“Dear friends,
On behalf of Camino Europa Compostela, I am very honoured and delighted to wish you a very happy Saint James’ Day.
On this day, it is important to remind our members and supporters of the significance of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and, by extension, the essential role that the Camino de Santiago and pilgrims have played and continue to play in shaping the identity of our European society and spreading its values throughout the world.
These routes are places of fraternal sharing, hospitality and welcoming others in their differences and with respect. They are places that have become essential today for promoting, maintaining or rebuilding peace. They are places of freedom that must inspire us so that the future remains full of hope for our future generations.
Walking the paths of Saint James means being a stranger, a migrant crossing unknown territory, discovering it thanks to the hospitality of those who welcome them and, in return, learning to understand customs, ways of life and traditions that were unknown to them before they set out.
This ‘stranger’, who we are on the road to Santiago, also learns to become the future “hospitalero” that we will be, transformed by the road, on our return from our journey, our pilgrimage. The path shapes and initiates us. It takes us, even though at the beginning we thought we were choosing and organising it according to our needs and our ignorance of its true essence.
For some, the divine graces lavished upon us through the intercession of the apostle who joins our steps and our prayers lead us to Christ. We can also recognise this encounter in our travelling companions.
For others, the path opens the way to beautiful spiritual encounters in the broadest sense, exchanges of reflections on the beautiful values that comfort our humanity, because walking to Compostela is also an extraordinary humanistic journey.
So, on this day of celebration, let us think of all these important aspects of the Ways of Saint James and its pilgrimage, which unite us all on our own paths of life. On this day, let us spare a thought for each other and for all the pilgrims of the world, for all those who are also walking in search of a better life.
Long live Saint James and his paths! Ultreia!
Pascal Duchêne
President, Camino Europa Compostela”