Tuesday 15th of June 2021 at 9:00 am a symbolic ceremony will be held at the Cathedral of Canterbury, next to the km 0 stone of the Via Francigena. The ceremony represents the starting of the event, with the blessing of the “pilgrim’s stick” which will accompany us for 3,200 km, all the way to Santa Maria di Leuca. At 1:45 pm a delegation of EAVF will be received by the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić.
- TUESDAY 15TH OF JUNE
Close friends of the Via Francigena, to whom the EAVF general assembly assigned “Public Awards”, will be in Canterbury: Edward Condry (former Dean of the Cathedral), Velia Coffey (former EAVF Vice-President), Colin Carmichael (General Director of the Canterbury City Council), William Pettit (former Responsible of International Relations at the Canterbury City Council) and Catherine Bradley (Kent County).
At the end of the ceremony, a group of pilgrims and walkers, led by Giancarlo Laurenzi, president of the Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome, will cover the Via Francigena up to Shepherdswell.
Meeting in Strasbourg at the Council of Europe
On the same day of the 15th of June, at 1:45 pm, a delegation of EAVF members, composed by President Massimo Tedeschi, Vice-president Francesco Ferrari, Vice-president Gaetan Tornay, Mayor of Montfaucon Pierre Contoz and EAVF’s Director Luca Bruschi, will extraordinarily be received by the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić. It is important to notice that all the States which will be crossed by the march – United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Italy – are members of the Council of Europe, an organization founded on the 5th of May 1949 with the Treaty of London.
- WEDNESDAY 16TH OF JUNE
The group of English pilgrims will meet in Dover for a second meaningful ceremony, during which the “pilgrim’s stick” will be delivered to the ferry captain who will cross the English Channel to reach Calais, where walkers will receive it and start their great march towards Rome.
Launching videoconference in Calais, at 11:00 am
At the municipal headquarters of Calais the great march will be presented with the presence of: Massimo Tedeschi, EAVF President, Luca Bruschi, EAVF Director, Dominique Darré, municipal Councilor at the municipality of Calais, Daniel Pipart, French Randonnée Federation, Didier Morel, French Via Francigena Federation.
The conference will be in French language (one of the three official languages of the Via Francigena). The maximum limit of connected devices at the videoconference is 100 people.
We remind you that the event “Via Francigena. Road to Rome 2021. Start again!” will be shared every day on EAVF’s web and social channels: website, with news and blog, Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and daily podcasts on Radio Francigena.
