This pilgrimage tells the story of rural Victoria, Deacon Joe Leach said at the start of the Camino Domini from Lyonville to St Mary Magdalen’s Church, Trentham. Source: Melbourne Catholic.
The walk on July 12 was dubbed a “pilgrimage from loss to hope”, Deacon Leach said, a reclaiming of tradition and a response to the sorrow lingering in some rural communities.
“I sense a lot of despondency in the broader Australian community, a sense of loss,” the permanent deacon at St Mary Magdalen’s said. “We have to recognise that and say, okay, but we are walking now towards hope.”
The decline of farming, gold mining and timber industries has left rural Victorian towns smaller and quieter.
“There are a lot of centres that were once well populated and had thriving communities, including thriving Catholic communities,” Deacon Leach said. “Where once it took four or five people to run a farm, now it takes one.”
Yet he is focused on a revitalisation of country spirit.
“It’s about attitude more than numbers. Working towards hope, we can build strong communities, even if we have fewer people.
“The right attitude will increase participation in the community, and that’s what we want. We want people to be involved – as the Second Vatican Council said, active and conscious involvement.
“We want the fullness of the Catholic tradition, which includes pilgrimages like this and processions. This was part of our Catholic heritage. And we want to call that back and say, ‘This is part of who we are. Being a Catholic is not just turning up for Mass on Sunday. There’s a lot more to the whole lifestyle and tradition of the Catholic Church’.”
More than 50 people made the Camino Domini pilgrimage. Among the pilgrims were families with children and teenagers, grandparents, couples and church groups.
There was both the physical and social space for people to choose to walk alone with their thoughts or to mingle with new friends.
FULL STORY
A pilgrimage from loss to hope: the Camino Domini in Trentham (Melbourne Catholic)
