By Shendelle Mullane
The inaugural Kirup Camino was held on Tuesday, 1 October, to launch World Mission Month in the Diocese of Bunbury, and to celebrate the feast day of St Therese of Lisieux, patron saint of Missions.
The 16km walk,hosted by Catholic Mission in conjunction with the Spirituality Hub Kirup, was based on the Christian tradition of pilgrimage.
It started at the Spirituality Hub at the Holy Family Catholic Church, Kirup, and finished at the Church of St Therese, in Balingup.
The full Kirup Camino was completed by 18 pilgrims, 10 choosing to walk a half Camino (8km), and the others participating in a virtual Camino by spending the morning at the Hub in Kirup watching a video of the Kirup Camino route and reflecting on pilgrimage as a Christian tradition.
The Kirup Camino concluded with a pilgrims’ Mass in Balingup, where nearly every seat in the Church of St Therese was taken by about 50 attendees of the mass and diocesan launch of the annual Catholic Mission parish appeal.
The Mass was led by Bridgetown/Balingup Parish Priest, Fr Roshan Fernando, who also walked the full Kirup Camino route and was joined by nine of his parishioners.
Other pilgrims represented the parishes of Bunbury, Donnybrook, Greenbushes, Boyup Brook, Pemberton and Australind, along with representatives from Our Lady of Mercy College Australind and a student from Santa Maria College in Perth.
The date, the 1October, is both the start of World Mission Month and the Feast Day of St Therese, who is the patron saint of the missions, so as the only church in the Diocese of Bunbury named for St Therese, it was fitting to launch the annual Catholic Mission appeal in the diocese at Balingup.
This combined feast day celebration and appeal launch first started on 1 October 2023, with a Mass and lunch at the Church of St Therese, and we were blessed to have the Bunbury Diocesan Choir join us for the occasion.
For 2024, the celebration of St Therese’s feast day has expanded into the Kirup Camino, and based on its success and positive feedback, we plan to make this an annual event on the 1 October each year.
Aspects of Spain’s Camino de Santiago, or The Way, and other well-known pilgrim paths were incorporated into the Kirup Camino.
Pilgrims received a ‘credenical’, or Camino passport, to be stamped as they completed each stage – at the start at Kirup, at the midway point at Mullalyup, and at the end in Balingup – and a Kirup Camino journal which included the order of the mass and hymn lyrics.
We chose the gumnut as our Camino symbol, rather than the scallop shell of the Spanish Camino, and the gumnuts on the pilgrims’ lanyards were collected from the churchyard in Kirup, drilled by Donnybrook Mens Shed, and affixed to the lanyards by Tim Jones (my husband).
Fr Roshan blessed the pilgrims at the start and the Kirup Camino ended with a pilgrims’ mass, just like the pilgrims in Spain when they reach the Cathedral de Santiago, in Santiago de Compostela.
The Kirup Camino was held as a ‘donativo’ event, reflecting the Camino de Santiagoconcept where donativo simply means the act of gifting a gift or goods, to contribute, especially to charity.
In Spain, pilgrims give a generous donation in return for what was offered, usually a bed or a meal.
The Kirup Camino included a Spanish-style breakfast of pastries and coffee, a light lunch at the midway point of Mullalyup (where we were able to use the local bushfire brigade fire shed facilities), and an afternoon tea at Balingup after Mass.
Those participating in the Kirup Camino were invited to a make a donation towards the 2024 Catholic Mission Parish Appeal, with profits going to this year’s appeal focus – the House of Mercy in Mongolia, which provides shelter to many in need, including people experiencing homelessness and domestic violence.
Many people contributed to the success of the Kirup Camino and assisted in many ways, in particular the coordinator of the Spirituality Hub Kirup, Deborah Robertson, with whom I planned the event.
One pilgrim, Susan Walsh, baked ‘Camino cookies’ (c-shaped biscuits) for all the pilgrims which were given out after mass and were gratefully received.
The Kirup Camino, like all pilgrimages, offered an opportunity to not only go on a physical journey, but a spiritual journey too.
While many pilgrimages involve overcoming difficulties or endurance, the Kirup pilgrims were blessed with almost perfect weather, although some found the 24 degrees heat a little uncomfortable.
For those pilgrims who have walked other Camino routes, they commented that the Kirup Camino allowed them to reflect on their past pilgrimages and to also share their experiences with others for whom this was their first Camino, thus building the spirit of pilgrimage.
One of the simplest explanations of pilgrimage is ‘praying with your feet’ and everyone who participated in the inaugural Kirup Camino found some elements of pilgrimage in their own journey.
Shendelle Mullane is Catholic Mission Diocesan Director Diocese of Bunbury, WA