November 2025 newsletter
A New record in Santiago de compostela
Dear Friends,
On October 19th the Cathedral's pilgrimage office in Santiago de Compostela broke a new record. A Colombian man who had walked the Portuguese Camino with his son to honor his late wife became the 500,000th pilgrim to receive a Compostela this year. As this photo, widely shared on Facebook, says, The family grows.
Anglicans from Spain to Cuba
Having just returned from two weeks in Portugal and Spain, Edie Morrill and I can attest to large numbers of pilgrims in both places. I can also tell you that our Camino ministry in Santiago is thriving.
We missed seeing Bishop Carlos this trip, as he had travelled to Cuba for the consecration of our friend Father Angel Rivera as Bishop of Cuba.
Lusitanians, our Anglican siblings in Portugal
Though we didn't get to see Bishop Carlos, we went to Lisbon to meet with Bishop Jorge Pina-Cabral and diocesan treasurer Father Sergio Alves, hoping to deepen the relationship between the Friends and the Lusitanian Church. Like the Spanish Episcopal Church, the Lusitanian Church is a member of the Anglican Communion. Officially constituted in 1880, it too, is small but mighty, with 15 churches and about 5,000 members.
We toured the Catedral da San Paolo and saw the recently opened Casa da Hospitalidade. This guest house, truly a hidden gem, has four bedrooms, two shared bathrooms and a kitchen/living area. It is tucked within the Cathedral complex, a veritable rabbit warren of secret passageways, hidden houses, courtyards, sculpture guilds, patios and a cloister- the whole place stretching an entire block behind a street of apartment buildings and restaurants.
We left with a new appreciation of the Lusitanian Church (Igreja Lusitania). We hope one of the Portuguese clergy will spend a week as one of our chaplains after they complete a diocesan wide youth pilgrimage to Santiago in August.
The Fisherman’s Route in Portugal
After our meeting, we walked for five days on the Rota Vinentina or Fisherman’s Route along the Portuguese coast. If you don’t mind walking all day in deep sand, tracing your way carefully beside hair-raising drop-offs, scrambling up and down steep cliffs with no shade or places to stop to eat or drink, and doing all of this with humidity of 90+ percent-- then you will be rewarded with spectacular scenery. Be forewarned.
The Anglican Pilgrim Centre in Santiago: Casa Anglicana & San Fiz
Our final week was spent at Casa Anglicana in Santiago, doing the usual cleaning, gardening, and shopping. We scrubbed the tiles in the showers, replaced shower curtains, reorganized kitchen closets and took inventory of our supplies at both the church and the Casa.
We had several long talks with Felipe, our house manager, who told us that Casa Anglicana was full almost every day between August and November 1st. As of last week, 5,410 guests had stayed at the Casa, a twenty percent increase over last year. It could be our wonderful new sign (worth the three-year wait), the warm welcome given by Felipe, or the hospitality of our chaplains. Besides the usual Episcopal Church groups who toured the Casa, four Camino Companions from the Pilgrim Office came to dinner, a group of Virginians from Pilgrim House came for coffee, and various members of the Board of the American Pilgrims came as well for a look around. Camino groups with Insider's Travel included a stop at the Casa on their city tour, and from time to time we had “coffee hour“ in the garden after the afternoon Eucharist at San Fiz. Living out our mission of hospitality continues to be a privilege.
A Vibrant and Faithful Chaplaincy
The move from Santa Susana to San Fix has been well received. Pilgrims and visitors have taken advantage of our proximity to the market and our extended opening hours. Our chaplains have welcomed over a dozen groups from churches across the U.S., Britain, and the Anglican Communion. They welcomed back Louie Gomez and his students from Birmingham; Saint Georges Church, Nashville; and Father Tim Khoo from Singapore. It was fun to spot former 2017 UTO pilgrim Dawn Baity in the photo of the group from St. James Cathedral in Chicago. Mother Elizabeth Poppelwell from Iowa was asked to baptize a pilgrim from Britain.
Conforming to a regular daily schedule was a welcome change and the daily noon pilgrim blessing was very popular. Each of our chaplains worked to improve the ministry. Mother Louanne Loch took her healing ministry on the road and anointed pilgrims at the Casa, Pilgrim House, and the Mont de Gozo; Father Stan Runnels researched the history of San Fix and set out short summaries in ten languages; Patrick Keyser compiled a list of the daily readings; Canon David Evans laminated Rite 2 service cards for the daily Eucharist.
Each chaplain found ways to enrich the experience for those who came to worship or visit this historic church. Each served with energy, cheerfulness and flexibility as random groups arrived to use the church, door keys disappeared, and the unexpected but temporary closing of San Fix forced Mother Sue Stilwell to move the daily services to the Casa.
Looking Ahead
Speaking of chaplains. Many thanks to everyone who sent in an application for the 2026 chaplaincy program. The response has been heartening with twice as many applicants, including from other denominations, as we have spaces on the Rota. While we were looking for chaplains who spoke Spanish, clergy who have offered their services also speak Portuguese, French, German, Dutch and Japanese. The window for applicants is now closed. In the next few weeks, we will put the schedule in its final form. If you have sent in an application you will hear from us soon if we have not already been in contact with you.
March 3-6: EPN (Episcopal Parish Newtwork). The Friends will be sponsoring one of the three optional lunches on Thursday. Space is limited to 40. When you sign up, be sure to register for our lunch. Come hear Bishop Carlos, Joanna Wivell of Insiders Camino, and me tell you our latest news.
May 3-13: Join Father Craig Swan of Saint Peters by the Sea, Narragansett and me for a walk on the Camino Francés.
Finally, as we head towards Thanksgiving, the Friends have much to be thankful for-our staff at Casa Anglicana, our Chaplains, our guests, our friends, and our supporters. Thank you all for your part in fulfilling our missions to all the pilgrims who walk through our doors.
Happy Thanksgiving to each of you wherever you are.
As always, with gratitude for your prayers and generosity.
