Before yesterday I didn't know that . . .

[Jeff Crawley]

Among the many, many things I was ignorant of is the Jubilee Camino.

Coming home from London yesterday, while scanning the departure boards at the station, I had a chance meeting with a fellow pilgrim - Father Eoin (I think that's spelled correctly) is a softly spoken Irishman and he had spotted a couple of Camino patches on my daypack (which I had been in two minds about sewing on).

We compared notes on our pilgrimages: my first was a conventional SJPP to Santiago in 2001 whilst he'd walked the CF in 1999 from Pamplona just before entering a seminary in Ireland for training. Apparently 1999 was a "Jubilee" year in addition to being a Holy Year (25th July and all that) and to qualify you needed to enter Santiago cathedral through the Holy Door, say a prayer, make confession and receive communion.

I asked if he'd walked the last 100km and received his Compostela and was told he had, indeed, walked the whole way staying with members of the priesthood or being lodged in village houses along the way. It seems that to celebrate a Jubilee there's no need to walk at all, you just arrive in Santiago by any means at your disposal and he hadn't sought out a Compostela although he did "buy a postcard" as a memento.

In addition to Santiago you can also celebrate the Jubilee in Villafranca del Bierzo and one other Spanish town though I didn't catch the name.

He's hoping to obtain a leave of absence from his bishop to repeat the journey in the next jubilee year which it seems is 2027?

My train was announced and so we parted but it was a lovely chance meeting and I was glad that I had, after all, sewn the patches on my bag.

I made some notes on the train but some of the details above may be wrong, as I said he, was quietly spoken!

Has anybody else had a chance meeting another Pilgrim while not on the Camino?

 

[J Willhaus]

Among the many, many things I was ignorant of is the Jubilee Camino.

Coming home from London yesterday, while scanning the departure boards at the station, I had a chance meeting with a fellow pilgrim - Father Eoin (I think that's spelled correctly) is a softly spoken Irishman and he had spotted a couple of Camino patches on my daypack (which I had been in two minds about sewing on).

We compared notes on our pilgrimages: my first was a conventional SJPP to Santiago in 2001 whilst he'd walked the CF in 1999 from Pamplona just before entering a seminary in Ireland for training. Apparently 1999 was a "Jubilee" year in addition to being a Holy Year (25th July and all that) and to qualify you needed to enter Santiago cathedral through the Holy Door, say a prayer, make confession and receive communion.

I asked if he'd walked the last 100km and received his Compostela and was told he had, indeed, walked the whole way staying with members of the priesthood or being lodged in village houses along the way. It seems that to celebrate a Jubilee there's no need to walk at all, you just arrive in Santiago by any means at your disposal and he hadn't sought out a Compostela although he did "buy a postcard" as a memento.

In addition to Santiago you can also celebrate the Jubilee in Villafranca del Bierzo and one other Spanish town though I didn't catch the name.

He's hoping to obtain a leave of absence from his bishop to repeat the journey in the next jubilee year which it seems is 2027?

My train was announced and so we parted but it was a lovely chance meeting and I was glad that I had, after all, sewn the patches on my bag.

I made some notes on the train but some of the details above may be wrong, as I said he, was quietly spoken!

Has anybody else had a chance meeting another Pilgrim while not on the Camino?

Often! I have a patch on my backpack and meet people in airports all the time. We also have a shell sticker on our pickup topper and have met people in the grocery store parking lot as well on the road to other places such as in Canada and Alaska last summer. It kind of doubles as a secret handshake or special code word.

 

[trecile]

Apparently 1999 was a "Jubilee" year in addition to being a Holy Year (25th July and all that) and to qualify you needed to enter Santiago cathedral through the Holy Door, say a prayer, make confession and receive communion.

He's hoping to obtain a leave of absence from his bishop to repeat the journey in the next jubilee year which it seems is 2027?

According to this article from Correos the terms Holy Year and Jubilee Year are interchangeable, and the next one will be 2027.

When is the next Holy Year

When 25 July - St. James' Day - falls on a Sunday, the Compostela Holy Year is celebrated. The next one will be in 2027

www.elcaminoconcorreos.com

 

[K_Lynn]

I have a shell tattoo on my calf. I have been stopped by three women who also have walked Camino and stopped by 3 or 4 people who want to walk Camino and had questions. I am more than happy to blather on endlessly when asked.