The ancient Christian tradition of pilgrimage

As the Archbishop of Canterbury continues her pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral ahead of her installation, she is moving into a practice that reaches deep into Christian history. Her 140km journey together with her husband, Eamonn, along parts of the Becket Camino shouldn’t be just an extended walk; it’s a spiritual act of prayer, reflection, and preparation. 

For centuries, Christians have gone on pilgrimage to hunt God, to recollect the religion of those that have gone before them, and to come across the Lord in a deeper way – a physical journey that also nourishes the soul. Though the shape has modified across the ages, pilgrimage stays a living and meaningful a part of Christian devotion. So, let’s dig into its meaning, origin, and relevance.

A journey rooted in faith

In easy terms, a pilgrimage is a journey undertaken for spiritual purpose. Usually, it involves travelling to a spot that has special meaning within the Christian faith, corresponding to a site related to Jesus, the apostles, saints or esteemed Christian figures, or a vital event within the lifetime of the Church. Yet pilgrimage shouldn’t be only about reaching a sacred destination. It can be about what happens along the best way: prayer, reflection, suffering, repentance, worship, and a deeper awareness of God.

Pilgrimage could also be physical, but it might even be inward. It may involve walking a historic path, visiting a shrine, or just making space for the soul to journey towards God.

The origins of pilgrimage in Christianity

The roots of pilgrimage in Christianity are each biblical and historical. The Bible doesn’t present Christian pilgrimage within the later formal sense of intentional travel to shrines or holy sites, yet the theme of journeying with God runs all through Scripture. The people of Israel journeyed through the wilderness. Jesus made his final journey to Jerusalem and the cross. Apostle Paul went on missionary journeys. Again and again, God’s people have encountered him while on the best way.

Still, the earliest Christians didn’t at first make pilgrimage to holy places a central practice. Instead, they understood the entire Christian life as a pilgrimage. Believers were seen as “pilgrims and strangers” on the planet, travelling from Earth towards their true home with God within the heavenly Jerusalem.

This began to shift within the fourth century. After Constantine became a Christian, places connected to the lifetime of Christ and the saints were increasingly identified, honoured, and visited. Jerusalem became a significant destination and Christian shrines and relics developed across the broader Church. Over time, pilgrimage to holy places became a significant feature of Christian life and devotion.

Kinds of pilgrimage

Christian tradition has never understood pilgrimage in just a technique. The University of York’s pilgrimage project and the St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology each show that pilgrimage developed as a wealthy and layered idea.

There is moral pilgrimage, which sees the entire Christian life as a journey of obedience to God. Another centres places – travelling to shrines, tombs, cathedrals, and holy sites linked with Jesus and the saints. A 3rd is interior pilgrimage, which focuses on the inward search of the soul for God through prayer, silence, and repentance.

These strands have often overlapped. A Christian may travel to a sacred place, and in doing so also experience a deeper inward turning towards God.

Why Christians went on pilgrimage

Christians have gone on pilgrimage for a lot of reasons. Some travelled out of affection for Christ and a desire to walk where he walked. Some visited the tombs of apostles or saints to hope and provides thanks. Some went in thanksgiving after recovery from illness. Some went in memory of family members. Others sought forgiveness, healing, guidance, or spiritual renewal. For some, pilgrimage was an act of repentance. 

Simply put, pilgrims often travel to deepen their relationship with God, feel connected to the worldwide Church, learn more about Christian history, seek blessing, or pray for healing.

Pilgrimage also has a physical side. It can involve tiredness, discomfort, weather, blisters, silence, and energy. That is one reason it means a lot to many individuals. It reminds them that faith shouldn’t be only about ideas. It involves the entire person: body, mind, and spirit. 

Pilgrimage has also long been valued since it takes people out of bizarre routines. It creates room for stillness, for honest self-examination, and for renewed dependence on God. It expresses the journey of religion itself, with its movement, vulnerability, prayer, companionship, and hope.

Why Christians still go on pilgrimage today

Pilgrimage shouldn’t be a required practice in Christianity, yet many believers still find it deeply meaningful. In an age marked by hurry, distraction, and noise, pilgrimage offers something rare: the possibility to decelerate and attend to God.

Some Christians go on pilgrimage to mark a season of change, discernment, or grief. Others go to reconnect with the historic faith or to hunt healing and renewal. Some are drawn by a longing they will barely explain, only knowing that they should step away from every day life and make space for God.

