Piesza Pielgrzymka Krakowska na Jasną Górę

The Cracow Pilgrimage on Foot to Jasna Góra

Summary: The Cracow Pilgrimage on Foot to JasnaGóra was first held in 1981. The factors which werecrucial in its establishment were the traditions of the Warsaw Pilgrimage, which were very strong in the students' chaplaincies throughout Poland at the time, the situation prevalent in the country after the strikes in August 1980 and the emergence of Solidarity, and the White March which the students of Cracow held in protest on 17th May 1981, following the attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II. Thanks to the support of the local Church authorities in the Archdiocese of Cracow, this grass-roots initiative could be put into practice, providing a new form ofpastoral service. Two distinct stages may be identified in the development of the Cracow Pilgrimage's religious ideology: 1) the 1980's, in which the dominant feature was the patriotic aspect of religious experience following the emergence of Solidarity and subsequently the imposition of Martial Law; and 2) the period following the changes of 1989, when in the new situation in which both Church and country found themselves after the Round Table agreement the subjectsaddressed were connected with the theme of renewal and deepening of religious experience, and with a responsible contribution by Catholics to the transformations currently taking place in Poland. Sinceits beginnings the Cracow Pilgrimage has always enjoyed a large amount of popularity, as evidenced by numbers attending. In 1981 there were 5 constituent groups totalling 1,800 pilgrims. By 1982 there were already 14 groups and 5,000 participants, while the corresponding figures for 1983 were 14 groups and 6,000 participants, and 10,000 participants in 16 groups in 1984. By 1990 the figures had reached over 14,000 pilgrims in 35 groups. This made changes in the organisation a necessity. The Pilgrimage was split up into sections, at first into two, then in 1989 into four sections, and in 1992 into six. In the course of its fifteen years of existence the Cracow Pilgrimage has earned a permanent place for itself in the religious traditions of Cracow and the places in the Cracovian and Częstochowa Jura through which it passes. It has established a new pilgrims' way from the Tomb of St. Stanislaus the Martyr to the Monastery at Jasna Góra, along a picturesque route studded with the ruins of medićval castles and keeps.

Peregrinus Cracoviensis, 1996, z.4, s. 59-72.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

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