[Gocamino] Pilgrims, and pilgrimage completed.

[Rosina]

Hello Hanny,  Colin, Katja et al.
For those of you who asked for more information about Don Jaime, here is a message, in part,  which I just received from a (very dear) friend at the Pilgrims' Office in Santiago. The message is also quite revealing about the Compostela and its nature, and about those who make the Cathedral run:

"D. Jaime died on the 25th November, when he was 80 years old, because of a heart attack. He was buried on the 26th in the cemetery in the Cloister of the Cathedral. 
He had been a Canon Priest (Canónigo) of the Cathedral since 1983, and he started receiving pilgrims in a small office inside the Cathedral on the 1985, because he was also the Secretary of the "Cabildo" (I don't know how to translate this, it is the association of the Canon Priests (canónigos) of the Cathedral, whose president is the "Dean", and then there is one Canon Priest responsible for each department: culture, liturgy, pilgrimages, etc. They rule (sic)  the Cathedral). The "Compostela" is an official certificate of the Cathedral, and that is why the Secretary, D. Jaime, was charged with the task of giving it to the pilgrims, as a representant of the institution. As the number of pilgrims to Santiago grew, different places were proposed to receive the many pilgrims, (also the current office of the Archicofradía, where Susana works) until the Holy Year of 1993, when the current Pilgrims' Office was opened. He was the Delegate for Pilgrimages until 2004, when he suffered a head attack and he couldn't speak any more. 
I'm sending you also some more information as an attachment, in Spanish, about D. Jaime, and also a guidance document about establishing a Confraternity."


You may also be interested in knowing that from the first of January to the 30th of November this year the Pilgrims' Office issued 144,812 Compostelas and Certificates to arriving pilgrims, or about 20,800 more than for the same period last year (124,055).

I understand that someone has posted a pictur of Don Jaime, but I do not know how to access it.

Hugs!


Rosina