That is a component of what makes Archbishop Mullally’s pilgrimage so meaningful. Her walk to Canterbury shouldn’t be merely ceremonial. It also connects her with generations of believers who travelled prayerfully to holy places before major moments in life and ministry. By walking an ancient route, praying along the best way, and joining worship at churches and cathedrals en route, she reflects a truth Christians have long known: sometimes the road itself becomes a spot of grace.

Famous Christian pilgrimage sites

Across the Christian world, many places have grow to be centres of pilgrimage.

Jerusalem holds unique significance due to its connection to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Pilgrims visit places corresponding to the Garden of Gethsemane, the Via Dolorosa, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Church of the Ascension. 

Rome has long been a significant destination, especially for Catholics, due to its association with Apostles Peter and Paul and since it’s the seat of the papacy. Pilgrims visit St Peter’s Basilica and other sites connected with the early Church.

Santiago de Compostela in Spain has grow to be one among the best-known pilgrimage destinations in Europe, with ancient walking routes resulting in the normal burial place of St James. Other major sites include Fatima, Assisi, Medjugorje, and Mexico City.

Pilgrimage within the UK

Britain too has a wealthy pilgrimage heritage.

Canterbury Cathedral stays some of the famous pilgrimage destinations within the UK. Its importance grew especially after the martyrdom of Thomas Becket in 1170, and for hundreds of years pilgrims journeyed there in prayer, repentance, and hope. It is fitting that Archbishop Sarah’s own pilgrimage will end there.

Walsingham in Norfolk is one among England’s most vital pilgrimage sites and stays a spot of devotion for each Anglicans and Roman Catholics.

Iona, the small Scottish island, with its deep Celtic Christian heritage, continues to attract those searching for prayer, peace, and spiritual renewal.

Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, is closely linked with the witness of St Cuthbert and the lifetime of the early Church in these islands.

St Cuthbert’s Way is one other essential route within the British Isles that connects pilgrims with the memory of earlier saint. Associated with St Cuthbert, the beloved seventh-century monk and bishop of Lindisfarne, the route leads pilgrims through a landscape shaped by the memory of early Christian witness.

Archbishop Mullally’s route itself reflects this living heritage. Her pilgrimage includes St Paul’s Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral, Lesnes Abbey, Rochester Cathedral, Aylesford Priory, the Shrine of St Jude, Chartham, and Canterbury Cathedral. In following this path, she joins a wider Christian story that has been unfolding for hundreds of years.

Controversies surrounding pilgrimage

Pilgrimage has not been without its critics. From the early centuries of the Church, questions have been raised about whether journeys to holy places are truly mandatory. ‘If God is all over the place, why should anyone must travel with a view to meet him?’ some have argued.

Others may object to the price of pilgrimage. Some Christians imagine the cash spent on travel might be higher used serving those in need. There are also concerns about overcrowding and commercialisation, especially at famous shrines where shops and souvenirs can distract from spiritual purpose.

Some Protestants, especially throughout the Reformation, strongly criticised pilgrimage due to its reference to relics, shrines, and what they saw as superstition or abuse. Others have argued that the identical spiritual blessings will be found at home in prayer, worship, and bizarre discipleship.

These criticisms mustn’t simply be dismissed. They remind the Church that pilgrimage shouldn’t be an end in itself, nor an alternative choice to every day holiness, love of neighbour, or faithful worship. At its best, pilgrimage should deepen Christian discipleship, not distract from it.

Final thought: a practice that also speaks today

Pilgrimage stays popular today because many Christians find it spiritually powerful. It removes them from on a regular basis routines and offers them time to reflect. It teaches patience, humility, endurance, and dependence on God. It may strengthen a way of belonging to the church across time and place.

A pilgrimage may not change someone’s life overnight. But it might create space for clarity, repentance, healing, or renewal. And it might remind a individual that the Christian life shouldn’t be static. It is a journey.

The ancient tradition of pilgrimage continues to be alive since the Christian faith has all the time been a faith of journeying. From the Bible’s stories of wandering, exile, and mission, to the early church’s idea of life as a journey toward heaven, to later visits to Jerusalem, Rome, Canterbury, and Walsingham, pilgrimage has expressed the longing to hunt God more deeply.

Archbishop Mullally’s pilgrimage to Canterbury is a fresh reminder of that truth. In walking an old path before taking on a recent calling, she shows that pilgrimage shouldn’t be only about history. It continues to be a living act of religion. Christians still do it today since the road itself can grow to be a spot of grace.

Dear reader, your entire life of religion is a pilgrimage. Embrace the journey and know that God is with you!