The 73-year-old Archbishop further said, “Now the stranglehold is loosening, countries are learning to live with COVID-19 with certain precautions, the shrines are open again.”
“We also wanted to resume the organization of Catholic pilgrimages. It was an opportunity to announce it, to present at the same time some provisions that we are making to better organize these Catholic pilgrimages and also to avoid some abuses that have been noted,” the Catholic Archbishop who has been at the helm of Bobo-Dioulasso since November 2010 told journalists.
He underscored the need for collaboration between the Church and her partners in organizing the pilgrimages.
The Burkinabe Archbishop added, “It was not always obvious, but today an approach allows the commission not only to promote the Catholic pilgrimage, to organize it, but also to accompany the promoters and the agencies that want to organize Catholic pilgrimages by specifying some conditions.”
To organize a Catholic pilgrimage, he said, “private promoters must be Catholic and obtain annual approval and authorization for each pilgrimage.”
He continued, “Spiritual accompaniment of the pilgrims is important and that is why we ask promoters to always accept a Priest in their group of pilgrims because a pilgrimage that is not accompanied spiritually necessarily loses its value. It's not tourism, it's not anything else, it's first of all an act of faith,”
“Pilgrimage is prayer and I hope that the promoters take this aspect into account,” Archbishop Ouédraogo said, and added, “Pilgrimage is carried out through the visit of a place of sanctuary linked to the celebration of a mystery of the Catholic faith; or by stopping at a place linked to passages of the Holy Scriptures.”
He also outlined destinations, periods, number of places, cost and registration deadlines for international pilgrimages in Burkina Faso.
On his part, the Coordinator of pilgrimages abroad, Thomas Baguemzanré, said, “The commission has approved and authorized five promoters to accompany the Church in the organization of these pilgrimages.”
“To register for a Catholic pilgrimage, the pilgrim must ensure that the pilgrimage is either on the list of pilgrimages organized by the Pilgrimage Commission or on the list of pilgrimages authorized by the commission,” Mr. Baguemzanré said.
