Two seal requirement

[Rosina Lila]

Hello you all,
I am returned from spending Holy Week in Seville which continues to be the
transcending, awing, heart-stopping, beautiful experience that it has been
for centuries.  But, about that.... later  (I'll post some impressions
further on  properly captioned so that those of you not interested  may
delete them unread).
This message is to address those items that some  of you asked me to inquire
about specifically while I was there:
Although I had been invited to the (large) Friends of Santiago meeting in
Granada, as it turned out their meeting was held on  Tuesday which was April
10th, my birthday. and friends in Seville had made plans therefor, unknown to
me,  which I could  not and did not want to disrupt. Further, Granada is more
than a fast two hour drive from Seville, and my health condition was not up
to the trip.  But I did go to a Friends of Santiago meeting in Seville and I
found out as much as I could about what  you asked me to learn. To wit:
First, there seems to be a very much  increased interest in the Silver Way to
Santiago (from Seville), and the Sevillian Santiago Friends have become very
active setting up albergues for the route, painting yellow arrows, etc.  I
Was very touched  to see some yellow arrows prominently painted and displayed
throughout the city itself.
At the meeting I asked about the two-seals requirement.  I was told that the
Santiago Archdiocese, after the 1999 and 2000 avalanche of pilgrims are
trying to do whatever they think necessary to preserve the original intent of
the pilgrimage.
It appears that they are concerned about the Camino being turned into a
vacation effort and the Compostela becoming only a tourism souvenir.  This
concern seems to have been prompted by the fact that those making a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land are now given a certificate of pilgrimage by the
Israeli Government Tourism Office.
The Archdiocese of Santiago continues to have the right to grant the
Compostela and they want to preserve those spiritual significances which have
characterized it for more than a thousand years.
Anyone, anyone at all, can make the pilgrimage to Santiago, but to obtain the
Compostela the pilgrim must have made the pilgrimage "Pietatis Causa" (as the
document itself reads), that is, in a Christian sense and what that entails.
The prescription of the two seals has to do with developing this Christian
state of grace.  Apparently a pilgrim can obtain a first seal at an albergue,
and then go to a church and obtain another one.  While sitting in the quiet
of the church, a pilgrim may have an opportunity to obtain this "Pietatis
Causa" by reflecting upon, and abandoning, those modes of conduct
categorically an unequivocally condemned in the Gospels, such as
homosexuality and adultery, and those acts proscribed by the ten commandments
such as murder, perjury, etc.
These state of grace expectations refer to obtaining the Compostela, and NOT
to making the pilgrimage itself and communing with the spiritual presence of
the Apostle on one's own.
Its ecclesiastical charter has bestowed on the Archdiocese the right to
establish minimal conditions for the granting of the Compostela. Apparently,
the two-seal requirement is a means to enforcing the ancient conditions which
have always existed, namely that the pilgrim has attained the spiritual
purity to which the Compostela attests.
Now, to your other concerns:  There seems to be no foot-and-mouth or mad-cow
disease concerns in Spain so far.  Coming into Spain only those travelers
from England, France or Holland have their foot gear disinfected and their
luggage checked for foodstuffs.  I did not find in the Sevillian  media news
the concerns about these diseases that existed in the media in Rome when I
was there last January.  There is in Spain an absolute prohibition in the
importation of meat from England, France or Holland, but there seemed to be
no restrictions on meat or food sources  coming from other countries.
Returning to New York the only different procedure at the airport was the
scrutiny of passports to determine whence one was coming  Those of us
hailing  from Spain were just waved through.
Again,  I shall post a message later about Santiago in the Sevillian Holy
Week observances for those of you who may be interested.
Seville was sunny, bright, enveloped in the perfume of orange blossoms and
with its unique soul music in the air.  I went from the airport to my office
in the cold of New York City and cannot say that I am glad to be back.  But I
will be..... in a few days, New York being New York. and the  Ballet season
commencing, and one of these days Spring must appear (we hope). Meanwhile,
Saludos cordiales
Rosina