Pilgrimages

[kisken]

Can anyone enlighten me on what exactly a Pilgrimage is, in the Catholic tradition? This isn't something I was brought up with...it's not a part of my cultural Catholicism.

Comments

[drdeleto]

I think a pilgrimage is essentially a journey made for spiritual purposes.

As a Catholic/Christian tradition, I think it's been dying since the middle ages. Islam maintains a stronger prescription for it. Still, I suppose Catholics who go to Vatican City or Jerusalem today, assuming it's for reasons greater than sightseeing, are pilgrims...

[drdeleto]

My family did the 1980 pilgrimage to Rome for the holy week when I was six. There was plenty of sightseeing, but the bulk of it was mass at the Vatican and surrounding ceremonies.

Rosemary

[kisken]

Are there any requirements on the journey (i.e. length, sacrifice required (monetary or other)), or is it just any journey undertaken for spiritual purposes.

[drdeleto]

I think some pilgrimages--to certain places at certain times--are declared by the Church periodically. In the medieval heyday of pilgrimages, I get the impression they weren't Church-wide things, but community- or family-based. Probably many were prescribed as penance by local priests, I'm guessing.