To Lourdes

Who doesn't know the many worrying news - be it wars causing misery and death, prices rising, drought spreading, refugees fleeing their country's conditions and seeking a better life.

And how do we treat each other? Are people not publicly branded (out of ideological delusion or cowardice?), livelihoods destroyed by the effects of crises and wrong decisions, while institutions and media irresponsibly push their responsibilities aside?

And in the church, a situation is escalating that could lead to a church split.

Furthermore, I believe that our society is overshadowed by an indeterminate fear, which I call 'mildew' after Corona.

And everyone still has their own burden to bear.

All these things have weighed on my wife Angelika and me in recent weeks; there was a growing longing for a pilgrimage to entrust our worries to the Virgin Mary.

Well, Kevelaer offers itself from the perspective of Bocholt, but it should also be about seeing other areas, having time to gather oneself, and truly being able to leave everyday life behind.

That's how Lourdes came into play; we were already there with our bikes in 2003 and swore in front of the grotto: we will come back - that it would take 19 1/2 years was not foreseeable at the time.