In 1513, the great Dutch scholar Erasmus visited the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk. “England’s Nazareth” was then the second most important pilgrimage destination in the country after Canterbury. “When you look in,” he wrote, “you would say it is the abode of saints, so brilliantly does it shine with gems, gold and silver ... Our Lady stands in the dark at the right side of the altar ... a little image, remarkable neither for its size, material or workmanship.” Not long after Erasmus’s visit the shrine was suppressed amid the fury of the English Reformation. The hallowed Slipper Chapel, where everyone from the poorest pilgrim to the reigning monarch would take off their shoes before walking the final mile into Walsingham, was abandoned. The disused chapel was later used as a poor house, a forge, a barn and even a cowshed. But in 1896, a tremendous comeback story began – one which continues to this day. The Catholic convert Charlotte Pearson Boyd bought the building from a farm owner and restored it. In 1897, Pope Leo XIII re-established the shrine. On August 15, 1934, Mass was celebrated publicly in the Slipper Chapel for the first time in 400 years. Shortly afterwards, Walsingham was named the Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady. A few days ago an important new chapter in the comeback story began. On December 27, the feast of the Holy Family, Bishop Alan Hopes announced that the Pope has designated the shrine as a minor basilica. Walsingham is the first site in Britain to be given this status since 1941. Only three other places in England have received this honour: Corpus Christi in Manchester (sadly no longer in use), Downside Abbey in Somerset and St Chad’s Cathedral in Birmingham. This should delight not only Catholics in England and Wales, but also faithful all over the world. For the shrine at Walsingham shows that Catholicism can be reborn even after the most dreadful persecution. This is a message that will resonate everywhere the faithful are enduring oppression, from Beijing to Bangui. That is why Catholics around the world should support the present effort to raise £10 million to redevelop the shrine. Fundraisers are seeking £6 million to upgrade buildings. The remaining £4 million will be used to help the shrine to develop its work and spread its message around the world via a media centre provisionally called “Walsingham TV”, which will livestream Masses and other events. This ambitious project will benefit Catholics far beyond England. The shrine’s energetic rector, Mgr John Armitage, has described how, in a single week, the shrine received Melkites from the Middle East, members of the ordinariate for former Anglicans, a Punjabi group from the Midlands and visitors from the Caribbean. That is by no means unusual: the shrine offers solace year-round to faithful from all corners of the world. We encourage readers to support the resurgence of Walsingham by praying for the success of the appeal, donating (via the website walsinghamdevelopment.org) and, if possible, by visiting the shrine in 2016.