Peoples and roads

In southern Europe the summer means the need to escape from the insufferable heat of the cities to find fresher air in the mountains or by the seaside. For Central and Eastern Europe, on the other hand, the arrival of summer weather assumes a more specific significance. For example, for many inhabitants to be able to spend one or two weeks at the seaside was a dream and people saved up the whole year to be able to realise it. Today, the elimination of the frontiers and greater prosperity have helped to turn a holiday on the beach into a normal experience. And this possibility opens up hitherto uncharted territory for new forms of tourism and leisure time. There are two further aspects that are worth underlining.The countries of Central and Eastern Europe are often indicated as traditionally Catholic. One of the forms of this Catholicism has been for centuries the pilgrimages conducted with a lot of singing, banners and traditional costumes. This “Christianity of pilgrimage” however came to assume a rather pejorative tone and for the young smacked of something obsolete, lacking in modernity and not very attractive. It was regarded as a vague nostalgia cultivated by the old. To this sentiment Communism “unconsciously” offered a service: for pilgrimages were among the first things that it banned: they were seen as dangerous demonstrations against the regime. Communism thus eliminated them and created at once a void and a need. The result was that with the collapse of totalitarianism, we have witnessed an astonishing revival of pilgrimages, in which the young in particular participate, giving a fine manifestation of the presence of the Church. Pilgrimages have assumed a refreshingly new tone, thus confirming their value today. We are experiencing a boom of pilgrimages: the famous ones on foot to Cestochova in Poland, Levocia in Slovacchia, Velegrad in Moravia, Mariazell in Austria and many others, both national and regional. In this context, the project of the “pilgrim road of the Central European sanctuaries” has also been born; it is well documented, and offers guidance and suggestions on modern forms of going on pilgrimage. Also from the viewpoint of content, we may note a gradual improvement. Pilgrimages have become richer, including such aspects as thematic triduum of reflections, religious workshops for various groups of participants, especially the young, musical groups and silent adoration. I would go so far as to say that just as in the second half of the last century the Spirit “descended” and rejuvenated the Church through the movements, now His revivifying presence is especially being felt during these occasions. There is another aspect that is also important: the participation of all the generations, from young children to the elderly, in pilgrimages. The void that atheism had created among and old and young generations is here being overcome in a connatural form. We may also note a more international participation: a legacy of the Central European pilgrimage to Mariazell a few years ago. And the same is happening in pilgrimages in Western Europe. How can we fail to perceive in them an invitation to share the spiritual, cultural and social richness and beauties of nature and to contribute to the participation in the Christian heritage of Europe? On the other hand, we still feel the lack of a pastoral ministry of tourism, the spirituality of rest. And that’s a pity, since we could learn a great deal from these experiences.