Skip to main content

Credentials

The information on credentials usually comes only in Spanish so below is a translation of what it says as well as information on where you can get a Credential. 


Necessary considerations:

This credential is only for pilgrims on foot, bike or horseback, who wish to undertake a pilgrimage with Christian intention, even if it is only searching. The credential's aim is to encourage piety. therefore the issuing of it should be a Parish, Confraternity or Amigos association  etc. The Credential does not accrue any pilgrim rights. It has two practical purposes:

1. To regulate access to Albergues, the Christian hospitality of the Camino

2. To be a record for the Compostela awarded by the Cathedral in Santiago which is the certificate of completion.


The Compostela is awarded to those who complete a Christian pilgrimage of devotion and piety. it is only those who arrive at the tomb of St James in Santiago having travelled 100kms on foot, horseback or 200kms by bike.

The Compostela is issued solely by the Church through its own institutions (Bishop's office, Confraternity, Parish, etc) or an authorized federation or association. The Compostela is only issued at the S.A.M.I. at Santiago.

The pilgrim Albergues do not have subscriptions. They are maintained in their austerity with the help of pilgrims (cleaning, care of facilities as a place to sleep and to receive aid).

Organized groups with support vehicles or bikes are requested to find accommodation other than Albergues.

The bearer of this Credential accepts these conditions. 


Pilgrim blessing:
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ receive this staff, symbol of your Pilgrimage, that castigated and rewarded you hasten to the feet of St James Santiago de Compostela, the desire of your journey, so that at the end of your peregrination you return to us with joy and the help of God who lives and reigns for ever, Amen

Receive this staff that will sustain you on your march so that you may overcome the twisted ways of the enemy and arrive safe at the feet of Santiago. Returning at the end of your journey with God's blessing, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen

The Camino de Santiago is a way of pilgrimage

'The history of the Church has left us a great heritage of Christian piety and faith in the Camino de Santiago. It is the responsibility of the church to pass on this pastoral legacy.'  The Bishops of the Camino

'The Camino de Santiago was for centuries a way of conversion and an extraordinary testimony of faith.' John Paul the second to young people 1989



Additionally the part that you fill in with your information says:

'A favour de' - means 'issued to' so write your name

'DNI' -  means Documento Nacional de Identidad and is where you write your passport number (or ID card number)

So where can you get a Credential from? If you are a member of the Confraternity of Saint James in England they issue passport and the American Pilgrims on the Camino group issue them for a donation whether or not you are  a member(http://www.americanpilgrims.com/camino/credential_req.html [they offer 'free' credentials but do make a donation if you can]). Otherwise check your local confraternity who will probably issue one.


You can also get a credential from many places on the camino of course - St Jean Pied du Port certainly has them and a fair few albergues along the way and a few Churches too.

The Pilgrim office has a list of places by country where a credential can be obtained see: http://peregrinossantiago.es/eng/preparation/associations-worldwide/

If none of these are any good then try this blog post on 'Camino Adventures' which lists non-english speaking groups that have credentails and places on the Camino that issue them:

http://www.caminoadventures.com/where-can-i-get-a-pilgrims-passport/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Camino Primitivo

The Camino Primitivo (or the Original Way) is reportedly the very first Camino Way to Santiago in the 9 th century when most of Spain was under the control of the Moors and it runs from near the city of Ovideo in Asturias as it starts in Villavicosa (which also lies on the Camino Norte so many people follow this Way from   Basque city of San Sebastian (Donosti in Basque) or in from the French border at Irun ( this route then hugs the Bay of Biscay passing through Guernica, Bilbao, Santander, Llanes before going under the Picos de Europa and then heads along the coast to Ovideo) before branching off onto the Primitivo which goes across the mountains and through the city of Lugo before joining the Frances at Melide. The route is 320km long. Image taken from https://viaalpina2013.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/camino-del-norte-camino-primitivo/
1 comment
Read more

Symbols of the three main Christian Pilgrimages

The symbol of the Pilgrim to Santiago is the Scallop shell  of which many can be found on the coast of Galicia and it is actually a symbol of the Pilgrimage (and has become a symbol of other Christian Pilgrimages too) partly because you could find the shell easily there and so could go back home and show it off as proof that you had done the Pilgrimage. It has also been included in carvings in some Churches.
1 comment
Read more

Pilgrims' Trail to Saint Michels Mont, France

I have only walked two of the Camino routes (the Frances and Portuguese) and still want to try many of the others and yet I am also finding other Pilgrimage routes that I want to walk - I did the Pilgrims' Way in the summer which starts from Winchester which is also the starting point for the Pilgrims' Trail a 155 mile route that finishes at Mont St Michel in Normandy, France. The cult of saint Michel was popular in Britain from the 9th century and the Pilgrims walking this way were called Miquelots and many Pilgrims on their way to Santiago. The route is marked by green way markers in Hampshire taking walkers from Winchester to Bishop's Waltham to Southwick and then to Portsmouth where ferries are caught to France and Way markers become blue. Tradition says that, in 709 Saint Michael the Archangel appeared to the bishop of Avranches, Saint Aubert, and told him to build a chapel in his honour on the island. The bishop obeyed and soon sent a group of monks over...
Post a Comment
Read more