Pastoralny wymiar pielgrzymowania

A pilgrimage is a journey undertaken by a person or group of persons to a place considered sacred. The purpose of a pilgrimage is above all to fulfil religious and penitential acts. Nowadays, in addition to pilgrimage on foot, pilgrimage by modern means of transport (bus, rail, plane, ship, car, motorbike, bicycle, etc.) is developing. In addition, there is spiritual kind of pilgrimage, which is offered, among others, to hermits. Recently, we can also speak of IT or virtual pilgrimage. A survey conducted by the Public Opinion Research Centre Foundation in August 2017 showed that as many as 32 per cent of Poles have attended a pilgrimage at least once in their lives. At the time - before the coronavirus pandemic – it was estimated that around 7 million Poles had visited a place of worship at least once. What distinguishes pilgrimage from relaxation trips or professionally practised tourism is a spiritual-religious dimension of pilgrimage, which requires appropriate pastoral care. In the context of
contemporary socio-cultural changes, it is worthwhile to explore the pastoral care of pilgrimage, as this type of redemptive ministry is an important addition to parish ministry. In this study, which is placed in the methodological canon of pastoral theology, the following issues will be elaborated: the pastoral purpose of pilgrimage, the subject, the forms and methods and the main stages of pilgrimage pastoral ministry.