Pilgrimage and Popular Religion in the Pan-Mediterranean World

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During the term of this project, We opened totally sixteen study meetings at Sophia University/Tokyo, in which the total number of twenty-six investigators and ten invited guest reporters presented their reports.The investigators conducted severally their field inquiries, whose regions extended almost through all the area of Europe and North Africa, namely England, France, Spain, Italia, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Greece, and Russia.Also, having given further comparative study to Sikoku-Junrei, the head investigator SEKI and OOTOSHI who took part in the international symposium of "Sikoku-Junrei and the Pilgrimages of the World" in Ehime University/Matsuyama at 5-6 November, 2005, extended their knowledge.As a result, we reached the following some summarized aspects :(1) The great three Religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) in the Pan-Mediterranean World characterized by Monotheism, find in Pilgrimage phenomenon something congenial to themselves, but they have been remarkably different in the doctrines and system of religious organizations.(2) The Pilgrimage was regarded as the act of religious piety, but always involves the elements of popular religion, so had to be controlled by the authority. It is the healing from disease that was the main motive of the masses of people who have been put spurs to pilgrimage.(3) The three monotheistic religions have recognized common sacred places and same saints, because Judaism was the origin of Christianity and Muslim.(4) In order to grasp the Pan-Mediterranean World, it is essential that not only the opinions of religious authorities but also pilgrimage as expression of the popular religion must be noticed.(5) It is very important that the investigator have a personal experience of field survey and actual pilgrimage.