Pilgrimage in the Modern World

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 10599

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Jagiellonian University, 31-007 Krakow, Poland
Interests: geography of religion, especially pilgrimages and religious tourism; Catholic sanctuaries; cultural geography; cultural landscape
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Jagiellonian University, 31-007 Krakow, Poland
Interests: pilgrimage; sanctuaries; geography of religion; behavioral geography

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pilgrimages are among the oldest forms of migration practiced in many religions since ancient times. Their origin can be sought in the eternal need of communing with the sacred, and searching for the Absolute and the paths leading to spiritual rebirth and internal transformation. In the present postmodern world, despite numerous civilizational and cultural changes, pilgrimages still take place, although their expression, motives, and forms often change. The aim of this issue is to capture these changes, to show the image (phenomenon) of contemporary pilgrimage, both its traditional aspects and new ones, which are an expression of changing paradigms and social patterns.

In this context, it seems particularly important to look for answers to the following open questions and research problems:

  • what are the goals and motives of contemporary pilgrimage and is religious motivation still a basic value, or is there an increasing differentiation of motives?
  • in which religions and regions has the model of pilgrimage, established over the centuries, still retained the traditional order, and what are the conditions for this?
  • what are the new forms of pilgrimage, and are they grassroots initiatives or do religious institutions themselves strive for this type of change?
  • what is the place of the so-called secular pilgrimages in contemporary pilgrimage movement, what distinctions make it possible for them to be considered a pilgrimage, and what is the common semantic field between a religiously motivated pilgrimage and one resulting from other needs?
  • mutual relations between tourism and pilgrimages, especially in the aspect of constantly increasing globalization and commercialization,
  • the issues of contemporary pilgrimage sites from the perspective of various research disciplines, in the context of development, the impact of tourism movement, possible changes, and conflicts,
  • on the theoretical level, it would be good to take up the topic of the very definition of a pilgrimage, i.e., whether the current experiences do not indicate significant qualitative changes in the essence of the phenomenon and whether, therefore, no attempt should be made to revise the current positions.

Certainly, the above list of issues is not exhaustive. All theoretical works summarizing the state of research so far, and those presenting new results and views on the broadly understood pilgrimage, religious tourism, and related places and space will be welcomed. The works may combine the interdisciplinary perspectives of various research disciplines and a novel approach to pilgrimages in the modern world.

Prof. Dr. Izabela Sołjan
Dr. Justyna Liro
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • pilgrimage
  • religious tourism
  • pilgrimage sites
  • secular pilgrimage
  • socio-cultural changes

