It's a secular age, but Europeans still go on quests, treks and pilgrimages to test their limits and nourish their souls. A special report on what moves the Continent. BY JEFF CHU
The monks were fed up. By 1420, traffic was so bad inside Canterbury Cathedral that the Benedictines were constantly being diverted from their monkish contemplation by hordes of pilgrims. Ever since the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket 250 years earlier, people had been flocking here—to the grand seat of English Christianity and the scene of Becket's murder—to ask his saintly intercession and plead for healing. Which was all good and pious of the pilgrims, but who could hear themselves pray with all these visitors tramping around?
So the monks built a tunnel under the stairs at the center of the church, a sort of express lane to the spot of Becket's martyrdom. Over the years, thousands of faithful shuffled through the cool, stone corridor, but gradually, what with King Henry VIII's break with Roman Catholicism, the Reformation and later, creeping secularization, the pilgrims' numbers dwindled to the point that the passageway became more useful as a broom closet. A few weeks ago, however, officials at Canterbury reopened the tunnel. For tourists.
Where have all the pilgrims gone? They are a barometer for the values of an age. Their habits tell us about the spiritual state of a people. What temples do they worship in? To whom do they pay their tithes and offerings? Where do they seek their soul food? The fashionable answer is to say that faith in Europe is nearly extinct. Some theologians call the Continent "post-Christian." But the truth is that neither faith nor pilgrimage is dead in Europe.
In this year's European Journey special issue, TIME hitches a ride with modern-day pilgrims to find out what moves people today — how travel helps test physical limits and nourish the spirit. Yes, there are still religious roamers out there: the enduringly faithful Muslims, whose visits to Mecca have given us a word for a center of shared interest that draws people from all over; the Christians who walk the great pilgrim's way of El Camino de Santiago in Spain. But in a secular age, the spiritual impulse is more likely to manifest itself in a cycling or mountain-climbing adventure, or the quiet contemplation of an English garden. Mass worship may take place in a football stadium; and wine is served, with all the reverence of communion, in the caves of Loire Valley châteaus. Many of today's most secular pilgrimages have a ritualistic quality that makes them part of the ancient tradition: what the Very Rev. Robert Willis, dean of Canterbury, calls the search for "blessing and enrichment. In pilgrimage, body, mind and spirit come together in an individual quest," he says. "Jesus was always walking, walking, walking—all the way to Calvary." Our quest need not be so momentous: "Any journey that adds a mini-jigsaw piece to the puzzle of you can be a mini-pilgrimage."
European Journey [Oct. 31, 2003]
By revisiting historical locations across Europe TIME explored elements of change
A Passage to Europe [Oct. 6, 2003]
The Continent isn't just on a journey; it is a journey
Holy, Holy, Holistic [Jan. 19, 2003]
Why are Germany's convents and monasteries marketing themselves as New Age spiritual retreats for paying customers?
The Many Faces Of Islam [Dec. 8, 2002]
European Muslims are speaking out, reassessing their faith and their feelings about assimilation in liberal, secular societies.
Mogadishu at 60 Miles an Hour Arms merchants are once again doing brisk business after a rapid change of power in this tough town, but so far the peace has held
The Year of The Nuke A rundown of the world's nuclear powerhouses, and what to expect in the coming months
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[Apr. 3, 2000] 
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