PILGRIMAGE. — From the Latin *peregrinatio* ("journey to a foreign land"), it is a devotional practice consisting in traveling, either collectively or individually, to a shrine or other sacred place and there performing special acts of religion, whether for purposes of piety, vows, or penance. This practice, in both its forms, is found in all religions, since it is natural for people to visit places hallowed by the presence of a deity or by the relics of a distinguished religious figure, hero, or saint, from which divine power radiates more immediately and effectively.
I. IN NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS
Pilgrimage is one of the most cherished practices among human groups for the following reasons: 1) it engages all the faculties of the individual—sight, hearing, movement, and emotion—intensifying them through association; 2) it strengthens the collective bond, which is a powerful factor in religious emotion; 3) it enhances the value and prolongs the memory of the sacred destination and the religious traditions connected with it; 4) by making the sacrifice felt and almost measurable, it allows one to foresee and more confidently assess its effects. If the religion is universal, the gathering of diverse peoples at a single religious center greatly reinforces the sense of social unity within that religion, transcending racial and national barriers.
PELAGIUS II, pope. — The Pope, presented by St. Lawrence, offers Christ a model of the Basilica. Detail from the mosaic of the Triumphal Arch of the Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls (c. 380) — Rome.
Pilgrimage, especially when to distant shrines, creates opportunities for trade fairs at stopping places, large or small, where poets and singers display their talents, and where the custodians of minor shrines along the way extol the hero or saint in their care.
This material and spiritual traffic, which follows a periodic pattern, not only broadens geographical and ethnographic knowledge but also highlights the city that is the pilgrimage’s goal and those along the route; indeed, these often fade into obscurity or even disappear entirely once the attraction of the primary destination wanes. All religions know the practice of pilgrimage.
Japan. — The principal pilgrimage is to the temple of Ise, dedicated to Amaterasu, the sun goddess. Among the most popular are the pilgrimages to the thirty-three Kwanmon shrines, dedicated to the benevolent goddess who alleviates human suffering. Also renowned are the pilgrimages to Mount Fuji, the highest volcanic peak in Japan, as well as to Mount Kimpu-sen in Yamato and Mount Ontake in Shinano.
India. — India is par excellence the land of pilgrimages, especially in the Himalayan and Kashmir regions. There are more than sixty pilgrimage sites. Siva is the most frequently visited deity, followed by Kali, Vishnu, and Krishna. Pilgrimages to sacred rivers are also common: the Ganges, the Jumna, and the Narbada (or Godavari), particularly at their confluences. Bathing in these rivers is believed to cleanse impurities of body and soul, and the timing of these baths is determined by priests in accordance with astronomical phenomena. A tattoo on the body signifies a completed pilgrimage.
Egypt. — Herodotus records for Egypt the pilgrimage made by boat along the Nile to Bubastis, the sanctuary of the goddess Sekhet, featuring dances, ritual insults, and grand illuminations. Another celebrated pilgrimage was to the sanctuary of Ammon.
Babylonia. — In Babylonia, where processions are highly honored in religious practice, pilgrimages are less well documented. However, one is known: that undertaken by Shalmaneser II in 851 BC to Babylon and Borsippa to seek the favor of the gods.
Israel. — Above all, the great pilgrimage that, especially after the Exile, gathered all Israelites at the temple in Jerusalem for Passover must be remembered. Pilgrims traveled in groups, singing along the way the "songs of ascent" (Psalms 120–134), held the ritual Passover meal on the 15th of Nisan, and visited the temple. Two other festivals drew Israelites to Jerusalem: Pentecost, fifty days after Passover, and the Feast of Tabernacles in September, marking the end of the harvest and vintage.
Greece. — Devotees flocked to the sanctuaries of Asclepius at Cos and Epidaurus seeking healing. But the great religious-national assemblies at Olympia, Delphi, and Eleusis should also be considered pilgrimages, as they possess all the essential elements: periodic gatherings, games and contests, and religious sacrifices to the patron deity of the sanctuary. In the plain of Olympia, dominated by the sacred grove (*Altis*) and the temple of Zeus, numerous shrines were scattered along the Sacred Way, to which devotees from all over Greece flocked every four years (the Olympiad), at the end of summer, to sacrifice to gods and heroes and to participate—either as competitors or spectators—in the games and contests.
Rome. — The sanctuaries of Jupiter Latiaris, Diana of Nemi, and Juno of Lanuvium were destinations not only for official delegations from cities attending festivals or magistrates required to be present but also for large crowds of devout and festive people.
Buddhism. — That inclination toward pilgrimage, so deeply rooted in industrious India, is also found in Buddhism. It is true that in early Buddhism (*Hīnayāna* or the "Lesser Vehicle"), pilgrimage is not expressly encouraged, yet it was in a sense implied by the obligation of itinerant life imposed on monks by the rule (except during the rainy season) and was furthered by the desire to venerate places sanctified by the life and death of the Buddha and by the presence of his relics, which were divided into eight portions and distributed among the people at his funeral. King Asoka honored these relics by building magnificent stupas. The principal pilgrimage sites are: Kapilavastu, where the Buddha was born; Bodh Gaya, where he attained enlightenment; Benares, where he delivered his first sermon on the Four Noble Truths; and Kusinagara, where he died.
