As an American, years ago I first saw The Way with the pastor of my church, along with my family at Mount St. Mary’s, a small women’s college in Los Angeles. Martin Sheen, his son, Emilio Estevez, and the producer afterwards went onstage for a film discussion and Q&A. Mr. Sheen is a longtime parishioner of my small Catholic church, and both he and his sons are in the Industry, the moniker for Hollywood in my town. The Way understandably used the formulaic Hollywood urgencies and elegy to resonate with audiences, while IMO illuminating this over 1,000 year old Catholic pilgrimage in a respectful way.
I was not yet inspired to go, as back then my chronic pain, fatigue, and worse had become overwhelming. My symptoms would later be diagnosed as 2 autoimmune diseases.
The beloved and highly educated pastor of my church had walked the CF pilgrimage over a span of many years in spurts, as his schedule allowed. He had nothing but praise for The Way, though as a native Los Angelano, he was cognizant of the Industry’s need for drama in a film. Last year, my church held a dinner for parishioners and showed The Way. Martin Sheen kindly spoke afterwards, sharing that the cast became lifelong friends, and how the filming of The Way brought him closer to his director son. They are hatching a sequel.
The film inspired me after last year‘s showing to commit to a pilgrimage, planning for a time after I will have recovered from a string of needful pain relief surgeries. I met a medical doctor and professor in Umbria last year, who said that these surgeries were unavailable in Italy. A medical doctor, who had stayed with my family years ago as a foreign exchange student, said that the pain relief surgeries are not done in Germany.
An old college friend, a lapsed Catholic and ignorant of The Way, had walked The Way a few years ago as a tourist alongside her pilgrim friend, getting her “compostela” stamped in bars and restaurants, lol. She also had walked The Way in spurts. Another old college friend, a Catholic, and newly retired, pilgrimaged last year on the CF. Yet another college friend, also Catholic, pilgrimaged the Camino Portugues last year. Neither had seen The Way. BTW, we all graduated about 40 years ago.
I liked The Way, though I can empathize with seasoned camino pilgrims/tourists about the increased numbers on the camino. Every summer, my town is inundated with beachgoers from over the hill. Then social media made it worse. A nearby state beach was posted on social media, and every day about 500+ visitors amassed at this once quiet, sleepy beach, in a parking lot meant for 40 cars. The visitors, after parking on either side of the state highway, would amble on this 55 MPH highway, loaded down with beach accoutrements. I thank God for my ABS brakes, for that is what saved a young family with a toddler, as they blindly stepped into oncoming traffic. I was in the right lane with a car in the next lane and one behind me, and we were all going the speed limit. I can still remember the sound and feeling of braking like crazy. We all were able to stop our cars. I recall the young mother cursing at us. Us drivers went on our way. Often the beach visitors acted like the state highway was a residential street, unmindful of the 55 MPH traffic. After 3 pedestrians were killed by oncoming, not speeding cars, the State posted and enforced no parking zones within a mile of the beach, as well as large, lit signs cautioning the drivers about pedestrians. Not much later, a short hike to a little known seasonal falls a few miles away from me was posted on social media. Hundreds of visitors descend on the tiny parking lot every weekend, even when there’s no water to make the falls. Some visitors walk alongside their family or friends, right in the path of oncoming traffic in a 50 MPH zone. No one has yet been killed by oncoming traffic, though several auto collision fatalities occurred closeby.
The 32K American pilgrims visiting along the caminos have not endangered any lives. They have boosted the local economies along the caminos. The greater numbers means that pilgrims have more people to converse with along the caminos, for those who like to talk with pilgrim/tourist strangers. (I have read posts about that.)
I will note that the
Camino de Santiago originated and was used by Catholics for over 1,000 years. It is wonderful that people of many faiths, lapsed faiths, as well as no faith have walked the Caminos these past 50+ years. Were any of you, as a non-Catholic, derided by a Catholic for walking a camino? Ponder that before you declaim the increased number of camino visitors.
