The Sutherland Shire will witness something extraordinary on 5 September as a thousand Catholic men walk on the Camino of St Joseph, an overnight pilgrimage through one of Sydney’s most beautiful regions.
The camino will offer participants a unique blend of spiritual nourishment and natural beauty on their journey from Como to Cronulla.
“It’s going to be a real gift for the Shire,” said Fr Daniel McCaughan, parish priest of St Patrick’s in Sutherland. “We don’t always get a lot of the big archdiocesan events, and this will give something to the Shire that we’ve needed for a long time—a big public witness to the faith.”
Fr James McCarthy, parish priest of St Aloysius in Cronulla, will welcome pilgrims at the journey’s end. He expressed his delight at the walk’s new route through what is known in Sydney as “God’s country.”
“The fact the men will be walking along the Cronulla esplanade as the sun rises is of special significance. The tradition of the early church was to celebrate Mass towards the rising sun,” he explains.
“Having a thousand men arrive at Cronulla as the sun rises will create quite a witness as the community awakens to this demonstration of faith.”
This year’s walk, organised by the Life, Marriage and Family team within the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation, takes place on Father’s Day weekend.
“St Joseph is a great inspiration for that role of father,” Fr McCarthy added. “Having it on Father’s Day reminds us to celebrate fathers and inspire and support them in that caring role within the family, within society, and within the church as well.”
Central to the Camino experience are the spiritual pit stops at each church along the route, where pilgrims will pause for adoration and reflection on St Joseph from the attending priests.
Fr Richard Sofatzis will welcome the men at Our Lady Star of the Sea church in Miranda, where he plans to explore the profound mystery of how “God comes to be formed and guided by a human father, St Joseph, in a very human way.”
This “divine entrustment of fatherhood to humanity” carries weighty implications for all men, “whether biological fathers or spiritual fathers like priests.
“What type of father am I going to be, and how can I reflect God the Father’s love in my own family? This question lies at the heart of the pilgrimage’s spiritual purpose,” he said.
When the men pause at his parish, Fr McCaughan will highlight why St Joseph’s silence speaks volumes about masculine strength and trust and why he is a perfect model for contemporary Catholic men.
“We don’t have a single word of his recorded in Scripture. He’s sometimes called ‘Joseph the Silent’, and we get the impression that he was the strong silent type.
But he gives us an example through his actions. When the angel says, ‘Trust me, don’t be afraid,’ he says, ‘all right, I won’t be afraid,’ and goes on and does God’s will.”
“These actions, demonstrated through his willingness to journey when called, offer powerful lessons for modern fathers navigating their own challenges and responsibilities,” says Fr McCarthy, who will celebrate Mass for the men at their final stop in Cronulla.
“The journeys of Joseph are filled with advice and inspirations for men and for families today.”
What makes St Joseph particularly remarkable, according to Fr McCaughan, is his unique position in history. “He’s the only sinner in the Holy Family, and yet he’s the one who’s put in charge. God the Father entrusts Joseph, the ordinary man, with the care and charge of Mary, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, and of course, Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God.”
Fr McCaughan sees the camino as part of big changes in the archdiocese.
“The Holy Spirit is doing something special, particularly reawakening the faith in men. This pilgrimage offers Catholic fathers and men an opportunity to strengthen their faith through prayer, adoration, and the powerful example of St Joseph.”
The St Joseph Camino Walk starts at St Joseph’s parish in Como on 5 September, 2025.
“For men seeking to deepen their faith, strengthen their role as fathers, and join a growing movement of Catholic brotherhood, this pilgrimage through the Shire offers a unique opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the ultimate earthly father—St Joseph himself— and to prepare for the International Eucharistic Congress in 2028,” said Fr Sofatzis.
As Fr McCarthy puts it, walking through the Shire on a Friday evening “might not be what people would be expecting of guys to be doing on a Friday night, but it’s precisely this public witness that makes the camino so powerful.”
If you are interested in joining the Camino of St Joseph Overnight Pilgrimage for Men please click on the following link.
