A reader writes:
There is something of a circus-like sideshow dimension to this whole 2015 thing in Turin. Which nutty professor do we sign up with, the miracle image maker or the natural image maker? We need a faker maker tour led by none other than Professor Berry? We need to know who do we want to rub elbows with and what is for dinner? Are the busses air conditioned and will there be time for shopping? Do we have to stand in line and do we get free monogrammed ponchos if it rains? These people are tourists, not pilgrims. A pilgrim shows up alone or with a couple of friends, sleeps in a hostel or inexpensive hotel and eats in food courts or on outdoor benches. But that is not good for business.
Colin Berry has expressed his views in Are we there yet? Check it out. There is much there I agree with.
Can I say that having led a tour to Turin last year it is one of the most civilized of Italian cities. The centre is almost traffic free after 9 am and stunning Baroque streets radiate out from the former Royal Palace. There is wealth of cafes and you can even buy a Chocopass allowing you to get free samples from the many small chocolate shops. The Slow Food Movement was born here and excellent food can be got at good prices.
Don’t miss out on the superbly restored royal hunting lodges, a short distance from the centre and there is the Agnelli art collection in the old FIAT factory as well as excellent museums of cars and cinema.
So once you have venerated the Shroud hang about a bit to enjoy the city! My group had a great time.
Only God can judge what goes on deep inside the heart, so we cannot generalise. One thing is clear: there are those rare pilgrims in Catholicism who walk for kilometres carrying a wooden cross — and not to Santiago de Compostela, taking photographs along the way to show family and friends or to write books — and climb up the stairs of the church kneeling. They don’t know where they will lodge, what they will be able to eat, have no money to buy souvenirs….