Confraternity in USA.

[davidson]

Hi. Linda Davidson here.
Actually, I thought that "Friends of the Road to Santiago" with its web page
and its list serve was the association for those interested in Santiago.

The Compostela Archicofradia is well aware of our presence (and has been since
1989 when Maryjane Dunn (and a little later, I) began sending out newsletters
and memos. Every time one of us is in Spain we strive to talk with the
secretary and other members of the Archicofradia personally. The Archicofradia
has been accepting our credentials (credenciales) since 1993 when I first put
one together.

In 1993 or so Maryjane and I applied to the Xunta de Galicia and the
Archicofradia to be considered as a recognized confraternity (we had about 100
-200 members at that time). (I still have the 25 page application in my
files). We were turned down because Spain cannot recognize "Friends" as a
legal confraternity until we register here as a charitable organization.

However, we have often been invited to the special meetings (and go when we
can, depending on our teaching schedules), we receive, I think, all of the
bulletins and updates. So, in short, it is clear that the Xunta and the
Archicofradia is working with us as best it can vis a vis our legal situation
versus what we are trying to do to promote the pilgrimage in the USA (and
Canada).

By the way, i believe the Canadian confraternity is allied officially with the
CSJ in London and not registered separately in Compostela.
And, I think, too, that some of the "cofradias" listed in Latin America are
the individual church cofradias, not necessarily linked with Santiago de
Compostela, Spain.

In 1994 or 1995, again in 1997-1998 I contacted 2 lawyers (and I also talked
informally with the 3 lawyers in my family) and 2 accountants about
incorporating "Friends." I think I brought all members into the process when
Maryjane and I wrote two entire newsletters devoted to the issue of the future
of "Friends" a couple of years ago. We asked for feedback (and got about a
dozen replies) and after some expense of time and money with the
professionals, it was ascertained that "Friends" was too small to incorporate
without a significant loss of income and time for paper filing quarterly.

One of my goals is to keep "Friends" affordable: good, succinct advice,
pathways to more advice and not too much money.
Another important goal for me and "Friends" is NOT to make "Friends"  a Roman
Catholic or even a religious confraternity. I want members who share similar
experiences and can talk about the importance of pilgrimage unrelated to a
shared relgion.

Given that dues are only $8/year now and that "Friends" 's goals are to
promote the pilgrimage to those who are curious/interested -- it seems that
our monies are best spent printing and mailing the succinct (not very fancy,
no pictures yet) newsletters and the credentials without emptying the pockets
of would-be pilgrims. The CSJ annual fees are substantially more and first
year fees have a surcharge. These are areas that I don't think we are still
ready for in the USA/

While I am happy to boast that the number of subscribers to Friends now is at
700, my experience over the last 12 years is that turnover is huge and that
the number will again decrease markedly when dues are requested for 2003. We
serve a learning population.

When I was in England in Summer 2001 I got to talk in some depth about the CSJ
and its operations. What seemed so wonderful were the huge numbers of
pilgrimage-related activities throughout the country: weekend short
excursions, evening presentations, etc., as well as the large number of guides
being written and published in house.  A lot of this, frankly, I see as much
more difficult in the USA because we are such a large country. In fact, at the
Gathering this past weekend,I noted that the attendees were mostly of an age
where the work schedule was not going to interfere with the pilgrimage
gathering. Most people (although I don't have the list in front of me now)
were predominantly from the east coast and mid-west states( Iowa, Missouri).
While some were from Arizona and California, they were not many.

Where I think Friends is being of the best help -- in addition to the 2/year
newsletters, is the continued use of the list serve and a web site that stays
on top of the issues. We may be able to do better on the web site -- Chris
Hewitt now teaches in Mexico and has just recently changed universities. I
think things will improve there soon.

I certainly would like to be included on the discussions about a confraternity
in the USA. I was a little taken aback reading about "starting a
confraternity" on the list serve of the only usa association devoted to the
pilgrimage -- before anyone might have thought of asking how "Friends" might
feel ?


Linda DAvidson
dgitlitzaaol.com