Fr Brendan’s Sabbatical leave update

Thank you for your calls of concern regarding Fr Brendan’s travel plans during his period of Sabbatical leave.  

Fr Brendan has completed the first part of his travels by walking the Pilgrim Way of St Francis from Assisi to Rome with many beautiful stops along the way including Spoleto where the Cathedral houses a beautiful painting of the life of Mary by Filipo Lippo in the 15th century; a walk across the Apennine Mountains and many more interesting places.  And of course, the food along the way has been amazing with the evening meals prepared from local foods.  

It was planned that after the walk from Assisi to Rome, Fr Brendan would travel to Jerusalem and he was very much looking forward to his first visit to the Holy Land.  However, with the volatile security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Fr Brendan’s travel plans to visit the Holy Land have now been cancelled. 

Fr Brendan will now extend his stay in Europe, before spending some time at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, after which he will visit his sister in New York – who heads up the Mercy Global Action on behalf of Mercy International Association – before he returns to Melbourne at the end of November.

We pray for peace in our world and may the present crisis of violence across the Holy Land, between Palestinians and Israelis, come to a speedy end so that, with the help of other nations, dialogue can lead to peace and justice.

Photo:  Basilica of St Francis of Assisi courtesy of Deacon Tien Tran, taken during his recent visit to Assisi

Published: 13 October 2023