Is the Camino Just? Conclusions Drawn from the Survey Conducted Among Polish Pilgrims

Abstract

Familiarising the reader with the range of factors connecting Polish pilgrims with others on the Way of Saint James (Spanish: Camino de Santiago) will be grounded on the teaching of Saint Thomas Aquinas on the virtue of justice which will put in order encounters of the Slavic pilgrim with others on the way. The analysis will also be based on the author’s own empirical research on the experience of Polish pilgrims on the Way of Saint James, namely, in-depth interviews conducted in the summer of 2019 in Santiago de Compostela (n=50). The virtue of justice will be shown as the empowering of the pilgrim’s will, thanks to which he can be guided by right principles in his actions and his behavior is good, as well as he is able to give everyone what is rightly due to him under the law. The entire argument will be confronted with manifestations of injustice leading to conflict, discomfort and judgment resulting from significant discrepancies in experiencing the Camino pilgrimage.