A group of sixty amateur cyclists have left Rzeszów, south-eastern Poland, for a pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Fatima in Portugal.

The youngest participant is thirteen, the oldest – sixty eight, and there are five women in the group. They are to cover 4, 500 kilometers, divided into twenty stages. Father Daniel Tomasik, one of the organizers, stresses the religious aspect of the undertaking, saying that the programme includes a daily mass and prayers.

The pilgrimage is to end in Fatima on 24 July.

The trip is sponsored by the ‘Alpin’ Catholic Sporting Club in Rzeszów, which has already organized 15 cycling pilgrimages to the Black Madonna shrine in Częstochowa and 8 pilgrimages abroad. (mk)