Hundreds of young people from Brentwood took part in a history making religious procession which hit the town for the first time.
More than 500 young people from Brentwood and across Essex helped carry the World Youth Day Cross from Brentwood Ursuline School via Queens Road, Kings Road and the High Street to Brentwood Cathedral.
The cross was presented to the young people of the work by Pope John Paul II in 1983 and it has since been paraded in Argentina, Spain, Poland, American, France and Canada and this was the first time it had been in England.
Several of the secondary school students who took part were given a chance to carry the 15ft cross for a portion of the parade.
Chaplin and director of Brentwood Catholic Youth Service, the Rev Dominic Howarth, said: "It was a wonderful day and it was a real honour for the town and it's young people to take part in such a special occasion."
Following a service in Brentwood Cathedral, led by the Bishop of Brentwood, the Rt Rev Thomas McMahon, the cross left the town for the next leg of its journey to West Ham Football Club and then through London before moving onto the west country.
Published Monday January 19, 2004
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