Pilgrimage

Across time and space, pilgrimage has generated an elaborate culture of documentation. The “pilgrim’s passport” is the most significant document for modern pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela and the Kumano Kodo.

In order to complete the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, pilgrims must present themselves to the Oficina del Peregrino in the city of Santiago, Spain, the resting place of St. James. Here, pilgrims on the Way of Santiago submit their pilgrim passport to the city’s papal bureaucracy. The document is then taken and scrutinized for any irregularities. If the pilgrim has received all the necessary stamps, the Oficina del Peregrino presents the pilgrim with the compostela, a certificate affirming that the bearer has received a partial absolution of their sins. A similar process is employed by the priestly authorities who regulate pilgrimage along the Kumano Kodo.

Pilgrim passports can be ordered free of charge from any number of pilgrim confraternities, or purchased for a nominal fee in any of the Catholic churches in Santiago (Spain), or Shinto shrines in Wakayama (Japan). Folding out accordion-style, these documents are composed of approximately eight pages, each of which has eight squares. These squares must be filled with a stamp, dispensed by shrine-keepers, barmen, and parish priests stationed along the path. Like so many apparently mundane things, the passport itself is an immensely powerful piece of material culture that can break the thrall of the secular world.

Our pilgrimage confraternity issues its own passports, which can be downloaded as a PDF for free below. If you do end up using this passport along the pilgrimage road (in whatever continent), please do send us a message. We would love to hear your stories!

Alternatively, we will send you a passport along with other member information if you decide to join the OSGH. Sign up today!