France: The Via Podiensis in Le Puy en Velay
-text José Luis Domingo, Aix-en-Provence
The Via Podiensis, also called the "Route du Puy", is one of the 4 main roads that cross France and converge towards Spain and then towards Santiago de Compostela.
It starts in Le Puy en Velay and crosses the Pyrenees via the Roncesvalles pass. If it is by far the most "popular" of the great pilgrimage routes to Santiago in France, it is undoubtedly due to this first section: from Le Puy to Conques, which has become almost a "pilgrimage" in itself. A part of the road with which many are satisfied. With a length of approximately 300 kilometers, which represents about fifteen days of walking for the "classic" hiker, this route can indeed be a very beautiful journey in itself. Indeed, for its exceptional sites, beauty and diversity of landscapes, it can fulfill many expectations. And then, between wild spaces, riversides and bucolic places, it plunges us perhaps more than any other in a "sweet France" dreamed but very real.
The Via Podiensis has its origin in the name of the town of Le Puy-en-Velay, from where Bishop Godescalc set out for Compostela in 950 AD, accompanied by a large group of people such as troubadours, minstrels, pages, barons, seneschals and, of course, archers and spearmen to protect them. The bishop was then the first non-Spanish pilgrim to make the pilgrimage to Compostela.
The route from Le Puy en Velay to Conques crosses 4 regions rich in flora, fauna and geological diversity: the volcanic Velay, the Margeride plateau, the heights of Aubrac and the Lot valley. Landscapes of breathtaking beauty, such as the view of the gorges of the Allier or the wild plateau of Aubrac.
Arrived in Conques, for many it will be the end of the journey. It will be time to get back on a bus and return to their professional life, to their daily life. It is true that this almost perfect route, certainly frequented, but without reaching the multitude of people who walk the Camino in Spain, can really be a journey in itself. But continuing, or returning later to continue walking, is also worthwhile. First of all, because a few stages later, you can walk through the beautiful valley of the Célé, and also because the road to Compostela continues, simply, through very beautiful regions and less convenient corners, but that is also part of the journey! Le Puy-Conques is certainly very beautiful, pleasant and full of surprises. But it is almost too perfect to fully appreciate the very contrasting character of the pilgrimage to Santiago, which sometimes immerses the pilgrim, in a monotonous environment, to perhaps make it easier for him to confront himself. The nomad does not set out if he does not have a promised land to dream of; which often ends up being a large or small conversion of the heart of the pilgrim who proclaims himself the herald of his own transformation.
The pilgrim, like the hero of Greek mythology, ventures out of the world of ordinary life and enters a place of supernatural wonders; there he confronts fabulous forces and wins a decisive victory; the hero returns from this mysterious adventure endowed with the power to bestow benefits on man, his fellow man.
Camino de Santiago, on the way to a sacred place, pilgrims feel every church they pass through as their own home and atheists light candles and receive blessings.
Germany: The Germanic Roads
-text José M. García Pelegrín, Berlin, Germany
The first known pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela from a German territory comes from the second half of the 11th century: according to a documentary source, Count Eberhard VI of Nellenburg - north of Lake Constance - made a pilgrimage to Santiago with his wife Ita in 1070, after his second pilgrimage to Rome. On his return from Santiago, Eberhard VI "the Blessed" entered the monastery of All Saints, which he himself had founded, as a lay brother, while Ita retired with a group of pious women to Schaffhausen.
During the Middle Ages, Central European pilgrims used commercial and military roads to reach the Spanish-French border, particularly the "Via Regia" (Royal Road), whose origins date back to the 8th and 9th centuries and which crossed the entire Holy Roman-Germanic Empire. With the Protestant Reformation, pilgrimages declined, especially in northern Germany.
After the revitalization of the Way of St. James from the 1980s onwards, in Germany, too, various paths began to be marked - currently there are about 30 in total - with the particularity that it was precisely a Protestant pastor, Paul Geissendörfer, who in 1992 marked a St. James' Way that went from Nuremberg to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and which would be the nucleus of the "Franconian Way of St. James" (1995). The last to be added in 2005 were the "Pilgrims' Roads of St. James in Northern Germany", with two branches, the Via Baltica and the Via Jutlandica, which is the result of a German-Danish cooperation.
