Pilgrims and Pilgrimages as Peacemakers in Christianity, Judaism and Islam [Hardcover]

Pilgrimages can be analysed as acts of conflict - such as the Crusades - or also as platforms for relationship building and rapprochement between religions. With a set of contributions from leading experts in the field, this book explores the concept of pilgrimage in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Some specific examples of pilgrimages that helped to strengthen links between different religions or civilisations are explored, ranging from Europe to Asia and from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Even though every pilgrimage that is investigated here has helped to link different worlds, the case studies show that this relationship rarely led to a better in inter-understanding. Nowadays, peaceful coexistence seems to be its greatest achievement.Ant?n M. Pazos is Vice-director and Senior Research Scientist at the Instituto de Estudios Gallegos 'Padre Sarmiento' (CSIC), President of the Commission Internationale dHistoire et d?tudes du Christianisme (CIHEC). He has coordinated research projects on pilgrimages like DICAM (Historical Dictionary about the Way of St James in Galicia) and 'Women Pilgrims', and is the organizer of the International Colloquia Compostela on pilgrimages. He works particularly on the contemporary religious history of Spain. He was Director of the journal 'Hispania Sacra', co-editor of the 'Archivo Gom??' -13 volumes documenting the Spanish Primate during the Spanish Civil War- and has directed more than a dozen doctoral dissertations and research projects.