We are getting a bit off topic, but I believe Sil has a point here and one I am only too well aware of.
Sil writes:
Let's presume that Rome proclaims the relics a fraud (they already accept that they are not those of St James) (reference Sil, please...this is the first I have heard of it it and it is a tad important to my research... :? ) and the church, municipalities, organisations and volunteers withdraw all support for the pilgrimage.
A massive machinery will come to a standstill. No more albergues, no maintenance of the paths, nobody to paint the yellow arrows, no menu del peregrinos, no cheap airflights to Santiago, no Compostela when you get there, no pilgrims' mass etc etc etc.
Will it matter? People can still hike the trail. And, although the archdiocese stresses that, "The most important thing here is the Goal, Not the Way. Jacobean Pilgrims do not go on pilgrimage for the sake of the Way. Through the Way they do get to the Tomb of Saint James "the Great" this is not true if the tomb is not that of St James. Most people say that the journey was important for them, not the destination anyway.
So, what would we be left with? A lovely 800km ramblers' hike across Spain on what used to be the Camino Pilgrimage until the 21st Century.
No, I don't believe that the pilgrimage will come to a stop, only that the focus would be recognised as what it is fast becoming: a way to the interior: consciousness rather than conscience which is what it has been about since the 11th century.
The Way of today does not resemble that of the past. Most "pilgrims" are not Catholic, many are not Christian. It doesn't make any difference: that is the beauty of the Camino.
While I hesitate to mention Dan Brown (Oh go on Tracy; you've already mentioned Shirley) the enormous worldwide success of the Da Vinci Code in particular and less so Angels and Demons is proof positive that people have had enough of being told what they "should" believe. I don't think the
Camino de Santiago is any exception. Once I had to explain the word "Gnostic" to people. Now everyone is an expert and Gnosticism crops up in the most unexpected of places. We are even allowed to consider that Judas might have been a good guy after all!
Holy Moly!
The fact is that there IS a body in the cathedral, three in fact. The fact is that there WERE Christian burials around this person and they were 4th century not 1st. The fact is that the cathedral (and the three previous churches) WERE built upon the site of a sacred Roman site which was dedicated to Jupiter and why any self-respecting saint would want to buried in the middle of that lot...well! Saint James would turn in his grave - where ever he is!
As to whose IS buried there... Well, I have my suspicions and perhaps that person's spiritual views were far more similar to many who walk the Camino today than most may think.
And the albergues, sign-marking etc? None of this would change. In fact the idea of a
Camino de Verdad might attract even more pilgrims. Certainly sitting on the steps of Santa Susanna's shrine last July I noticed an interesting phenomena: there was a line up of three hours to "hug the saint" but virtully no-one was going down the steps to visit the shrine. We seem to be more superstitious than religious these days.
Also I think that the very fact that so many pilgrims continue on to Fisterre is an indication of the way today's pilgrims differ from those of the 12th century yet seem to be drawn to the pagan Camino de las Estrellas. The Camino is supposed to be concluded at the Cathedral with certain rituals including a Catholic mass, but I doubt that those who continue consider themselves any less “Pilgrims” than those who walk for strictly religious reasons (and I noticed that a "Spiritual" option is not listed when getting the Compostela, only Religious/Spiritual which of course skews the statistics! i.e. the majority walk for Religious reasons - not.)
No, nothing would change: the Pilgrim's Mass would still go on (if as you say the church HAS admitted that James is not buried there - and it is the first I have heard of it - it's all a bit of a sham anyway. But I like the smell of the incense), the Botefumeiro will still dazzle us, and pilgrim menus will still be over-priced in many places.
And methinks thou art playing Devil's Avocado!
Now we had better get back to Spooky Stories or Ivar will get mad at us!
P.S. JW: Sorry I don't remember any particular stretch. I think I must have been at death's door at the time... :wink: I think it is more likely that there are fewer actually on the Camino and you know how reluctant we are to leave it for any length of time (on case it disappears…?) Oh dear, I really must take the ghost down and throw the pumpkin out!