A TGV chartered especially for the occasion left Lille on Thursday for Lourdes.

The place of pilgrimage finds its visitors, impatient to reconnect with this ritual of their faith.

Travelers had to be vaccinated and show a negative PCR test less than 72 hours before departure. 

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Return to Lourdes for the faithful.

Thursday, a train of the faithful left Lille for the fourth place of Catholic pilgrimage in the world, abandoned since the start of the Covid crisis.

After a year 2020 marked by the cancellation of 85% of pilgrimages, the sanctuary is preparing to welcome 60% of usual pilgrimages over the next three months.

The travelers had arrived early in the Gare du Nord de la France, eager to reconnect with a ritual anchored in their faith.

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"Last year, we couldn't do it, but this year, we can go. It's wonderful," says a pilgrim.

"I am happy to leave and I hope to continue for a couple more years."

"It's a kind of renewal because we are going to experience the pilgrimage a little differently. But we can travel together, live together. And the important thing is to live", rejoices Father Jérôme Vanderschaeve, director of the pilgrimages of the diocese of Lille.

Strict sanitary conditions

Five hundred people will populate this TGV specially chartered for Lourdes, with a very strict health protocol.

Most of them are senior travelers, supervised by Bernard Garita.

"These people must be vaccinated and have carried out a PCR test less than 72 hours before departure," he explains.

"And we have a temperature measurement at the station to check that everything is correct."

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This year, the seriously ill could not be on the trip for health security reasons. This is Monique's only regret. "We cannot take our sick and our young people are not with us. But it is still a great joy to leave again", she confides. With a promise made: devote prayers to those who will not have been able to make this pilgrimage to Lourdes this year.