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Home » Cardinal's Comment » Article
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A faith boost
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| 21 August, 2005 |
We all know that Australians are great travellers, tourists overseas. What is less well known is that many of these are pilgrims, tourists with a religious purpose.
Pilgrimage is more a practice of the Catholics and Orthodox than Protestants. Pilgrims visit places sanctified by the life of Christ, the works of saints and the deaths of martyrs to ask for God’s help and to perform acts of penance and thanksgiving.
A week or so ago groups of young pilgrims from Sydney began departing for World Youth Day in Cologne. The pilgrimage I am leading has visited holy sites and places of religious interest in Greece, Poland and Prague, and will join hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims from all round the world in Germany to pray, reflect and celebrate with Pope Benedict XVI.
Since the time of the early church the Holy Land where Christ lived and worked has always been the central place of pilgrimage for Christians. The persecution of believers in Rome has also made that city a place of special significance, especially for Catholics. Some of the most fascinating places to visit on pilgrimage to Rome are the tombs of the martyrs, especially those under St Peter’s Basilica.
Despite revolutions and wars, pilgrimage remains a permanent feature of religious life in all the major religions. Europe has many holy places, but in Australia they are in short supply. The most significant local place of pilgrimage is the tomb of Blessed Mary MacKillop in North Sydney.
People make a pilgrimage for many reasons, and the motives of pilgrims are not always pure or uncomplicated. When travel was the privilege of the rich pilgrimage was a way for ordinary people to see the world. But pilgrims also go seeking forgiveness or healing, or to give thanks for blessings that God has given.
Some element of hardship is a regular feature of pilgrimage. Going barefoot was a common practice for earlier pilgrims and continues in some places today. At certain holy sites, such as Fatima, or Pontius Pilate’s house near St John Lateran in Rome, pilgrims will approach on their knees.
Modern transport has removed some of the danger and discomfort of pilgrimage, but our Sydney group was forced to cancel plans to follow the footsteps of St Paul through Turkey by local terrorist attacks in one of the villages we were going to visit.
Pilgrims are sometimes mocked or ridiculed on their way, but the benefits of pilgrimage are enormous.The 19th century French writer Chateaubriand said of his own time, “There was never a pilgrim who did not come back to his village with one less prejudice and one more idea”.
Pilgrims return home with their faith clarified and deepened, and with a renewed commitment to serving their communities.
+ George Cardinal Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
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