Can I put someone else's name on my compostela?

Now granted it is a film, and as such fictional, but I got the impression that he was allowed to put his son's name on it because the member of staff thought it was the name Martin Sheen's character was known by as opposed to the name on his passport.

I was in college with a man who's first name was Mary and his second name was Thomas. Officially he was Mary Thomas but his name as used was Thomas. Similarly, my uncle is Michael Martin but is known as Marty to everyone.

I thought however that you could get the compostella in someone else's name. The wording being changed to say that you walked on behalf of the person named.

Congratulations on the birth of your grandson.

Something tells me that:

a) no matter where your grandson's name is on the document, you've created quite a unique keepsake for him to remember you by and

b) you've recruited another Camino addict

Congrats!

I spoke to someone the other day in the office about this and they also said the Compostela will be issued in the name of the bearer of the credential with a dedication added for the other party.

I'm sure a certain Mr J.Walker will put us right if this is not correct or there are any other alternatives.

Saludos
Mig

Hola - absolutely right. This kind of request is made quite frequently when pilgrims want to dedicate their pilgrimage to someone who has died or can't make the pilgrimage on their own or other important personal reasons. The Compostela records the pilgrimage the individual pilgrim made and therefore their name goes on the Compostela - when requested this is followed by the Latin phrase which means "on behalf of" then the person's name to whom the pilgrimage is being dedicated.

I suppose it is a little unfortunate that in the film "the Way" Martin Sheen's Compostela was changed by the actor office worker from his to his son's name when normally the dedication would appear underneath.

As far as I know only one pilgrim has been upset when they "couldn't have exactly what happened in the film" - they were gently reminded that the staff of the Pilgrim's Office aren't actors and that we work in Santiago not in Holywood!