Mass to honour those who died on the camino

[sillydoll]

Posted by Rosina on the St James Forum:
The Archdiocese of Santiago has held a number of services, including a solemn Mass, to honor the memory of those pilgrims who died on the Camino during 2010.
In chronological order of their death they were:

Steffan Anters from Germany, 26 years old. Died in January in Serguda (A Coruna)
Manuel Jimenez from Madrid, 78 years old. Died in April in Navarrete (La Rioja)
Linus Gillis from Canada, 62 years old. Died in May in Terradillos de los Templarios
Adrianus C. Jacoba van Gol from Holland, 71 years old. Died in May in Leon
Guido Lucci from Italy, 31 years old. Died in July in Ibaneta (Navarra)
Carmelo Arnaiz from Spain, 68 years old. Died in July in Aviles (Asturias)
George Kollen from Germany, 67 years old. Died in October in Portomarin
Giulio Ricusani from Italy, 26 years old. drowned in Fisterra in August after having completed his pilgrimage walking all the way to Santiago from Tui.

Two of the deaths were attributed to being hit by vehicles while walking on the highway; the rest, except for the drowning, were caused by heart problems.
There were no women among the demised (??????).

The Archdiocese referred to the fallen, during the services in their remembrance, as "eternal pilgrims", mentioning that they have joined the pilgrimage of the many hundreds, if not thousands, of pilgrims who merely walked on straight to heaven.
(Because of the traffic misfortunes, new highway guards, traffic lights, distinct signals and ripples in the highway approaches to the pilgrims' crossings have been installed.)

The 1,000 or so Camino volunteers during the Holy Year responded to 150,000 requests for assistance, ranging from physical injuries to loss of items (cell phones, mostly), to being lost, or to finding a place to sleep.
The Xacobean people have announced that the five temporary albergues opened during 2010 will become permanent. This increases the number of new Xacobean-sponsored albergues to ten.
It is also reported that about thirty times as many people attended the closing of the Holy Door as expected, and that the Cathedral is beginning to recover from the impact of having received about ten million people during 2010.
And the pilgrims keep on showing up at the Pilgrims Office: This January they have averaged about 34 per day, which is almost double the number of those in January 2010.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Posted by Rosina on the St James Forum:
And the pilgrims keep on showing up at the Pilgrims Office: This January they have averaged about 34 per day, which is almost double the number of those in January 2010.

I don't know where this stuff comes from - the Pilgrims Office data base shows that in January 2010 1169 pilgrims were registered - or 37 per day on average. Numbers have not doubled.

The data base is (with all of its faults) is publicly available at http://peregrinossantiago.es/

 

[sillydoll]

John - I think Rosina receives the Archicofradía newsletter and often quotes bits and pieces from there. She is fluent in Spanish so is able to translate the text. Not sure who compiles the newsletter or who provides the stats and articles though.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Yes I recieve it too! Something has happened in the translation

 

[Caminando]

Thanks S, for this info on pilgrim deaths.

I admit I was astonished, but when I reconsidered, I realised that with 250000 pilgs arriving in SDC there must be a number of deaths.

The two who died in road accidents were a salutary reminder to me to go carefully. The others? - I don't know if to die on the camino is a blessing or not. Yet it would seem so, as they were doing something important, and there is a kind of balance about it.

Anyway thanks for the very thought provoking info.
:arrow:

 

[nathanael]

Hey Sillydoll thanks for the info on the Mass for those who died on the Camino. I arrived at the albergue where he died in the late morning and was told about it apparently he died in his sleep.I believe he was from Bilbao.
n.