The solemnity of the apostle Santiago de Compostela, patron of Spain, “is a call to revitalize our Christian roots, recalling the origins of our faith”, also because “the new situations – ecclesial, social, economic and cultural – appeal today, with particular force, for the action of the laity”, declared the Archbishop of Galizia, Julián Barrio Barrio, on the feast of St. James. He added: “No one is permitted to stand idly by: this time demands that we express a clear and firm identity in the midst of models of confusion, weak thought, and fragmented responsibility”. Silvia Rozas, delegate for communication of the archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela, has explained that “Santiago is the goal of the pilgrim who goes on a journey to find himself, God and others”. And that’s why, even if 2006 is not a Holy Year, “Compostela welcomes thousands of pilgrims”. Despite the fact that “we are experiencing today moments of existential emptiness, social stress and at times the abandonment of the religious dimension”, according to Rozaz, pilgrims “come to Santiago to seek what is hidden, the hidden truth they find in themselves when faced by the tomb of the apostle”. In July 13,249 pilgrims arrived in Santiago. Already 44,897 people have visited the tomb of the apostle in 2006.
