Mission pilgrimage cancelled again as grotto damaged First Nations representatives lead pilgrims to the grotto during the pilgrimage in 2015. The annual event usually attracts thousands, but due to the pandemic and recent fire damage it has been cancelled two years in a row. B.C. Catholic file photo Mission pilgrimage cancelled again as grotto damaged By Agnieszka Ruck, Canadian Catholic News July 19, 2021
VANCOUVER The largest annual event in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, which draws thousands of Catholics to a historic site in Mission, has been cancelled for the second year in a row.
Ryan Murphy, an organizer of the pilgrimage to the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto, said someone attempted to set fire to the historic Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes July 4, and a string of vandalism including graffiti, smashed doorknobs and even bullet holes have recently been inflicted on the property.