The autobiographical story by the well-known comedian Hape (Hans-Peter) Kerkeling, published in 2006, called Ich bin dann mal weg - Meine Reise auf dem Jakobsweg (I'm leaving: my journey on the Camino de Santiago), contributed greatly to the dissemination of the Camino de Santiago in Germany; with a circulation of more than seven million copies, it topped the most prestigious German bestseller list, that of the weekly Der Spiegel, for 103 weeks (from 2006 to 2008); in addition, a film version was made in 2015. Kerkeling sets out to delve into the search for the meaning of life, but to do so he avoids the "classic" Christian pilgrims ("They will end the journey the same as they began") and seeks out the "rare and exotic". The success of this book shows that most Germans do not walk the Camino motivated by a traditional pilgrimage. Yet it contributed to a 74 percent increase in the number of Germans walking the Camino in 2007.
On the other hand, the immense popularity enjoyed by the Camino, regardless of religious denomination, is reflected in its spread precisely in traditionally Protestant regions; thus, for example, in 2011 the St. James Society of Brandenburg-Oder Region was founded, which deals - according to its own website - with "the interests of the pilgrims and pilgrims to Santiago in Berlin, Brandenburg and neighboring regions". And it adds: "the diverse composition of its members reflects what was the occasion for its foundation and the aims of the association: the interest and joy of walking the roads to Santiago de Compostela". Like other regional associations, they specifically seek to signpost the routes, place information panels and connect them with the European network of the Camino "to contribute to European cooperation and international understanding".
Sweden: The Scandinavian Way
-text Andres Bernar, Stockholm
Christianity was established in Sweden well into the second millennium. The holy King Erik died in 1160 leaving a Christian country. Evidently the traditions of pilgrimage to holy places also arrived here: Holy Land, Rome and also Santiago.
In the Nordic countries there was also a tradition of pilgrimages to Nidaros (today's Trondheim in northwestern Norway). The medieval tradition of pilgrimages was well received in the Nordic countries, also because of its adventurous character.
St. Bridget, the Swedish national saint and patron saint of Europe, gave them a boost when she herself and her husband made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in 1343. They made the whole way on foot over several months. Today the distance is 3200 km by the shortest route. We do not know exactly how far the saint walked, but it may have been even longer. On the return journey - in Arras, France - her husband Ulf fell ill. St. Dionysius appeared to the saint and told her that her husband would not die on that occasion. He did so shortly after his return to Sweden and this marked the beginning of St. Bridget's activity as foundress of the new order.
The saint's pilgrimage aroused popular fervor and gradually pilgrimages to both Rome and Santiago became more frequent. In Stockholm the church of St. James (St Jakobs Kyrka) was built in the early 14th century in the present-day Kugsträdgården park, then north of the old city. This simple wooden church was replaced by a larger, three-nave brick church in 1430. From it pilgrims set out on their long journey with the saint's blessing and protection.
Protestantism literally erased Catholicism and its customs, including pilgrimages, during the 16th and 17th centuries. From the eighteenth century onwards, a new openness was glimpsed, which would not be complete until the end of the last century.
The Way of St. James was officially resumed in 1999 when the Association of St. James was established in Stockholm under the auspices of the diocesan bishop; its president was permanent deacon Manuel Pizarro. The initial idea was to help rediscover the spirituality of pilgrimages among the Catholics of Scandinavia, and pilgrimages to the classic places of Christianity were encouraged: the Holy Land, Rome, Santiago and also Lourdes and Fatima. In 1999, a pilgrimage to Santiago was organized as the "First Scandinavian pilgrimage" since the Protestant Reformation. This was recognized by the Archbishop of Santiago when the pilgrims arrived at their destination and were received by the prelate, as Manuel tells us. A few years later the same bishop of Stockholm accompanied them on another pilgrimage. From the beginning, many Protestant Swedes joined these pilgrimages, seeing in them a wonderful opportunity to discover something different from what their church was telling them. They were searching for their personal path and their own vocation. In the twenty years of this initiative, more and more Lutherans have become interested. The fact that they are an Association also makes it possible to subsidize the pilgrimage for people who have difficulty paying for a long trip.
