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Past experience has been that it can take a very long time for the websites to be updated to reflect changes in policy. And the cathedral/pilgrim office are rarely proactive in publicising such changes. A simple unambiguous statement of what the pilgrim office now requires for a Compostela would be very helpful. Announcing what appears to be a major change in policy on the hoof in a video interview for a fairly limited foreign audience may create far more confusion than clarity.
Personally I would argue that anyone who flies to SdC and visits the cathedral and the tomb of the Apostle in the right spirit is making a pilgrimage to Santiago. 30 years ago the cathedral made the decision to make receiving a Compostela dependent on an additional condition of walking or cycling a set minimum distance. This has distorted the basic understanding of pilgrimage in relation to Santiago in a way that does not apply for almost all other Christian pilgrimage destinations. Making a pilgrimage to Santiago and qualifying for a Compostela under the cathedral's rules are different things.
Let us wait, Ivar will clear the question. Will not beleave, that I can made the 100 km somewhere and finish from Monte Gozo to the cathedral.
I agree with you 100%. Millions of pilgrims visit dozens of Christian shrines every year without having to walk there. The 100km rule introduced by the cathedral in the 1990s created huge crowds walking from Sarria and accusations of cheating for those who might start their walk further back and take occasional transport before arriving in Sarria. Walking pilgrims usually account for a small % of pilgrims who visit Santiago, especially in Holy Years.
That is the rule as it is applied, but it does not agree with the wording ON the compostela.
Do you get certificates or something similar when you visit those others shrines without making a pilgrimage walk?
I don’t mind these changes, although it would be nice if my Compostela for walking 800 km is different from the person who took a tour bus…
oficinadelperegrino.com
I recently walked part of the way to Fatima from Lisbon. I was the only pilgrim walking, although I did meet one cyclist on his way to Santiago. When I got there I found hundreds of fellow pilgrims. There was no Compostela or anything like that and the spiritual experience/ reward was Fatima itself not just the journey or a piece of paper. I was allowed into the basilica’s with my backpack on and treated as a pilgrim, no one cared how I got there, just that I had bothered to make the journey. The real reward for me was joining about 300 other pilgrims in a candle lit procession at 10.15pm, a wonderful experience.There is the Plenary Indulgence for those who follow some specific observations. For some pilgrims it might feel more important than receiving " a paper Compostela "
I do not want to start another true pilgrim or tourist versus pilgrim discussion but I know for sure that some " tour bus " visitors to Santiago are more devout pilgrims than I with my more than 3000 km walking.
The Plenary Indulgence: The Jubilee
In order to gain the Jubilee Indulgence individuals must: Visit the Cathedral of Santiago, go to confession and go to communion.
I have walked the Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome and two of the Olavsleden routes which end in Trondheim. Both walking pilgrimage routes revived or created (choose your own verb) after the success of the Camino revival and modelled upon the Caminos. Both the VF and the Olavsleden offer a certificate to those who walk at least 100km and produce a stamped credencial as evidence. No coincidence.
In the interview the canon appears to be saying that there will still be a minimum distance requirement of 100km but not necessarily the final 100km into Santiago.
Portuguese pilgrims walking to Fátima often have some organization behind them, with support vans and everything. The idea that one must carry a backpack, walk a specific number of kilometers, or fulfill certain requirements to be considered a pilgrim is not a thing.
Remember the Camino de Santiago is 1200 yrs. old. The only way to do it was on foot or horseback. It was taken on for some as a sentence from the Inquisition, for some as a penance from a Bishop, and for others it was to receive a Plenary Indulgence. It has nothing in comparison with Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje, etc. Obviously, for the first 1,000 years it was not on anybody's bucket list as a holiday outing.
In addition I think that it was somewhat irresponsible for American Pilgrims to publish this video before any new rules have been published by the Pilgrims Office.
I agree. It was clearly a "reveal" that would create uncertainty, and I wonder if the Canon realized it.
Regardless of what a YouTube video or Facebook post says I will wait until I read it on the Pilgrim Office website before I make any recommendations.
Thanks for the reminder. Sometimes I forget that some people have no understanding other than that offered by Ubend.
