Numbers

[bwalsh]

Rosina

I think that the person (I'm sorry I deleted that particular letter) who queried
the high numbers interpreted your information as 10 million per year whereas my
interpretation was that those numbers were for a  5 year period. Thus it would
work out at an average of 2 million pilgrims per year.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Brian

Rosina Lila wrote:

> Hi Frank,
> I reported the figures given by the almanac. (The monthly figures which I
> have reported from time to time reflect only those pilgrims who have received
> the Compostela, which are relatively few.)  In the case of Santiago it is not
>  specified whether the 10 million include only those who have gone to the
> Cathedral or pilgrims to the various religious sites in the city and its
> environs.  I do know that many people in Spain who cannot make it to Assisi
> in Italy  make pilgrimages to the church of St. Francis in Santiago, and that
> high schools, (or their equivalent), from all over  Spain routinely take
> their students to Santiago.  After all, Santiago is the patron saint of Spain.
> Given the horrific population explosion throughout the world, the almanac
> figures do not seem to me out of line, nor do I see any reason why someone
> would inflate the figures. Pilgrimages are not, after all, political events,
> and huge numbers of visitors put a strain on the sites visited.
> I have noticed that in my parish it has been emphasized, of late, that
> would-be pilgrims go to confession before starting out. It would appear,
> then, that some efforts are being made to regulate and streamline religious
> pilgrimages.
> Personally, I think that the numbers given for the Nossa Senhora Aparecida in
> Brasil are understated; I have never seen such crowds anywhere, anytime, and
> I was told that the huge Basilica  is always like that.
> The physical effort, from what I understand, need not mean just walking.
> Pilgrims to Medjugorge or Fatima  or other religious sites routinely fast, or
> limit their intake to bread and tea, etc., or undergo some other type of
> unaccustomed physical endeavor, such as staying in convents or other places
> bereft of wordly comforts where one must get up at dawn.
> In my yearly visits to Seville for Holy Week I stay in a tiny room with a cot
> and a night table, period. Yet, it doesn't seem like a physical effort at all.
> Regards,
> Rosina