[Gocamino] la flecha o los pies

[Pat Rush]

Kat and all--frankly the bare feet are still awful, especially as a symbol
of pilgrimage, so even if the image is restricted to Galicia, and to
non-walking or biking visitors it will still appear in places where that
awful little triangle figure is used now.

Why use cartoons to represent this ancient phenomenon?  They trivialize the
pilgrimage.  I respect the Xunta's spending but look, for example,  at
what's happened to Mont Joie.

How to proceed?  I think as planned.  Santiago will be filled to overflowing
with people during Holy Year; the bare toes are not going to make one bit of
difference.  I think the Archbishop ought to be ashamed of himself for
agreeing to symbology that is not only ugly and tasteless but also secular,
and without any roots in history, culture or spirituality.  What will draw
people to the Church is the profound spirituality of its people and its
places.  Santiago, the pilgrimage, the experience, doesn't need cartoons.

And, I do think that the message from Ivar and Peter Robbins to Kat is
patronizing.

Patricia, upstate NY

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kathy Gower" <kathygower at hotmail.com>
To: <Santiagobis at yahoogroups.com>; <GoCamino at oakapple.net>
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 9:03 AM
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] la flecha o los pies


> I received this e-mail from Peter Robbins and Ivar at Santiago-Today:
>
> "Calm down, Kathy, you are missing the point! You and I may prefer that
the
> tourist industry kept out of pilgrimage, but we cannot escape the fact
that
> the Camino is very important both for the city of Santiago and for Galicia
> as a whole. Galicia remains one of the poorer parts of W Europe, and the
> Xunta calls the Camino the 'launching-pad' for its tourism industry. Some
of
> this tourism spending, such as the many albergues the Xunta has put up in
> recent years, is of use to pilgrims. However, the number of visitors to
both
> city and region who arrive by plane/car/coach/train far outnumbers the
> number who arrive on foot or bike, and these are the people the tourist
> brochures and any logo are aimed at. I am sure that the Church will reckon
> that some of them will be inspired to investigate pilgrimage further, and
of
> those some will join the Church. However, those on foot to Santiago can
> continue to ignore the tourist bumph if they wish. As I wrote in another
> post, part of the Xacobeo spending will be put into improving marking in
> Galicia, in part by putting up bronze scallop shells, so far from
> disappearing, the amount of shells/yellow arrows should increase."
>
> Not sure how to proceed....
>
>
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