The pilgrim office website is already updated , at least the Spanish version. The requirement of the “last 100km” has been changed to “100km”..the English version still references “last 100km”, but I would assume that this will be updated in time also.
There is no difference between you and this person....I don’t mind these changes, although it would be nice if my Compostela for walking 800 km is different from the person who took a tour bus…
The Canon of the Cathedral has full Authority to establish such norms under the Authority provided to him by the Bishop, and he can establish them verbally or by any other means of communication of his own preference.
Actually, Lourdes has been a stage along one of the Pilgrimage Ways to (or from) Rome since Antiquity.
Gold, silver and bronze versions perhaps?I don’t mind these changes, although it would be nice if my Compostela for walking 800 km is different from the person who took a tour bus…
And just when they were going to crack out the mistletoe and mincies - and maybe a small Orujo to take the nasty taste away
Arhh, that’s what I nearly said, and then in 1858 they came up with something more interesting to pilgrims than a bacon sarnie bar and a signpost saying Rome X leagues. Nothing quite like a Virgin for pulling in the crowds is there?
That was a confusing summary of the ‘new’ rules and Tom L did his best to clarify scenarios. Hopefully, someone else suggested, the Office will write an unambiguous summary somewhere on their website
This part I don't understand.
It's not that inconvenient, and would allow people to walk stretches that they might enjoy more (passing through cities they want to visit, for example)
Ok, that makes sense. Spread the Pilgrims out. (assuming the convenience isn't an issue).
It adds flexibility. Only walked 3 caminos so far, but on each of them i met people that had either to "abandon" a group so they could finish the last 100k in time or force march for days to make it. While maybe not perfect this now presents another option, not more, not less.
This, in all likelihood. Call me a cynic, but I immediately wondered if the moneyed few had howled once too many times.
Medieval Christian Pilgrimage was the original vacation. If you were a serf, you worked every day but Sabbath and Holy Days. You likely died within walking distance of where you were born. If you wanted a break or new scenery, pilgrimage was the one thing your Lord could not say no to.
Yes. You can receive a certificate of pilgrimage upon your arrival to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem if you request it. You need not walk it, though I did from the Lebanese border. If you are Catholic, know who and where to ask, and pay a donation, the Church may also confer the Pope Leo XIII medal upon you as evidence of your pilgrimage and solemn intentions. It’s discretionary though and it was suggested to me that this practice is now less common. I’ll be buried wearing mine.Do you get certificates or something similar when you visit those others shrines without making a pilgrimage walk?
I don’t mind these changes, although it would be nice if my Compostela for walking 800 km is different from the person who took a tour bus…
Actually they did just that in around 1874. They had, believe it or not, lost the bones having hid them in 1589 to stop Sir Francis Drake (aka Drake the pirate) getting his hands on them. An excavation rediscovered them and they were formally identified as the remains that had been venerated as those of James the Apostle. No DNA test back then though.
Best that coudl be done now is probably identify them as being from male of the appropriate age, dating back around 2000 years. Cannot see a DNA test being relevant, assuming DNA could be extracted from the bones, whihc is far from a given.
from the internet: (https://www.trevorhuxham.com/2018/10/santiago-compostela-legends.html)
I enjoy offence, and like the Inquisition I relish the opportunity to admonish error wherever it arises. So I hate to say it, but my understanding is that the Inquisition was active during and after the crushing of the Cathar heresy in southern France in the 13th century, and persons repenting of their heresy were offered the opportunity of a pilgrimage to Santiago, instead of being burned at the stake. If this is so, it stands to reason that the authorities would require proofs of completion, to stop people from getting offside for a month or two in a local tavern. Could this be the happy origin of sellos, credentials, compostelas and all the other documents that the obedient pilgrim so diligently collects? I like to thing so. I hope I'm not wrong or some other pedant will take pleasure in correcting me and I'll fume with rage for a week.
There is still an element with the Spanish pilgrims, particularly those in their teens and twenties, of a Compostela for one's CV. Not sure how helpful it is in the actual job market or military or university, but some youngsters do still want one for such reasons, whether these are actually valid ones or not.
