Fourteen young adults joined diocesan staff to tackle one of Europe’s oldest and most demanding pilgrimage trails last month — the Camino Primitivo, or “Original Way,” of the Camino de Santiago.
Spanning more than 200 miles from Oviedo to Santiago de Compostela, their journey July 1-16 was not just a physical challenge, but a powerful experience of community, prayer and spiritual growth.
Kevin Bohli, executive director of the diocesan Office of Youth, Campus, and Young Adult ministries, which organized and led the group, walked his first Camino last summer and applied that experience to this year’s endeavor.
Youth Apostles Father Tom Yehl, chaplain of the Catholic Campus Ministry at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, was the spiritual guide, leading prayers, reflections, and offering the sacraments each day.
The young adults each had their own reason for wanting to walk the Camino and worked hard for eight months to prepare for the experience physically and spiritually. Grace Gretz, program specialist for the office, organized weekend hiking trips to help pilgrims get into shape and test their gear.
Starting in Oviedo, the group visited the Cathedral of San Salvador and prayed before the Sudarium of Oviedo, which is believed to be the cloth that was wrapped around the head of Jesus Christ when he was buried and was later found in the tomb as described in John 20:6-7. Their walk began from there and the route ascended into the rugged mountains of northern Spain — complete with misty valleys, ringing cow bells and remote farm villages.
Walking 15-20 miles per day in the cool mountain air and occasional rain, the group learned the value of quiet time with the Lord, fellowship and simple living. Carrying backpacks filled only with the essentials, they lived communally — sharing meals, prayer intentions, stories and the inevitable blisters.
While every pilgrim trod the same path, each gleaned unique, personal revelations.
“Hiking 200 miles in Spain was not something I would have thought I’d be listing among my life experiences,” said Katelyn Hannel, a parishioner of the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington. “But God can continue to expand our horizons beyond what we would have imagined for ourselves.”
Tatiana Beltran, a parishioner of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg, signed up to go without knowing many other participants. That soon changed.
“The Camino reinforced the need for community and friends who are also headed to the mountain of the Lord,” she said. “The journey was much more enjoyable when I had people to walk with and we would encourage each other.
“As I climbed up the mountains each day, it became clear to me that the Lord alone is the one who sustains and provides for me,” Beltran said.
Benjamin Paczak, another cathedral parishioner, also found strength and joy in the community.
“I am amazed at how different we all are in background. We had different hiking experiences, various careers, and individual approaches to prayer and spirituality,” he said. “Yet, we all enjoyed our time together, day after day for two weeks, praying together, attending daily Mass and enjoying each other’s company along the way.”
The group walked the final stretch into the Plaza del Obradoiro in Santiago de Compostela July 16, with a mix of exhaustion and elation. They attended the Pilgrim’s Mass together where they witnessed the swinging of the large “Botafumeiro,” or thurible, used to bless the congregation with incense, and they venerated relics of St. James the Greater.
Calling prospective pilgrims
To express interest in a future Camino for young adults or other pilgrimage, email [email protected].