New Compostela Rules

[SYates]

New rules for obtaining the Compostela have just been announced. It is not anymore necessary to walk/bike/ride/sail the LAST 100km into Santiago, any 100km on any Camino will do AS LONG as the last stage you do ends in Santiago. Source:

 

[Kathor1]

It would be best if this were put in written form and in clear language. Is it on their website - at least on one of them, be it the website of the Pilgrim’s Office or the Cathedral’s website itself. Has the national Camino association of Spain been informed? Other major international Camino associations?

 

[JabbaPapa]

Wow !! That's a huge change, and will take a lot of the pressure off the Sarria to Santiago section.

And apparently from what the Canon is saying, it's 2 stamps per day on the whole route unless that's not possible.

 

[SioCamino]

From the Pilgrim office website :
Peregrinación a pie o a caballo: haber caminado 100 km por cualquiera de las rutas reconocidas como oficiales por la S.A.M.I. Catedral de Santiago.

The English language version still uses the word "last" around the 100km. The above does not but I don't know if this is new wording in Spanish or not. It certainly reads as any 100km to me.

 

[henrythedog]

I checked the way back machine copy for November and the wordings the same

 

[JCLima]

Can't wait for all the posts asking "If I walk from *insertRandomTown* to *insertRandomTown2*, will I qualify for the Compostela?"

 

[Bradypus]

It would be best if this were put in written form and in clear language. Is it on their website - at least on one of them, be it the website of the Pilgrim’s Office or the Cathedral’s website itself.

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.

 

[MinaKamina]

I tried to follow the transcript of the video and it is downright ridiculous. Words fail.

According to the rules as explained in de video, I could walk 100 kms along the Northern camino in my home area, sleep every night in my own bed (with a little planning), take a flight to SdC and walk from the airport to the Cathedral and providing I have enough stamps, this would count as a pilgrimage to Santiago.

if you

8:19
start the Camino in USA for example I

8:23
don't know in San Diego and complete and

8:26
complete the the 100 kilometers with the

8:29
last stage in

8:31
Santiago and I can get you the the

8:36
compostella very good so yeah that's new

8:38
with San Antonio and uh I believe it's

8:42
St Augustine in Florida and San Antonio

8:45
in Texas uh there may be others uh that

8:49
are doing that so you can do I think

8:50
it's 25 kilometers in the United

8:54
States yeah and then the other 75 yeah

8:59
and now now is it that that's one thing

9:01
that a lot of pilgrims have questions of

9:04
is it the last

9:07
75

9:09
kilometers continuous into

9:12
Santiago is that or not continuous or

9:15
not continuous the last stage

9:19
yeah

9:21
last the last stage yeah you have

9:24
to to do the the Camino to Santiago but

9:29
not necessarily you have to do uh the

9:33
others I don't know 90 kilomet uh

9:38
by continue

9:41
continuous continuous yeah you can

9:44
Santiago jump uhuh in the same Camino

9:47
you can jump you can yeah so so let me

9:51
ask you this if I started in sanan

9:54
France and I know many Spaniards don't

9:57
believe in starting in San but if I

9:59
start J to buros or Leon and you

10:02
continue to Santiago but how about if I

10:05
started in s Johan and then I skipped

10:09
and I started in

10:12
Azura that's not that's not far enough

10:14
is it or is it far enough if I get a a

10:17
full 100 kilometers

10:19
in yeah you can do it you can yeah so

10:23
you could start in

10:25
Azura or yeah yeah or in Istanbul in

10:30
Ean

 

[Bradypus]

According to the rules as explained in de video, I could walk 100 kms along the Northern camino in my home area, sleep every night in my own bed (with a little planning), take a flight to SdC and walk from the airport to the Cathedral and providing I have enough stamps, this would count as a pilgrimage to Santiago.

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.

 

[Hans-Georg Goebel]

New rules for obtaining the Compostela have just been announced. It is not anymore necessary to walk/bike/ride/sail the LAST 100km into Santiago, any 100km on any Camino will do AS LONG as the last stage you do ends in Santiago. Source:

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.

 

[Tincatinker]

Just imagine. A Compostela is awarded to anyone who makes pilgrimage to the shrine of Santiago, with religious intent or at least in a sense of search.

There will be no prize for walking 100km in the best trainers; merino knickers; finest poncho; lightest backpack etc. There will be no prize for collecting stamps (philatelists excepted: theirs is the prize). There will be no prize for pounding the dust for 1400km while blogging everyday.

The only prize will be for looking at that splendid box and wondering if those old bones mean something else

 

[sillydoll]

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.

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.

 

[Stephan the Painter]

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.

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…

 

[falcon269]

Just imagine. A Compostela is awarded to anyone who makes pilgrimage to the shrine of Santiago, with religious intent or at least in a sense of search.

That is the rule as it is applied, but it does not agree with the wording ON the compostela.

"has devotedly visited this most sacred temple having done the last hundred kilometers on foot or on horseback or the last two hundred by bicycle with Christian sentiment (pietatis causa)."

"con sentido cristiano (pietatis causa)"

There is a clear connection to Catholic Christianity and pietatis causa within it. The Cathedral sets the rules, and the Pilgrim Office enforces them. If a spiritual intent, Protestant, Buddhist, Islam, Yoga, or Shinto is fine with them, of necessity, it must be fine with the rest of us. Their game, their rules.

Is the psychic energy devoted to debating clearly arbitrary rules worth the effort? Not to me!

And, yes, I see the irony of bothering to post this sentiment...

 

[SabsP]

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…

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.

oficinadelperegrino.com

https://viajecaminodesantiago.com/en/pilgrims-useful-information/indulgence-plenary/

 

[David Tallan]

I checked the date, and it seems to be neither April Fools (April 1) or Dia de los Inocentes (Dec 28). Nevertheless, I would advise waiting until this appears in the approved credencial or on the official Pilgrim Office website before relying on it to get your Compostela. It seems there are some details still to be worked out (e.g. what is required at the very end leading into Santiago). I wouldn't consider it completely to be relied upon until it is in writing somewhere official.

 

[Steven Baggs]

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.

oficinadelperegrino.com

https://viajecaminodesantiago.com/en/pilgrims-useful-information/indulgence-plenary/

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.

 

[Bradypus]

Do you get certificates or something similar when you visit those others shrines without making a pilgrimage walk?

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.

 

[Tincatinker]

“Keep your eyes on the prize” as my old rugby coach never bothered to say while we floundered in the mud

 

[Bradypus]

But under this potential new system, you can just show up in Santiago and get the certificate?

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.

 

[Stephan the Painter]

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.

OK, whoops, I misunderstood. I'm going to delete my last comment.

 

[JCLima]

(...) no one cared how I got there, just that I had bothered to make the journey. (...)

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.

Edit: Not trying to start a debate about who's a pilgrim—just giving some context about pilgrimage to Fátima.

 

[SabsP]

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.

Edit: Not trying to start a debate about who's a pilgrim—just giving some context about pilgrimage to Fátima.

Same situation with Lourdes.