Peasants rather than serfs ; Sundays rather than Sabbath -- and BTW for many Portuguese foot pilgrims to Fátima, things remain almost exactly like that to this very day, though nowadays it's an Employer rather than a Lord. Some rural Portuguese may have no more than one week off work per year, and can use that week for a foot pilgrimage to the Shrine.
Well quite !!
This text on the website has been like this since at least 30 October 2024.
Completely agree
No, the Canon clarified it multiple times and in several different ways, as you can see in the transcript.
I do have to wonder about the logistics of such a move? do the 100 KM from SJPP and then bus it to Santiago? It does not seem to make sense.
There are many alternative starting points for a Camino. Why single out SJPDP in particular if 100km on any recognised route is all that is required? Many other places would make far more sense.
It sounds to me like a simplification compared to the previous 100K/200K rules, in that it is a partial return to the earlier focus on the pilgrimage as a pilgrimage, rather than as a number of hiking routes that had been drifting too much away from that deeper purpose.
The Canon made it fairly clear that this is not an expectation upon those walking in places where they are not available.
Not sure about that -- I think it's actually likely that the stats 2025 onwards will somewhat more accurately portray the real numbers, as many pilgrims ineligible under the old rules will instead be counted.
I agree. It feels much better to have no obligation to jump through whatever hoops the pilgrim office have in place at the time.
Not sure the audience here understands Pythonic satire
In effect, that is what we have already, the other certificate being the ´Distance Certificate'. So far as the Compostela itself is concerned, the issuing and the criteria are matters for the Cathedral of Santiago, so nothing we might say on this forum will make the slightest difference. Compostelas will be issued to anyone the cathedral decides to issue them to and people will walk the camino for whatever reason they have for walking the camino. Neither is really any business of mine.
Those were my thoughts exactly!
They used to. In this photo the "Welcome Certificate" is on the right.
Yes, it is a video of a Zoom conversation between a nice and friendly man who had apparently volunteered at the Pilgrim Office and also assisted as a deacon at the Pilgrim Mass and a very nice and enthusiastic canon from the Chapter of the Cathedral. They talk about a wider range of topics including some little known architectural feature in the Cathedral cloister which I didn’t understand at all (nor apparently the interviewer).
Difficult for those of us who live on an island off the coast of France. I chose to take a ferry for the damp salty parts of the route. Does that make me ineligible?
I think medieval pilgrims also used boats.
I'm sure that can be accepted if you go by rowboat or sailboat
Ii can't believe people care about any of this. In our hearts we know what we achieved and what it meant. So why not just give the piece of paper to anyone who wants it, and they can assign meaning to it?
Of course. But if the people issuing it keep changing what is valid, what is the point?
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No.
It's a pilgrimage, not a hike.
There is still a strict requirement of at least 100K on foot. And a new requirement of 2 stamps/day regardless of how far you are walking from.
I questioned this on the FB posting, saying it might have been a "lost in translation issue" and Johnny Walker responded to me that I was incorrect and to go back and listen to the interview again. He is the one responsible for shepherding the volunteers to work behind the desks that award the Compostelas. Like many others on this thread I think their has been some sort of capitulation to lessen the requirements and for the life of me I don't understand why they would want to diminish the value of a hard earned certificate to pilgrims who have walked more than 1000km. I guess a selfie with the date on it in front of the Cathedral will have to do from now on.
John has not been actively involved with the running of the pilgrim office for some years now. But he stills lives in Santiago and remains in touch with some of the pilgrim office and cathedral staff.
Quite rightly -- though some confusion from an overly imprecise interviewer and a non-native speaker interviewee has occurred.
Well I think that neither Compostelas provided for 100K of walking have nor could have diminished my own nor yours, nor do I think that my own very lengthy Caminos can in any way have diminished anyone else's either.
I think technically this is not a change. The previous requirement for a compostela was to walk the last 100km into Santiago and collect 2 stamps per day for this 100km. The new requirement appears to be to walk any 100km and collect 2 stamps during that 100km..what you do for the rest of the walk regarding stamps would not matter... at least that is my interpretation.
