How Canterbury Cathedral Seeks To Reclaim Its Medieval Pilgrimage Legacy
LONDON — Can Canterbury reclaim its medieval status as a premier pilgrim center?
Torin Brown, the newly appointed Pilgrim Officer at Canterbury Cathedral, thinks so.
“Pilgrimage as a religious ritual to a sacred space is an ancient practice that appears to be enjoying quite a renaissance in our post-pandemic, climate sensitive era,” Brown said. “There seems to be an undeniable spiritual thirst for what religious experience as transcendent realities — that characteristic of pilgrimage which can bridge the gap between the sacred and the profane in extraordinary where the veil is believed to be especially thin.”
It is an experience that has affected Brown’s own life. Having spent all his working life in advertising, TV and film production, Brown’s life had fell apart and needed to work out what to do next by walking with God in a sacred space.
“My first pilgrimage was to Santiago de Compostela and walked 65 kilometers [40 miles] over 35 days,” Brown said. “It was a profound experience which changed my life and it was not easy. I was 58 at the time and wanted to find meaning and answers. Even when I was at rock bottom, I felt God’s presence walking with me and soon learned to place everything in his hands and trust in a higher plan. That is how I became involved by being pushed out onto the road by a change in life that was painful, and walking to Compestela changed everything.”
Deciding to study theology at Canterbury Christ Church University, he worked part-time at the cathedral as a “shepherd,” helping people looking to visit the building.
“It put me in touch with a lot of pilgrims who were arriving at the Cathedral or departing to walk to Rome,” he said. “I realized from my experience of walking to Compostela that there was a lot more going on inside the pilgrim’s life. Many pilgrims go on a pilgrimage route because of something that has happened in their lives. There’s a lot of emotional weight being carried alongside the rucksack. I started gathering data on pilgrims, talking to them and have three years worth of data which I used for my dissertation on the transformative power of pilgrimage which is helping me strategize the pilgrim mission here at Canterbury Cathedral.”
Canterbury Cathedral — the oldest cathedral in England — was founded in the year 597 by St. Augustine, who was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Although best known for its links with Thomas A Becket (who was martyred by the king), Canterbury has been a pilgrimagr site for much longer than that. In 990, Sigeric, then at archbishop, walked to Rome to receive his pallium from Pope John XV. His route back to Canterbury was documented and became known as the Via Francigena.
Canterbury is also linked to saints — including Saint Anselm and Saint Alphege — adding to its popularity as a pilgrim destination. These days, people now come for historical, cultural and spiritual reasons.
“By walking to Canterbury along the pilgrim’s way puts you directly in the footsteps of thousands of pilgrims who come to the site of the old shrine,” Brown added. “Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ is one of the earliest significant works in English literature and played a key role in establishing English as a literary language, so Becket is a big draw. It has an effect on modern pilgrims looking ack to the old ways, but maybe not always of faith. To stand in the place where the archbishop was cut down in his own church can be of historical interest or a deeply moving experience of faith and there is a cult of Becket that goes on to this day.”
Modern=day pilgrims hail from all over the world, in particular across Europe, Australia and the United States. Many arrive having walked the pilgrim route from Winchester via Southwark and Rochester Cathedrals to Canterbury, or are about to start the long distance pilgrimage to Rome using the Via Francigena.
At Canterbury, pilgrim passports are stamped and they can take a photograph at the “pilgrim stone” in the cathedral. A blessing can be arranged as well as visiting the ancient Wicket Gate complete with its traditional scallop shell carving representing pilgrimage.
All the information being gathered from these travelers indicates that the desire to go on pilgrimage is increasing, a trend fueled by the need for spirituality. As a result, Brown is working with other cathedrals and partners in gathering and sharing data so as to get a bigger picture of pilgrimage across the U.K.
“Our vision is to be the premier site of pilgrimage in England built around a core strategy of sanctuary and hope,” Brown said. “I am excited to play my part by raising the profile of pilgrimage and the pilgrim welcome.”
Angela Youngman is a freelance journalist who has written for a wide range of British and international publications.