The Way of St. James
 

I want to make the Santiago de Compostella pilgrimage and receive the official certification of my pilgrimage from the Vatican; but I have not been able to find any guides on how this pilgrimage is made, where to apply, etc. Does anyone know of any guides to this pilgrimage?

The following Web site seems to be the most informative one in English:

http://www.csj.org.uk/menu.htm

But the certificate is not issued by the Vatican, but by the church authorities in Santiago de Compostela.
(If you google with "Santiago de Compostela" with one L, you will get better results.)

A plenary indulgence is given only in Jubilee years, and there is, it seems, no written certification of it.

First of all, go to the book store and pick up a copy of The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago to find out a little more about the pilgrimage and then contact Saranjan Tours (http://saranjan.com/camino.htm). They should be able to help you out.

Second, although I've heard of it being done, you don't normally walk the entire route in one outing. It is a rather long trip and begins at several locations, primarily in Southwestern France. Most of the trails pass through Puente La Reina, in Navarra, before heading west to Compostela. It a long road to walk and is normally done in stages.

You can get a certificate if you walk at least the last 100 km of the route. If you only do this part of the walk then you have to get 2 stamps in your pilgrim book at every place you stop for the night.

I've been collecting information on the Camino de Santiago in the hopes of doing the walk some day. If you email me I'll send it to you but I can't send anything at the moment since my computer has a virus that I have to deal with, which I'll probably do this weekend.

One of the things I have is a fabulous trip report that was published in the Daily Telegraph.

In the meantime you can read a book called "Off the Road" by Jack Hitt. He walked from France and tells the rather bizarre story of his journey.

If you do a search for camino de santiago or santiago de compostela on this site you'll come up with some information.

You should also join the Fraternity of St. James. This organization will help you with your pilgrimage.

Fraternity of St. James

Sorry about the premature post.

Adrienne, thanks for the info. Have you by chance done any other pilgrimages in Europe?

KrysiaRose writes: "I want to make the Santiago de Compostella pilgrimage and receive the official certification of my pilgrimage from the Vatican ..."

Would you like that signed by the Pope??

The Certificate, La Compostela, is issued by the Office of Peregrination which is very close to the Basilica. Sometimes there is a clergyman at a table behind the Main Altar of the Basilica (where you go to embrace the Statue of the Apostle) who will certify your arrival date/time on your Camino 'passport.'

Eloise writes: "A plenary indulgence is given only in Jubilee years, and there is, it seems, no written certification of it."

The current Jubilee Year ends with the Feast of Christ the King (November??). So you still have time to earn el Jubileo in 2004. You don't have to 'walk the walk' to earn a Jubilee.

I am planning this hiking trip for June 2005, these are the sites that I use:

www.caminosantiago.com
www.jacobeo.net
www.xacobeo.es

my favorite but only in Spanish:
caminodesantiago.consumer.es

I will only walk the last 100km since I do not have many vacation days and would like to spend a little leisure time in the north of Spain. The town of Sarria is the closest you can start and still get the Compostela.