TWO Bishops and a visiting Archbishop took to the streets to offer shoppers and commuters a traditional Ash Wednesday blessing.

Catholic and Church of England clergy joined forces to celebrate the start of Lent by offering ashes to passers-by on the streets of Sunderland.

The morning started with a Eucharist service led by The Right Reverend Paul Butler at Sunderland Minster and ended with Mass at St Mary’s led by Catholic Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle the Right Reverend Seamus Cunningham.

Between the two services, the two bishops were joined by The Most Reverend Dr Onesphore Rwaje, Archbishop of Rwanda, in marking the foreheads of passers-by with ashes.

As part of the Ashes To Go international campaign, the clergymen visited bus stops, street corners, coffee shops and train stations to offer people the centuries-old Christian blessing of marking the sign of the cross in ashes as an invitation to receive God’s forgiveness.

Bishop Butler said Ashes To Go was an opportunity for people who have lost their connection with the church to participate in the tradition.

He said: “It was delight to join with our friends from the Catholic Church and the people of Sunderland to mark the start of Lent.

“I am always amazed at the welcome we receive when we go out and offer to ‘Ash’ people and pray for them.

“One of the reasons we do it is because people are perhaps losing the sense of Lent and doing this reminds them about Ash Wednesday and gives them the opportunity to think about their mortality and the forgiveness of Christ.

“It is a conversation starter and some of the conversations that have been created through this have been very interesting.”

The Revd Canon Sheila Bamber - Provost of Sunderland Minster and the Revd Father Marc Lyden-Smith of St Mary’s in Sunderland said: “Ashes to Go is about bringing the important traditions of our faith out from behind church doors and into the community.

“As people get busier and busier, we need the church to be working in new and non-traditional ways. We especially need reminders of forgiveness in the tough places of our lives.

“The people who accept ashes on the street are often people longing to make a connection between their faith and the pressures of daily life, and Ashes to Go helps them feel that connection.”