Ordination Anniversary Pilgrimages

A gift from the parish

A parish marks its priest’s twenty-fifth or fiftieth year by sending him somewhere that matters to him, and travelling with him. The parishioners who come are the group, and the trip is built around him rather than around a destination.

Built around the date

The anniversary itself sets the timing, so the itinerary is built backwards from it. Where the date falls awkwardly, the pilgrimage is usually held in the weeks around it rather than moved to a fixed departure.

He travels as a priest, not a tour leader

He celebrates Mass for the group each day and hears confessions along the way, and a Canterbury tour manager runs everything else, with a local guide at each site.

The first conversation

You tell us roughly where he would most like to go, when the anniversary falls, and how many parishioners you expect. We build a draft itinerary and a price from that, with no deposit and no commitment until the plan is right.How it works →

Promotion in the parish

Every trip gets its own brochure and we mail 250 printed copies to the leader, with sample bulletin text and a parish email ready to send. Bulletin graphics are made on request. How to promote it →

Registrations and payments

Canterbury takes the registrations, the deposits and the balances directly from each pilgrim, so the parish office is not collecting cheques or chasing payments. Common questions →

His place is complimentary

At the group size shown on your proposal the priest’s place is complimentary, which is usually the whole point of the trip. The threshold is written on the proposal from the start rather than discovered later.How the free place works →

A Canterbury escort on the ground

A tour manager travels with the group for the whole pilgrimage, with local guides at each site, so he can be a priest to his people rather than a tour leader.What a pilgrimage is like →

A different kind of group?

We build the same trip for a parish, a diocese, a school, a youth group, a lay organisation, or a seminary or religious community. Tell us what the group is and we will build around it.

Your parish travels on its own dates.

Tell us the window you have in mind and we will build the itinerary around it: the time you have, and the places that matter most to your pilgrims.

Can we keep it a surprise?

Up to a point. We work with whoever is organising it and keep him off the correspondence until you are ready to tell him. His passport name and date of birth have to match his documents, though, so he has to know before tickets are issued.

How many parishioners usually travel?

Anything from a dozen to a full coach. Tell us roughly how many you expect and we will price it. Smaller groups cost more per person, and the group size at which his place becomes complimentary is written on your proposal from the start.

How far ahead should we start?

Eight to thirteen months, and an anniversary is a fixed date rather than a movable one, so the earlier end of that window is much safer here than on a trip whose dates can shift.

Who collects the money?

We do. Each pilgrim registers and pays Canterbury directly, so the parish office is not handling deposits, balances or refunds, and no one in the parish is chasing payments.

Can you build it around where he was ordained?

Yes, and it is a common request, whether that is Rome, a seminary abroad or his home country. Tell us the place and the date and we will build around them.