This Master’s thesis looks into the reasons behind contemporary pilgrims’ decision to make the journey. It is based on the case study of the Christian pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, a city in the northwest of Spain (known as the Camino de Santiago or Jacob’s Way). It examines whether the processes of both secularisation and post-secularisation, as well as new forms of spirituality, can be noticed in this case. In her work, the author provides a thorough definition of the terms secularisation, post-secularisation, and pilgrimage. For the practical part of the thesis, the author carried out an analysis of the statistical data collected in the span of the last twenty years by the Pilgrims Reception Office in Santiago, through which it was established whether the individuals’ reasons for making the pilgrimage have changed over this time and whether today’s pilgrims choose to make this journey for religious, non-religious or both religious and other reasons. Eight interviews were also conducted with eight Slovenian pilgrims, who provided a more detailed explanation of the reasons that brought them to make the pilgrimage had how their journey went. The answers provided by the pilgrims are good indicators of how perceptions of the Christian faith are changing among individuals and they point to whether we are witnessing a case of secularisation and post-secularisation in today’s world.
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