Paris to Chartres pilgrimage - too many pilgrims!

[Bradypus]

I just came across this article on the website of the UK Catholic newspaper The Tablet. It seems that since 1983 there has been an annual three-day 97km walking pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres. A specifically religious event for supporters of the pre-Vatican II traditional liturgy. About 16,000 walkers accompanied by over 300 priests. I must confess that I had never heard of this particular pilgrimage. The article notes that for the first time in the forty year history of the event it has been over-subscribed and some of those wishing to walk have had to be turned away. Another sign of the growing interest in walking pilgrimage more widely?

Chartres pilgrimage turns away marchers due to popularity

The annual Paris-to-Chartres pilgrimage had to turn away participants due to over-subscription this year.

www.thetablet.co.uk

 

[dougfitz]

Wow!! The roads must have been packed. I'm trying to imagine the logistics challenge of getting that many people on the road and dealing with them along the way and at the end. Presumably 30 odd years of doing this has given the organisers plenty of experience getting ready for such numbers. I think it would be a stunning spectacle just to watch, let alone participate in.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[David]

1 person every 6 metres if spread out ... - over subscribed is an odd term as they are public roads so anyone can walk them.

 

[DreamWeaver]

It's a yearly event with exception of those pandemic years. It happens around pentacost, this year I see a lot of small children joining in.
This is their Facebook link

Notre-Dame de Chrétienté

Notre-Dame de Chrétienté, Viroflay. 27,144 likes · 5,714 talking about this. Notre-Dame de Chrétienté organise tous les ans le pèlerinage de Pentecôte de Paris à Chartres

www.facebook.com

 

[Kathar1na]

I had never heard of this particular pilgrimage.

I've been aware of this pilgrimage to Chartres over the Whitsun weekend for several years. This is a properly organised pilgrimage.

Notre-Dame de Chrétienté is the French name of the organizing association and here is the link to their website https://www.nd-chretiente.com/ .

The link to their practical information for the pilgrimage 2023 is here:
https://www.nd-chretiente.com/informations-pratiques/ .

Note that the pilgrimage has just taken place and you cannot yet enrol for next year. There is some info in English on their website but it is not up to date and not very comprehensive as far as I can make out.

 

[Kathar1na]

This photo from this Chartres Pilgrimage website ... that is exactly the idea of pilgrimage that I grew up with and have still imprinted in my memory banks ...walking in orderly rows and groups, the sound of religious singing, the banners moving gently in the wind, the sunny weather, going past fields and meadows all green with crops in full growth, summertime ...

 

[DreamWeaver]

This photo from this Chartres Pilgrimage website ... that is exactly the idea of pilgrimage that I grew up with and have still imprinted in my memory banks ...walking in orderly rows and groups, the sound of religious singing, the banners moving gently in the wind, the sunny weather, going past fields and meadows all green with crops in full growth, summertime ...

View attachment 148925

There are many more recent photos in the Facebook, look like a fun outing

 

[Bradypus]

What interested me in particular was that the motivation is being expressed through a walking journey and that aspect has grown so large in recent years. Something we are also seeing in the less overtly Catholic or religious sphere of the Caminos.

 

[Kathar1na]

Definitely a walking pilgrimage, just not a Camino or a voie or a via with a Latin adjective .

And not as international as a Camino either. From a Le Parisien article: 16 000 pèlerins, dont 1 400 personnes venant de l’étranger - 16.000 pilgrims, among them 1.400 pilgrims from abroad.

I had once looked into participating in this as part of my project of walking to Santiago but then abandoned the idea for obvious reasons (and, no, it was not because of the huge number of walkers).

 

[Bradypus]

- over subscribed is an odd term as they are public roads so anyone can walk them.

I would imagine that a three day event like this would need substantial temporary logistical support for accommodation, food and so on. Not like walking an established Camino route with lower daily numbers and a permanent infrastructure. No doubt extra bodies could follow behind unofficially but it would be a challenge.

 

[cathietherese]

Chartres c’est magnifique! Lucky pilgrims, super interesting uptake on pilgrimage.

 

[JabbaPapa]

It seems that since 1983 there has been an annual three-day 97km walking pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres. A specifically religious event for supporters of the pre-Vatican II traditional liturgy. About 16,000 walkers accompanied by over 300 priests. I must confess that I had never heard of this particular pilgrimage.

It is not exclusively for traditionalists, but it is very popular among them.

It's more that the traditionalists and other traditional Catholics have been using it more and more for fostering and rallying support among and between their groups -- but its main focus is still as a students' pilgrimage ; the traditional character of the pilgrimage is really a consequence of students in France who are actively Catholic tending to be more traditionally so than the average Catholic in the country ; though there is certainly an increasing interest in traditional Catholicism among youth generally.

I myself first heard of this particular pilgrimage in 1993 or 1994, during the training and preparation period for my 2nd 1994 Camino from Paris -- which started through Chartres ; and on that 1994 my feet were just naturally drawn eventually into the route of that pilgrimage, as I could see from a few signs along the way.

In 1997 I did see the departure of one massive group of those pilgrims in Paris, at the time of the World Youth Day in the city that year, and the number and character of them were truly impressive.

As to the record number this year, I guess it's possible that they may need to think about organising a second "overflow" weekend or something ...

---

BTW the young man who drove off the madman in Annecy and likely prevented an even worse outcome is exactly that sort of young student pilgrim, making his way in this case around all of France's Cathedrals ; who dropped his backpack and used his daypack to shield himself and push the attacker away.