A Catholic on the Camino

[J.Patrick]

I read with dismay of a peregrino's encounters with some "religious" sorts.

On my camino's, as a Catholic priest, it delights me to encounter the many reasons people have for the journey. How lovely that those of us from different and no spiritual backgrounds can share in the camino together, be it for grief, self-discovery, adventure, love of God, retirement, for the joy of it, for hope, to encounter deeper community, to find love, for the beauty, the silence, the conversations, the thinking, the emptiness, the fullness...and on and on. To walk along and hear someone else's very different story is one of the camino pleasures, isn't it?

This priest doesn't feel any more entitled to the camino than anyone else. Welcome world! The camino waits.

 

[Robo]

I agree 100% @J.Patrick .

What a wonderful melting pot of humanity the Camino is........

And whilst not a Catholic I almost become one on the Camino!
I think it's called 'immersion'

 

[t2andreo]

Simply go along, to get along. All will sort itself out.

 

[Francois de Meillon]

I read with dismay of a peregrino's encounters with some "religious" sorts.

On my camino's, as a Catholic priest, it delights me to encounter the many reasons people have for the journey. How lovely that those of us from different and no spiritual backgrounds can share in the camino together, be it for grief, self-discovery, adventure, love of God, retirement, for the joy of it, for hope, to encounter deeper community, to find love, for the beauty, the silence, the conversations, the thinking, the emptiness, the fullness...and on and on. To walk along and hear someone else's very different story is one of the camino pleasures, isn't it?

This priest doesn't feel any more entitled to the camino than anyone else. Welcome world! The camino waits.

Indeed. I'm again a protestant and am sad to hear of our fellow pilgrim's experience.
Today is Resurrection Sunday for all of us who follow the Christ. My hope and prayer is that the Camino remains a meeting place for all who have a desire to walk it.
A pilgrimage is a great leveller. We all need to cover our chosen path and distance. We have all come from somewhere. We all want to return with a good report to our loved ones and fellows.
May all who enter the be encouraged to be welcoming and overcome obstacles as the path rises to meet them and those that they share it with. Ta. Francois

 

[The Kolbist]

Acts 1:8 was the reason Camino existed and it was for everyone to the ends of the earth. Thanks Padre!

 

[Etienne1964]

I read with dismay of a peregrino's encounters with some "religious" sorts.

On my camino's, as a Catholic priest, it delights me to encounter the many reasons people have for the journey. How lovely that those of us from different and no spiritual backgrounds can share in the camino together, be it for grief, self-discovery, adventure, love of God, retirement, for the joy of it, for hope, to encounter deeper community, to find love, for the beauty, the silence, the conversations, the thinking, the emptiness, the fullness...and on and on. To walk along and hear someone else's very different story is one of the camino pleasures, isn't it?

This priest doesn't feel any more entitled to the camino than anyone else. Welcome world! The camino waits.

It would be great to walk the Camino with a priest. I would want to attend daily Mass, so walking with a priest would make it easier to arrange.

 

[The Kolbist]

It would be great to walk the Camino with a priest. I would want to attend daily Mass, so walking with a priest would make it easier to arrange.

Last 2017 before our walk in CF, I told my wife that it would be nice to walk with a priest. In Villar de Mazarife, we met and walk with a priest. Although, he did not say any mass, we would attend masses together. You can ask the hospitalero, if there is a mass in town where you stay for the night. Some towns have it at 7p some 8p. God bless and Buen Camino..