LONDON (LifeSiteNews) — Nearly 2,000 Catholics took to the streets of central London on Saturday for the 40th annual Rosary Crusade of Reparation, a two-mile procession from Westminster Cathedral to the Brompton Oratory, praying and singing in public witness to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The event, inspired by Our Lady of Fatima’s call to prayer and penance, was held in reparation for blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary and, this year, also for “the sins of the English Reformation” and recent anti-life bills in Parliament.
Organizers hailed the turnout of around 2,000 pilgrims (a consecutive substantial increase from 2024 when some 1,500 attended) as a “beautiful sign” of renewed devotion at a time of moral confusion and waning religious life in Britain.
Under the autumn sun, a statue of Our Lady of Fatima was carried through Belgravia and Knightsbridge, flanked by banners proclaiming “Reparation” and “Peace.” Hymns such as Faith of Our Fathers and Hail, Queen of Heaven mingled with the Latin strains of the Salve Regina and Credo as the crowd processed past embassies, department stores, and curious onlookers.
Inside the Brompton Oratory – a parish known for its foundation by St. John Henry Newman, spectacular liturgy and choral excellence, and celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass – the day culminated in solemn Benediction and Adoration. Following a Marian speech from Abbot Cuthbert Brogan of the Benedictine monastery of St. Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough, Father Ronald Creighton-Jobe, the Oratorian who has long served as the Crusade’s spiritual director, reminded pilgrims that the devotion’s purpose remains unchanged: “To make reparation for the many sins and scandals rampant in the world today.”
The Crusade is an annual event with a long history. It began more than four decades ago when the Jesuit priest Father Hugh Thwaites, known for his originality and determination, launched the event with the help of Ernest and Mary Carey and John and Jane Windsor. Their families continued to lead it for decades before a younger generation of volunteers stepped forward.
“The organisers of the Crusade are Francis Carey, Mathias Menezes and myself,” James Windsor, whose parents were among the founding families, told LifeSiteNews.
“The crusade itself was started by Fr. Hugh Thwaites with the support of Ernest and Mary Carey and John and Jane Windsor, who continued to run it until around 10 years ago when Francis and myself started to become far more involved.”
Windsor said the procession, which once attracted up to 3,000 people, had seen numbers fall in recent years to around 1,000 attendees, until a recent uptick and the 40th anniversary helped bring about a significant rise.
“This year for the 40th Crusade we had closer to 2,000, which was amazing and a beautiful day, very fitting for such an important anniversary,” he said.
Windsor noted that the event remains entirely funded by donations and that its future is uncertain without greater financial support.
“It costs around £4,000–£4,500 [$5,300–$6,000] per year to run, the main expense being the traffic marshalls, who we are legally required to employ in order to enact the traffic order from Westminster Council for the road closures. Money is not used for any other purpose than putting on the Crusade. On average we raise around £2,500 per year and our funds are reducing rapidly which is putting the future of the Crusade at risk.”
Speaking of its purpose, he said, “Our Lady has asked for devotion to Her Immaculate Heart to save many souls. Today, society tends to commit more sins towards Our Lady as opposed to devotion, so we need the Crusade more than ever to offer reparation. We rapidly need donations to secure the long-term future of the Crusade and ensure we continue this major Catholic event for the next 40 years!”
The Brompton Oratory continues to support the event, and Windsor expressed his gratitude for the priests who assist there. When the Crusade was first established, it had enjoyed stronger endorsement from the hierarchy, including the Diocese of Westminster. At that time, Cardinal Basil Hume had asked the Archbishop of Westminster to serve as the event’s patron, but Windsor noted that clerical support (particularly from the archdiocese) has since diminished. He hopes to see that commitment renewed.
Although born from Fr. Thwaites’s inspiration, Windsor described the Crusade as essentially a ground-up lay initiative. He recalled the priest fondly as “a man very hard to say no to” and “a priest with many different ideas,” whose persistence gave life to a public witness that has endured for generations.
The organizers, he said, still see its purpose in the same light: “Reparation for blasphemies against Our Lady… I would argue we need it now more than ever.”
