Author recalls 1991 and 1992 Catholic pilgrimages in Latvia and asks about their future

Tālivaldis Kronbergs, a broadcaster and academic researcher, has published a personal essay on the news portal Delfi about Catholic pilgrimages in Latvia 35 years ago and today. He says he does not wish to compare the incomparable, but to ask whether future generations will have anything to compare after another 35 years.

Pilgrimage as part of a faith-based way of life

Kronbergs stresses that a pilgrimage is not only a physical test but also an attempt to turn religious content into action. In his view, Latvian media have created an overly sweetened image of a gentle stroll with spiritual songs, whereas the reality includes sweat, thirst, blisters and hygiene problems.

He notes that in the late 1980s, as Soviet restrictions on religion eased, previously limited or banned practices flourished. For Latvian Catholics, visiting Aglona on 15 August, the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was an important act of faith. The author also names the churches of Skaistkalne and Sarkaņi, Kuldīga's Holy Trinity Church, which has been declared a shrine, Riga's Our Lady of Sorrows Church, and St Dominic's Church in Pasiene near the border.

Liepāja to Aglona in 1991 and 1992

As a teenager and altar server at Riga's St James Cathedral, the author took part in the first Liepāja–Aglona pilgrimage in 1991 and again in 1992. He recalls that no written parental consent was requested. Each day the group covered 20–30 kilometres, and he shared a tent with students of the Riga Catholic seminary. His city shoes gave out around Višķi. The 1991 walk began on 27 July, and news arrived along the way of an attack on the Lithuanian border post at Medininkai. In 1992 the group reached Aglona on 13 August. Locals fed and greeted the pilgrims.

The international status of Aglona

In 1995 the Saeima, Latvia's parliament, passed a law on Aglona as a shrine of international significance. Kronbergs asks what proves that status if tens of thousands of foreign pilgrims do not arrive on 15 August, noting that visits by popes in 1993 and 2018 did not change this.