Brother Biagio and Brother David were not originally planning to visit Wales on their journey
Two Italian monks are in Wales as they walk from London to Ireland on a “pilgrimage of peace”.
Brother Biagio and colleague Brother David refuse to accept lifts and carry no money, relying on the hospitality of strangers they meet along the way.
Dressed in full monastic robes, they also fast as they walk, drinking only water during the day.
The pair set off from London three weeks ago, and are now on Anglesey with the aim to sail to Dublin on Friday.
They said they were on a five-year mission to walk through as many European countries as possible, talking to people and spreading a “message of hope”.
Speaking through his colleague as a translator, Brother Biagio said: “We are on a pilgrimage.
“We are trying to talk to as many people as possible and tell them that there is hope, that there can be a better world. That hope comes from God.
“We tell people to respond to evil with good actions and we must stand together as a human race.”
The pair said they had found people in Wales to be very spiritual
Brother Biagio set off from Italy five years ago and reached London at the end of last year, but the coronavirus pandemic made it difficult for him to continue until now.
In Italy, he is known as a social justice campaigner, setting up a centre in Palermo, Sicily, to help homeless people and people with addictions.
On his latest stage of the walk he has visited Leicester and Liverpool, where he had planned to cross to Ireland but could not get a ferry.
He added: “We found ourselves walking through Wales by chance.
“But people in Wales are very spiritual and very hospitable. It feels as if God wanted us to visit and has made us welcome here.”