, an official from the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, a Vatican-related pilgrimage agency, welcomed the weary cyclists.
Dirty, perspiring and "still dressed in our (fancy) bike clothes, they still put us in the front" seats in St. Peter's Basilica for Sunday vespers, the Rev. Edward Condry, an Anglican canon, cyclist and pilgrimage organizer, told Catholic News Service Aug. 27.
He said Father Atuire also gave each pilgrim a Franciscan cross and a special parchment certifying they pedaled to Rome following the ancient Francigena Way.
Their send-off from Canterbury Aug. 10 was no less unusual when several hundred people turned up at 7 a.m. with cake and coffee to say goodbye and wave them off as the local Harley-Davidson motorcycle club escorted them the first 30 miles to Dover.
"It was really noisy and it looked like a carnival" with the heavyset and bearded motorcyclists leading the way, said Rev. Condry.
As canon treasurer of Canterbury Cathedral, Rev. Condry is responsible for the infrastructure and finance of the cathedral which, he said, is in need of repair and restoration.
He said the fundraising pilgrimage so far raised more than $218,200. The bulk of the money -- $150,000 -- will go to the Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal to renovate the 600-year-old cathedral, he said, and the rest is earmarked for individual charities.
The amateur cycling group was made up of 21 men and six women, who ranged from 16 to 66 years of age.
"Only two or three of (the cyclists) are athletes"; the rest were just average people, he said, pointing out that the farthest one participant used to pedal in one day was a short trip to the local store and back.
A high court judge, a few city-council workers and teachers, a car dealership executive, an engineer, a medical consultant, a personal-fitness trainer and five high-school students were part of the hodgepodge of cyclists from Canterbury.
Rev. Condry said they "were all ordinary people who did something extraordinary" by biking nearly 1,200 miles in 16 days.
Many of the pilgrims could only get about two weeks off from work, so they had to average 75-80 miles a day. That took a fair amount of training, Rev. Condry said, and a lot of tenacity.
"People told us we were mad" being just "ordinary people doing something not thought possible," he said.
"But everyone worked together" and the high-school students kept everyone's spirits high by singing along the way, he said. He added that "their theme song became 'I Feel Good'" by soul singer James Brown.
The group's oldest cyclist, 66-year-old Reginald Steel, was the only one who had cycled before from Canterbury to Rome, having followed the same pilgrim route 22 years ago.
His expertise helped the group tremendously, and he taught the teenagers to work together, to follow proper riding etiquette and not wander all over the road, Rev. Condry said.
For the mostly Anglican participants, the journey was marked by holy moments, such as taking time out for prayer, attending church services, and getting the chance for two cyclists to sing at the Abbey of St. Maurice-en-Valais in Switzerland.
Rev. Condry said they are already thinking of planning a future pilgrimage, going from Rome to Jerusalem.
Even at least "doing the Holy Family way of walking from Nazareth to Bethlehem would be significant," he said, adding that it would be important to help the Palestinian Christians by supporting the tourism industry there.
END
Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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