Archbishop of Sydney

Processions and Celebrations

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
23 October 2005

Religious processions are a regular part of life in many Catholic countries.  In Australia we are more likely to have a parade to celebrate a football premiership or the achievements of our athletes.

But our most important annual parade is the Anzac Day march, which is more popular than ever.  Occasionally too there are funeral processions for important public figures. 

Processions have been a part of religious celebrations in all times and places.  The English poet Chaucer based his colourful Canterbury Tales on the famous pilgrimage-processions to Canterbury to the Shrine of St Thomas Becket, Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, who was martyred by King Henry II in 1170. 

Santiago de Compostela in Spain is another destination for pilgrims after a long procession to venerate the relics of St James the apostle. The procession begins from one of seven traditional starting points, including Canterbury or Paris, and crosses into Spain at the Pyrenees, from which it takes 28 days for pilgrims to reach the Cathedral of St James in Compostela with its glorious façade.

Australia is a young country and we do not yet have many places of pilgrimage.  The shrine of Blessed Mary MacKillop in North Sydney, who founded the Josephite Sisters, is obviously the most famous local pilgrimage point and attracts many visitors each year, although most of them do not come on foot as the pilgrims to Compostela do.

Often too Italian or Maltese Catholics hold suburban processions and fetes in honour of their local saint.  Marrickville has a huge procession every Good Friday night to commemorate Jesus’ death.

In earlier times St Patrick’s Day attracted huge processions of Catholics in Australian cities, often to the consternation of those in other Christian denominations.  Another more explicitly religious form of procession for Catholics is the public procession of the Blessed Sacrament, the host consecrated at Mass.

The last Eucharistic procession in Sydney was celebrated in 1953, with 25,000 people taking part and 750,000 onlookers.  The largest Eucharistic procession before then was in 1928, when 20,000 people, including 2,000 Catholic returned servicemen, marched from Circular Quay to St Mary’s Cathedral, watched by a crowd of 500,000.

Today the first Eucharistic procession in Sydney for over 50 years is being held, beginning at St Patrick’s, Church Hill at 2pm and concluding at St Mary’s Cathedral. 

A Eucharistic procession is both a solemn and festive occasion which provides a powerful witness to the reality of God’s love, embodied in the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins, made present in the celebration of the Eucharist and remembered in the reverence for the consecrated host.

It is, of course, a traditional Catholic event, an ancient Christian devotion, but everyone is welcome to attend.