Experts say pope's metaphor of a 'field hospital' has special punch for Africa
- Dec 8, 2019
Gathered in Lourdes for a plenary assembly, the Catholic bishops of France are holding a day of prayers and fasting for victims of sex abuse within the Catholic Church. The bishops prayed on Monday “for forgiveness for the sins committed by clergy members.”
Pilgrims, many sick or disabled, converged Monday in the French shrine of Lourdes under heavy security after recent terrorist attacks — notably one July 26 in northwest France, in which extremists claiming loyalty to the Islamic State stormed a Mass, slit an elderly priest’s throat and took nuns and parishioners hostage.
The French sanctuary of Lourdes has been famous since 1858, when a young peasant girl claimed to see visions of Mary, the mother of Jesus. As pilgrims gather there on Monday for the Feast of the Assumption, here are the basics you need to know.
French police and military officials have launched a special security operation for the country’s national pilgrimage to Lourdes, following the killing of an 85-year-old Catholic parish priest in July amid a spate of terrorist attacks.
Hoping for miracles, up to 5 million pilgrims each year travel to the holy shrine at Lourdes in southwestern France. Among those pilgrims now are wounded American warriors from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Their story is featured at 8 p.m. (Eastern time) tonight in the first episode of a