Paper short abstract:

During the height of COVID-19 virtual re-imaginings of the medieval Catholic pilgrimage, the Camino de Santiago, emerged to “mediate” access to the site. I argue that these virtual platforms and their entwined extensions of “care” challenge ideologies about the Camino’s physical rootedness.

Paper long abstract:

The Camino de Santiago is a medieval pilgrimage route transecting the north of Spain. At the height of COVID-19 it closed down abruptly, catalyzing a variety of virtual pilgrimages. Some of these pilgrimages, like Camino for Good, used their virtual networks to raise money for pilgrim hostels along the pilgrimage route struggling financially during the pandemic. Others, like the Camino Forum’s virtual pilgrimage, emerged to keep the Camino alive for those unable to access it. This paper examines one particular virtual pilgrimage, that of Pilgrimage in Place, initiated by American pilgrim, Annie O’Neill, in May 2020. Throughout the pandemic, pilgrims from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds met weekly on Zoom to discuss books and films about the pilgrimage, and to extend mutual support to one another. Pilgrims posted photographs of mini pilgrimages around their neighborhoods and memories from past pilgrimages along the Camino. Connections formed and friendships developed. Building on Turner’s (1978) notion of “communitas,” this paper considers how the community space of Pilgrimage in Place evolved around mutual acts of “care”— acts predicated on “mediating” (Meyer 2011) access to a far-flung pilgrimage route for members not only unable to reach the route due to COVID-19, but also to those without the capacity to reach the route, due to disabilities, health concerns, and financial and personal barriers. I argue that the technological space of Zoom became utilized to mediate (Meyer 2011) gestures of “care” that challenge longstanding “semiotic ideologies” about Catholic pilgrimage’s ontological roots in materiality.