Outside India, other famous pilgrimage sites include: in Ceylon, the Temple of the Tooth and Adam’s Peak, where the Buddha’s footprint is venerated by Muslims, Hindus, and Jains alike; in Rangoon, Burma, the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, with its hundred images of the Buddha and a relic of eight of his hairs, toward which pilgrims come not only from China and Siam but also from Japan and Korea. In China, Buddhist pilgrimage sites often overlap with older Taoist shrines on mountains and are mainly four: Omei-shan (Szechwan Province), Puto-shan (Chusan Archipelago), Wutai-shan (Shensi Province), and Chinhu-shan (central China, on the Yangtze). In Tibet and Mongolia, the three Lamaist capitals—Lhasa, Tashilhunpo, and Urga—are visited by monks and faithful who venerate in the three great lamas the incarnations of three bodhisattvas.
Islam. — For Muslims, pilgrimage is one of the five fundamental obligations. It must be performed at least once in a lifetime at Mecca. The rites date back to pre-Islamic times and have remained unchanged. The pilgrim, having entered the sacred precinct, circumambulates the Kaaba seven times, kisses the Black Stone, drinks from the Zamzam well, ascends Mount Arafat, and then descends into the Valley of Mina, where, as in the days of idolatry, a great animal sacrifice takes place. The rites conclude with a second visit to the Kaaba, after which the pilgrim removes the special garment worn at the outset and is henceforth styled *al-ḥājj*. Shiite Muslims, to whom entry to Mecca is forbidden, perform pilgrimage to the tomb of Ali.
Nicola Turchi
II. IN CHRISTIANITY
In the history of Christianity, two types of pilgrimage can be distinguished: pilgrimages of devotion and pilgrimages of judicial order.1. P. of devotion. — The construction of the basilicas erected by Constantine on the Holy Sepulchre and on Calvary, and by the Empress Helena on the Mount of Olives and in Bethlehem, as well as the discovery of the Holy Cross, encouraged Catholics to visit and venerate the Holy Places. Hospices for pilgrims were also built in Jerusalem and even in Egypt, since many were eager to see the land where the Holy Family had dwelt for a time or were interested in the stages of the Israelites’ journey through the desert.
Pilgrims were required to obtain certificates drawn up by the competent local authority, attesting to the full fulfillment of the penances imposed (cf. Pagart d'Hermansart, Certificat d'accomplissement de pèlerinage pour homicide en 1333, in *Bull. hist. et philolog. du Comité des Travaux scientifiques*, 1892, pp. 372-73).
III. MODERN WORKS ON PILGRIMAGES
While in ancient times pilgrimages were preferably individual, with the pilgrim relying on his own means and the charity of the faithful, in modern times the practice has become common, dictated by new needs and customs and by the growth of various destinations (Loreto, Lourdes, Pompeii, Oropa, Fatima, etc.), of entrusting oneself to specialized committees and organizations.1. Committee for Palestine and Lourdes
In Italy, committees are remembered that were formed for the centenary of St. Peter (1868) in Rome and especially on the occasion of Pope Leo XIII’s priestly jubilee; initiatives for the Holy Years of 1900, 1925, 1933, and especially 1950, which reached unprecedented numbers and records.Toward the end of the last century, a pilgrimage committee to Lourdes was established in Italy by Mons. G. Radini Tedeschi, later Bishop of Bergamo; later, the pro-Palestine committee (Comitato pro Palestina e Lourdes) was added, with broad participation from pilgrims from all over Italy.
2. U.N.I.T.A.L.S.I. — During the Italian national pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1903, the idea of the *Unione Nazionale Italiana per il Trasporto degli Ammalati a Lourdes* (U.N.I.T.A.L.) was conceived, which later became U.N.I.T.A.L.S.I. upon the union with the organization for the transport of the sick to Italian shrines (S.I.). The idea originated in the mind of the young Roman G. B. Tommasi, who, having gone to Lourdes with the intention of obtaining healing or committing suicide, returned with the precious gift of faith. Together with Mons. Radini Tedeschi, and with the blessing of Bl. Pius X, in 1904 he established U.N.I.T.A.L. in Rome and became its first director. In 1908, regional sections began to form: first the Piedmontese, followed by the Ligurian, Venetian, Emilian, Lombard, Sicilian, Neapolitan, Tuscan, Apulian, Marche, Umbrian, and others. In 1905, the first 10 sick were taken to Lourdes along with the National Committee for Palestine and Lourdes; by 1929 (the 25th year), this number had risen to about 2,000. In 1908, the first "white train" was organized, along with the first popular pilgrimage.
3. Various initiatives
New conditions of life and easier communications subsequently led to the establishment of new diocesan and national committees, all guided by prelates, bishops, and religious. Notable among these initiatives was the work of Cardinal Ferrari’s organization, together with the Compagnia di S. Paolo (v. PIA SOCIETÀ SAN PAOLO) and the Pro Civitate Christiana of Assisi. In Rome itself, at the offices of the Vicariate, a Roman pilgrimage committee of national character was established (2 Dec. 1933), which periodically conducts groups of devotees to the principal shrines of Italy and abroad with the most modern means and equipment.4. *Peregrinatio ad Petri Sedem*. — It originated from the extraordinary Holy Year of 1933 (centenary of the Redemption) through a letter from Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli to the president of the central committee, in which he emphasized “the opportunity to transform the central organization into a permanent body with the primary purpose of directing toward Rome and assisting the movement of pilgrims.” On 27 January 1942, its statutes were approved, and in the following April, its internal regulations as well, with the task of: a) coordinating and assisting the movement of individual or group pilgrims from Italian dioceses and abroad, directed to the visit of the See of Peter or the principal shrines of Italy; b) placing itself at the disposal of diocesan ordinaries and foreign committees that promote pilgrimages in Italy; c) coordinating and assisting pilgrimages directed to foreign shrines, as well as offering its hospitality to collective religious events, national and international. The *Peregrinatio* began its more regular activity after the war (1945). — See pl. LXXVI.