Some are taking a more leisurely pace, maybe seeing some sites along the way.
Take Andrew Dierkes, 23, of St. Agatha-St. James parish in the University City section of Philadelphia. In May, he flew into Rome, which also is also about a nine-hour flight from Philly, and joined up with a band of four like-minded travellers. After a May 21 Mass at the Polish Crypt Chapel at the Vatican, the group set out on foot for a "Year of Mercy Pilgrimage" to Krakow, covering about 30 to 40 km a day.
In the spirit of medieval mendicants relying on the hospitality of others, they have been mostly spending their nights at monasteries or parish facilities.
Leading the group is Ricardo Simmonds, 35, a former director of the University of Pennsylvania Newman Center and founder of Denver-based Creatio, a group that organizes youth mission trips.
Crucial to the group, especially as an advisor, is Ann Sieben, 52, a former nuclear engineer who is a dedicated mendicant, having spent most of the past nine years on the road in pilgrimages to shrines, totally dependent on the hospitality of those she meets on the journey.
Rounding out the group is Rafael Maturo, 23, from Peru and Nick Zimmerman, 22, from Denver. All of the young men are open to the possibility of a religious vocation.
Dierkes, who was born and raised in St. Andrew parish in Drexel Hill, graduated from St. Joseph's Preparatory School and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. He is currently a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania studying health outcomes and policy research while doing hospital work.
He also co-ordinates the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults program at St. Agatha-St. James parish, and he met Simmonds through Penn State Newman Club.
Dierkes had previously toyed with the idea of walking the famous Camino de Santiago, or Way of St. James, from France to Spain, but nothing came of it.
"Honestly, I do not yet understand why, but I believe God called me to walk this pilgrimage," he said via e-mail while on his journey. "The desire to do this has been placed in my heart long before the opportunity presented itself, and the timing and the opportunity co-operated to make it happen."
The pilgrimage route has meandered a bit as it winds through cities and towns in Italy, Austria, Czech Republic and finally to Poland. The group has been through Terni, Assisi, Arezzo, Bologna and Peschiera de Garda, in Italy; Solden, Innsbruck, and Bad Reichenhall (in Germany near Salzburg) and Andorf, in Austria; and Kajov, Trebic and Brno, in the Czech Republic. They were to arrive at the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Krakow today.
As a group they split up at times. For example, Dierkes went off on his own to visit Prachatice, Czech Republic, the birthplace of Philadelphia's St. John Nepomucene Neumann. He was the fourth bishop of Philadelphia; the city has a national shrine dedicated to him.
As a practical matter, although they have not paid for lodging, the pilgrims have purchased their food unless it is offered to them by their host.
"My nature is one that does not like to inconvenience people, so I am very aware of our hosts' efforts to help us along the way," Dierkes said. "From this standpoint, I have been impressed by people's willingness to receive us and to host us, even with little warning of our arrival and surprised when they seem to attach a value to our being there. For some our very presence is a gift."
From a spiritual perspective, "this journey has been a mini-survey of the Church and an encounter with Christians living the Gospel," Dierkes told CatholicPhilly.com, the news web site of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. "They recognize Christ present in the least of their brothers and sisters and are honoured, even humbled to provide for their needs."
An essential part of a pilgrimage is prayer, and it was challenging at first for Dierkes to settle into a daily rhythm, balancing the spiritual and the physical aspects of the pilgrimage. He structured his prayer time in a morning offering and the rosary, ultimately leading up to 15 decades daily. There have been spiritual readings including St. Louis de Montfort's "Secret of the Rosary" and a self-guided introduction to the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Mass every Sunday has been a must but also daily Masses whenever the group stops where one is being offered. Also the Liturgy of the Hours when at a monastic community.
Very soon, this potentially life-altering pilgrimage will be at an end. For Dierkes, what happens next?
First of all, he will return to Penn State to finish his coursework and resume his hospital work.
"I think it is safe to say one does not walk from Rome to Krakow, experience WYD and come back the same person," he mused. "However, more specifically how this experience will change my life is hard to say. I tend to believe that, not unlike the Pope's visit to Philadelphia, the impact of the event has not yet been fully realized.
"I imagine there are seeds planted in this pilgrimage that will mature with time. I may appreciate this pilgrimage more in retrospect than at the present moment."
