A Medieval Tradition Revived?

[PilgrimChris]

The following is an article reported in the Catholic Herald (UK) Nov 19th 2010

"An Irishman who was promised by a judge that he would be spared time in prison if he undertook a pilgrimage and said "a few prayers" has completed the task and raised about £2,500 for charity in the process.
Joseph McElwee had been convicted of drunken behaviour and verbally abusing a police officer and faced a prison sentence. But in March, Judge Seamus Hughes came up with a novel opportunity for Mr McElwee to avoid prison time and ordered him to climb Ireland's holiest mountain, Crough Patrick in County Mayo.
Mr McElwee reported to the court this week and showed the judge photographs of himself and 13 friends on top of the 2,500ft mountain where St. Patrick fasted for 40 days in the fifth century. He told the judge he felt the climb had been "therapeutic"."

As many are aware this was a common way for certain "criminals" to make reparation for their crimes in medieval times and in this modern case at least it seems that not only did the offender fulfil his sentence, but also raised money for charity and 13 other people also gained from the experience.

I do not offer an opinion on the sentencing here except to say that if, as i would imagine, the injured parties in the case namely the police officer mentioned were in agreement with the judge's sentencing then arguably more good came from the fulfilling of the sentence than if the former offender had been imprisoned.

God bless the Judge and Joseph and all those involved.

Chris

 

[Dael]

Hi Chris,
I should like to paste an "old" post from Sil.
I have twice walked with A. a young offender and B a "Guardian Angel" in this scheme.
It is still very active.
"Go to: http://www.alba.be/
Oikoten (a Greek word with a double meaning - ‘away from home, away from your native country’ and ‘by your own force or by your own means’) is also the name of an organisation in Belgium that deals with troubled teenagers and juvenile delinquents.
In 1982 Oikoten (now known as Alba) started organizing hikings and work projects for youngsters in difficulty. They mediate between juvenile delinquents and their victims to make up for caused harm
introduced pilgrimage to Santiago as an alternative of incarceration of minor delinquents. The Oikoten pilgrimage gave these youngsters the opportunity to prove that they could be released by the juvenile court integrated into normal society.
The young people have to sign a contract:
1. to walk every inch by foot
2. to respect the law
3. to leave behind personal stereo and GSM
4. to avoid behaviour that endangers the hike.
You could help these youngsters by becoming a ‘guardian angel’ through the Ultreia Walk On programme. Log onto this website to find out how you can sponsor a pilgrim or even help a troubled youth apply to become a sponsored pilgrim.
http://jeffer-london.com/ultreia/eng/ul ... or_en.html"
The "Guardian" I walked with completed a second journey with an offender this year.
Dael