Catholics from all over Ireland gathered to pray in Derry on Saturday as part of the first Worldwide Marian Procession, held in conjunction with hundreds of parishes across the globe. With the support of Derry’s local ordinary, Bishop Donal McKeown, a full day of Marian and Eucharistic devotion was held in the Northern Irish city at the weekend.

Wending its way from the Catholic housing estate of “the Creggan” down through the city in the shadow of its many church spires, the procession saw Catholics take to the streets once more – but with peaceful prayer and joyful hymns.

The procession was organised as part of an international movement which brought more than 500 churches and national Marian shrines together in an effort to pray in accordance with the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Its aims included praying for world peace and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, making reparation for sins committed against the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, seeking an end to the culture of death and paganism, praying for the holy souls and the conversion of sinners, and asking that every nation honour Christ the King.

Among the shrines joining in were Ireland’s national Marian shrine at Knock, along with Lourdes, Fatima, La Salette and Pellevoisin.

In Derry itself, more than 1,000 people thronged the streets. Led by bagpipers from Ireland Needs Fatima, the attendees filed behind the Blessed Sacrament, which was carried in succession by diocesan and Religious priests in attendance.

Leaving St Mary’s Chapel in the Creggan, the procession made its way through the city streets towards a roadside grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, where Benediction was held. It then returned to a park where an altar had been erected on a lorry and the final series of devotions took place.

Northern Ireland, and Derry in particular, has seen more than its fair share of violence, including unrest related to religion. The city remains a living reminder of the Troubles, with distinct Catholic and Protestant districts. Both the Bogside and the Creggan were centres of unrest and effectively no-go areas for British forces during the Troubles.

To see the lively practice of the Faith in Derry’s churches today would be encouraging for many, as it is a city characterised by a zeal and love for the Faith that a number of other places have lost amid religious apathy. After drawing inspiration from Poland, it was in Derry that the first public men’s rosary in the streets took place, and since then the movement has spread not only across Ireland but also across Europe. Such public witness is particularly aimed at attracting men into a renewed practice of the Faith at a time when society seeks to discredit the Church.

Derry gave witness to this religiosity at the weekend, with attendees staging 24-hour adoration through the night before the 13 June Mass for the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

One woman from Belfast told the Catholic Herald that she came to the procession as part of her return to the Catholic Faith after having fallen away from practising in previous years. “I’m finding my faith again,” she said. Another woman said that she was attending “to pray for peace and to spread our faith”.

A key figure in Derry’s Catholic life in recent years has been the city’s own Sister Clare Crockett, who died in 2016 aged just 34 during an earthquake in Ecuador, where she had been sent on mission by her order, the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother. The story of the young woman who turned down a life of possible film-star fame and wealth in order to serve the poor has resonated with many, not only in Derry but further afield.

Hers was one of many murals passed by the procession on Saturday, as the smiling face of Sister Clare lit up an end-terrace wall alongside her motto, “all or nothing”. She was declared a Servant of God in January 2025, marking the beginning of a possible path towards canonisation.

For Derry Catholics and those further afield, these words are taking root as an awakening begins that Catholicism must be lived deliberately and publicly if it is to continue. It was this conviction that prompted so many to attend, filling the car park with registrations from not only the North but also counties Donegal, Wexford, Louth and Dublin, as well as from France.

Sister Joseph of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal in Drogheda explained that the community had travelled north for the event to support their fellow Catholics, “because of Jesus in the Eucharist and to witness the good things that are happening here”.

“Hopefully,” she added, “a renewal will come from this throughout the country. It feels like a little bit of Heaven on earth to pray with so many people.”

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Michael Haynes is an English journalist in the Holy See Press Corps. He serves as Vatican Correspondent and Analyst for Pelican+ and the Catholic Herald, while readers can follow him at Per Mariam and on X/Twitter @MLJHaynes. 

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