A pilgrimage director has dismissed claims that pilgrimages to Lourdes will be detrimentally affected by Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.
John Tangney, director of Tangney Tours, has said Brexit would have “no discernible effect on sick pilgrims or indeed any pilgrims travelling to Lourdes”.
He was responding to a blog post on the Catholic Herald’s website by Dr Michael Moran, Chief Medical Officer of Down and Connor diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes.
Dr Moran wrote: “Although not as high impact as millions of pounds dropping from the FTSE, the care of the sick in Lourdes is nonetheless important for those who need it most, and for whom many other foreign holidays are not possible. Pilgrimages to Lourdes are currently dependent on the European Health Insurance Card, which we could stand to lose if we leave the EEA as part of Brexit. If full costs are to be borne for healthcare abroad, Lourdes, for UK pilgrims, is likely to become a domain for the fit, well and wealthy.”
But John Tangney argued that the comments were mistaken. He said: “The possible withdrawal of the EHIC facility following a Brexit will have no discernible effect on sick pilgrims or indeed any pilgrims travelling to Lourdes.”
Mr Tangney said that his company’s travel insurance policy for pilgrims, which thousands of sick pilgrims took up per year “may increase in cost by £1 or £2 to about £30”. But he pointed out that the deal includes “almost every pre-existing condition, and also covers those with a terminal diagnosis, with a short prognosis.”
Workmen are cleared of ‘mock crucifixion’ claim
Workmates accused of abusing a Catholic colleague by tying him to a cross in a “mock crucifixion” have been found not guilty of religiously aggravated assault.
York Crown Court heard that Andrew Addison, aged 31, Joseph Richard Rose, 21, Christopher Jackson, 22, and Alex Puchir, 37, had carried out a “sustained course” of bullying against a teenage boy over nine months, but the men were cleared of the charge of religiously aggravated assault after a day’s deliberation by the jury.
Addison was cleared of a separate charge of putting the teenager in fear of violence by harassment. However, he was found guilty of assault. Rose was found guilty of putting the boy in fear of violence by harassment.
Judge Paul Batty QC told them: “You have been convicted of a very unpleasant offence. I have not decided what to do with you yet. Each of you should have known better.” Both men will be sentenced later this month.
The boy had started an apprenticeship at a shop fitting company in Selby, North Yorkshire, run by Addison. His mother had noticed negative changes in his behaviour soon after.
Henry VIII scroll is unearthed
A historian has shed light on a picture long held by the Diocese of Brentwood depicting the execution of an abbot.
Jennie Guthrie-Stevens, of the Colchester Catholic Heritage Group, discovered that the image is copied from a previous picture, which appears ina document commissioned by Henry VIII’s chancellor, Thomas Cromwell.
This confirms that the diocese’s picture is authentic and depicts the death of the Benedictine abbot John Beche.
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