For years, the team of volunteers sent posters, letters, and flyers to parishes across the four dioceses covering London – Westminster, Southwark, Brentwood, and Arundel and Brighton. Yet they found that announcements seldom reached parishioners. “We were continuously demoralized to persistently hear from attendees of parishes across these dioceses that faithful Catholics would rarely ever see these materials in their local church or hear announcements from their priest, so we gave up this pursuit.”
The route of the procession, determined by Westminster Council, winds through some of London’s most prominent and affluent districts, past embassies and along the high-end shopping streets of Knightsbridge.
Windsor calls it a happy coincidence that the path passes such symbolic places and attributes it to the providence and grace of Our Lady. He recalled that when he was younger, during earlier processions, the late Mohamed al-Fayed – then owner of Harrods – would each time step outside the store to greet and bow as the statue of the Virgin Mary passed, an act of reverence towards Maryam, the mother of Isa (identified with Jesus in Islamic theology) in Islamic tradition.
Although numbers have not yet returned to their historic peak, the organizers are encouraged by a gradual rise in attendance in recent years. However, they believe the lack of wider promotion within Catholic parishes remains one of the chief obstacles to fuller participation. With an estimated 35 percent of London’s population identifying as Catholic, they see untapped potential for the Crusade to become a major public manifestation of faith in the British capital.
The procession’s devotional life has remained deeply traditional. Alongside English hymns such as Faith of Our Fathers and Hail, Queen of Heaven, participants pray the Rosary and chant Latin prayers including the Credo, Pater Noster, Salve Regina, Gloria, and the Eucharistic hymns Tantum Ergo and O Salutaris Hostia. The event includes consecrations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, prayers to Christ the King, the Prayer for England written by Leo XIII, and culminates with solemn benediction in the Oratory with its choir. Pilgrims are then invited to enrol in the Brown Scapular, extending the day’s graces into their personal devotion.
Windsor acknowledged that the lion’s share of those most involved in organizing and attending the initiative are often “traditionalists by heart,” but that the procession also draws a wide range of faithful.
The sight of families, young people, and religious communities processing together through London’s streets gives the Crusade a distinctive and inclusive atmosphere. “There is typically always a strong contingent of others including the more run-of-the-mill regular zealous Catholic rosary grandmother type,” he said with affection.
Among those walking this year was first-time attendee Bridget Ninsiima, 34, a nurse from Uganda now working for Britain’s National Health Service.
“The rosary is my foundation,” she said. “I’ve prayed it since I was a child.” She described praying 15 decades daily (which she often goes beyond), and said that joining the London procession for the first time was profoundly moving. “This was my first time … it was beautiful. Walking around the streets of London – sharing the graces with people we met along the way.”
She suggested to LifeSiteNews the public act of prayer touches more lives than the participants might realize.
“I believe it makes a difference. Because as you move along the streets and pray, I believe for some people it’s the first time they’re having an encounter with Our Lady. It might be a start for someone … Also, I believe that when you’re praying and moving around the graces are reaching out to the people – they’re not only for us.”
Alongside various priests from assorted parishes and orders in and around London, the traditionalist Marian Franciscan friars made the walk.
Behind them, carrying a banner, was Charles Goodall, 25, a young Catholic convert who works in law.
“The Rosary Crusade this year was bigger, better, and more spiritually moving than ever,” he said.
“This was my third Crusade and no two are ever the same. I felt that the good weather brought even more people out than usual and it was great to be a witness to our faith.”
Concurring with Windsor, he echoed: “The Crusade as ever needs more people, more outreach, and more funding. Events in London are very expensive these days. There is more to plan with every procession. So, I think the more Catholics who get involved, even outside of London, the more of a presence we can be every year.”
For the organizers, the day’s success was a source of gratitude and renewed resolve. The Crusade’s endurance, Windsor said, is proof that even in a largely secular city, a quiet but steadfast Catholic witness continues to thrive. “We rapidly need donations to secure the long-term future of the Crusade and ensure we continue this major Catholic event for the next 40 years,” he said. “We need it now more than ever.”
Those who wish to support this historical 40-year-old lay initiative, one of the largest annual Catholic events in London, can donate HERE.
