Sydney’s annual Catholic men’s pilgrimage has gained international recognition, with the Camino of St Joseph featuring in a documentary produced by Shalom World TV.
The Camino of St Joseph was conceived by the Life, Family and Marriage team within the Sydney Centre of Evangelisation (SCE) in 2021 to allow men across Sydney to walk together in faith and fraternity to bear witness to the place of God in their lives, with the overnight pilgrimage only beginning with a few dozen men and growing to 1200 men last year.
The half-hour documentary was created in association with the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney following last year’s walk, which began at St Joseph’s Church in Como before finishing at St Aloysius’ Catholic Church in Cronulla.
The documentary is hosted by the archdiocese’s manager of communications and news media Darren Ally and features SCE director Daniel Ang and Life, Marriage and Family officer Michael Jaksic.
At the time, Fr James McCarthy, who welcomed the men at St Aloysius at the crack of dawn, said the pilgrimage was a recognition of the presence of Christ in the hearts of men both across Sydney and around the world.
“Men want to come together, not in violence, not to cause destruction, not to cause protest, but to give honour to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and to hear about the spirituality of St Joseph,” he said.
The documentary also provides testimony from laymen from across the archdiocese, some of whom attended for the first time, and some of whom had completed the pilgrimage since its inception.
One pilgrim interviewed in the documentary who hadn’t attended the pilgrimage before was a New Zealander who crossed the Tasman to experience the brotherhood of Catholic men in Australia.
“Coming from New Zealand, there’s not a lot going on in terms of Catholic men coming together for events like this,” he said.
“Just to be able to share this experience with everyone here this evening, and to walk just as St Joseph did, it’s an amazing opportunity so thanks be to God.”
Sijin Joseph, director of Shalom World Australia, says the documentary helps to highlight how the church is “alive, active, and walking together in faith,” both in Australia and around the world.
“Events such as the Camino of St Joseph beautifully reflect our rich Catholic tradition and provide a powerful public expression of faith and help Australians rediscover and boldly witness a heritage which is deeply rooted, but often forgotten,” he said.
“We believe that every documentary we produce is itself a form of evangelisation, and we aim to showcase these evangelisation initiatives as each one is relevant and capable of inspiring Catholics to actively participate in the mission of the church.”
The documentary can now be viewed on Shalom World TV’s website here.