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 606 KiB  
Article
Symbolic Religious Landscape: Religious and Patriotic Symbolism in the Pilgrimage Centres in Poland
by Justyna Liro, Izabela Sołjan and Elzbieta Bilska-Wodecka
Religions 2023, 14(1), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010033 - 26 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3105
Abstract
Combining religious and national symbolism is not a new phenomenon. There are known examples of countries where there were or still are connections between nationality and religion. Pilgrimage centres are examples of symbolic religious landscapes based on the presence of the sacred. Such [...] Read more.
Combining religious and national symbolism is not a new phenomenon. There are known examples of countries where there were or still are connections between nationality and religion. Pilgrimage centres are examples of symbolic religious landscapes based on the presence of the sacred. Such anthropogenic landscapes are a visible result of culture formed under the influence of religion, a special spiritual and often national heritage expressed through sacred objects, visual evidence of religiousness and, likewise, national identity. Here, we present a detailed analysis of religious and patriotic symbolism present in the largest pilgrimage centres in Poland. Additionally, the paper discusses a. the historical and socio-cultural conditions of the presence and significance of these elements in religious landscapes; b. the strong relationships between religiousness and the sense of national identity, and c. the resulting significant importance of pilgrimage centres in the development and consolidation of a sense of national identity. Symbolic elements in the analysed pilgrimage centres refer to both universal religious content and cults popular in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as to the identity of the analysed places. In addition to religious symbolism, national and patriotic symbols often occur in Polish sanctuaries. Their occurrence is historically conditioned and, to a large extent, results from the strong ties between religiousness and national identity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pilgrimage in the Modern World)
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29 pages, 8700 KiB  
Article
Nonverbal Communication in Rituals on Irish Pilgrimage Routes
by Bożena Gierek
Religions 2022, 13(12), 1219; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13121219 - 15 Dec 2022
Viewed by 2309
Abstract
There are endless lists of academic publications on pilgrimage and on nonverbal communication, but very rarely if at all, do these two phenomena meet together in the same one, hence the author’s attempt to bring them together here. In this article the author [...] Read more.
There are endless lists of academic publications on pilgrimage and on nonverbal communication, but very rarely if at all, do these two phenomena meet together in the same one, hence the author’s attempt to bring them together here. In this article the author discusses nonverbal communication in the context of pilgrimage rituals. Since rituals are carried out both physically and mentally, their performance requires the involvement of all the senses. A ritual may be verbal or nonverbal and very often is both. All elements of the ritual send a message. Thus, ritual communicates—it is a source of information about the individual retrieved by others—but it is not only that, as it also effects the mind, thoughts and spirituality of the individual. It has enormous influence on the well-being of a person; it is therapeutic. The author describes and analyzes single rituals related to the well, the tree, various kinds of stones, and other objects located on pilgrimage routes. While doing this, the author takes a phenomenological approach. She bases her analysis of nonverbal communication mainly on ethnographic materials. She also utilizes sources from the areas of archeology, anthropology, sociology and psychology. They are supplemented by her own participant observation at many pilgrimage places in Ireland over the period 1995–2012. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pilgrimage in the Modern World)
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12 pages, 4078 KiB  
Article
The Functions of the Fishermen’s Sea Pilgrimage to St Peter and St Paul’s Church Fair in the Town of Puck
by Tadeusz Palmowski and Lucyna Przybylska
Religions 2022, 13(12), 1148; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13121148 - 25 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1328
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to define the function of the Fishermen’s Sea Pilgrimage organised in northern Poland. It is the only boat pilgrimage on the Baltic Sea. One of the authors took part in nearly all the pilgrimages in the years [...] Read more.
The purpose of this article is to define the function of the Fishermen’s Sea Pilgrimage organised in northern Poland. It is the only boat pilgrimage on the Baltic Sea. One of the authors took part in nearly all the pilgrimages in the years 2004–2022. The authors describe the origins and form of sea pilgrimage against contemporary general trends in pilgrimage in Poland. Next, they present the route, participants, and course of this particular event. The participants of the Fishermen’s Sea Pilgrimage chose Saints Peter and Paul the Apostles’ church in Puck as their destination. The pilgrimage is an illustration of an emerging trend in contemporary pilgrimaging in Poland, characterised by: (1) choosing alternative modes of making the journey, apart from walking; (2) pilgrimage groups not based exclusively on the parishioners’ place of residence; (3) the performance of both religious and non-religious functions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pilgrimage in the Modern World)
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15 pages, 269 KiB  
Article
Race and the Politics of Pilgrimage for African American Christians in Palestine and Israel
by Roger Baumann
Religions 2022, 13(10), 880; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100880 - 21 Sep 2022
Viewed by 2547
Abstract
African American Christian travel to Israel and Palestine demonstrates the role of overlapping racial and religious identities in shaping how travelers understand their experiences in the Holy Land variously as traditional religious pilgrimage, tourism, and political engagement. While traditional accounts of pilgrimage frame [...] Read more.
African American Christian travel to Israel and Palestine demonstrates the role of overlapping racial and religious identities in shaping how travelers understand their experiences in the Holy Land variously as traditional religious pilgrimage, tourism, and political engagement. While traditional accounts of pilgrimage frame it as an experience set apart from mundane realities and social hierarchies, new perspectives in the study of pilgrimage show how the social identities of travelers may shape religiously inspired travel. Four case studies of African American Christian travel to Palestine and Israel—including Christian Zionist and Palestinian solidarity tours—show how participant experiences and interpretations of sites are shaped by overlapping religious and racial collective identities, which affect the religious, economic, and political perceptions of travelers. The relevance of race to pilgrimage varies depending on past experiences of racial and religious histories, perceptions of racial injustice, race-specific theologies, and religious ethics. Solidarities with resident Israelis and Palestinians are encouraged or rejected depending on participant interpretations of overlapping racial and religious identities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pilgrimage in the Modern World)
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