Rosana Montano visited Santiago de Compostela on July 25, 1981 and decided to return. In 2008, a promise set her in motion and she traveled almost 800 kilometers on foot, thus beginning a love story with the Camino de Santiago, something that today made the emblematic pilgrimage also have its Argentine section.
In 2008, together with a friend, her husband and some family members, Rosana founded the Friends of the Camino de Santiago Association in Argentina, which every year, on the occasion of the feast of Saint James the Apostle that the Church celebrates on July 25, holds the traditional Buenos Aires pilgrimage that is counted as a section of the Camino to Santiago de Compostela.
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This Saturday at 8:00 am (Argentina time), from the Santiago Apóstol church, in the Núñez neighborhood of the City of Buenos Aires, the 27 kilometer route will depart that visits different points linked to the saint, until reaching the San Ignacio de Loyola church, in downtown Buenos Aires.
At the places where the pilgrimage passes, a credential is stamped—delivered by the Association—and the route enables anyone who completes it to credit those kilometers to complete the last 100 of the Camino Inglés, starting in A Coruña, and be a creditor of the “Compostela”.
In dialogue with ACI Prensa, the founder of the Friends of the Camino de Santiago Association in Argentina explained that in addition to organizing this pilgrimage, on Thursdays, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the Association offers advice to pilgrims at the Lalin Center, Agolada and Silleda (Moreno 1949). There they also deliver the credential, which enables pilgrims to stop at the hostels.
On the other hand, every Sunday they take a walk in the Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve, at 9:00 a.m., where they share experiences of the Camino, in addition to being a contribution to the physical training of those who are about to travel.
Another initiative is the Hospitaleros Course, an intensive training for volunteers who wish to offer the welcome service in the hostels on the Camino de Santiago. In this case, it is an exclusive course for those who have already done it.
Currently, the Association has more than 450 members, of which approximately 60 are active, that is, they collaborate and participate in the activities.
Weekly, to the walks in the Ecological Reserve, many people come with the concern of doing the path, not only because they are Catholics but also for personal spirituality or for a more sporting purpose.
The Argentine Way
Once a year, the Association honors Santiago Apóstol with the pilgrimage that, according to Rosana’s testimony, is like being transported for a day: “In recent years when we have done this, people are very happy because many go who have done the pilgrimage.” way, that they don’t know us, that they didn’t know the Association and maybe they found out through the networks, and then when they finish they say: Oh, how nice! I lived a day as if I were on the road.”
For those who wish to participate in this edition, it is recommended that they be at the starting point (Lt. Gen. Pablo Ricchieri 3189) between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, July 26 to receive their credentials and listen to the instructions practices, as well as receiving the blessing.
The organizers will accompany the path, and clarify that this is a group activity, which is not suspended due to rain. It is estimated that the tour ends between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. at the cruiser located in the San Ignacio de Loyola church.
A love story with the road
Rosana discovered Santiago de Compostela in 1981 when, traveling through Europe with a friend, she arrived in the city by chance on July 25, and found a crowd celebrating the Apostle.
Her intention to return remained for years, and in 2008, after a major surgery, together with a friend who was also going through health complications, they decided to undertake the almost 800 kilometers that separate Saint Jean Pied de Port with the cathedral of Santiago.
Rosana returned “in love” with her first experience, founded the Association, and since then, she has walked 18 times, in different sections of the various variants of the Camino. In addition, on several occasions she volunteered as a hospitalist in various shelters.
The feeling that Rosana repeats is that of gratitude: “Santiago gave me so much, he gave me so much,” she says. I am so grateful for health and for so many things that I ask of him and that he always listens to me, that returning to the Camino is giving back what he gave me.”
“I say that it is something that one has to do, that one should not stop doing it. He who has already thought about the Camino de Santiago has to do it for everything that is experienced, externally and internally,” he maintains.
“The beautiful thing is also the path you take internally, the time you have to think about everything that happened to you in life, everything you overcame, what you achieved, what it cost you but what you achieved, those who They left,” he lists.
It also highlights “the community that exists with the people.” All those who come from the path, he affirms, “come with another face, because one lives so pure, so disinterested. There are no schedules, there are no social classes, there is no money, we are all equal,” he concludes.
More information by email to amigosasantiago@gmail.comin Facebook e Instagram.
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.