INTRODUCTION

Dear Pathologist Colleague,

On mid May, 2004, the five of us were fortunate enough to participate in the most original, successful and enjoyable pathology meeting any of us had ever attended. It was a pathological pilgrimage that took place not in a single location but along a sacred route, the Camino de Santiago.

The Camino de Santiago – the way to St. James - is the ancient pilgrims’ route to Santiago de Compostela, in Northwest Spain. James Michener, in his book Iberia, describes it as “one of the two or three finest journeys in the world, a two-fold pilgrimage to a long-dead form of art and to a living religious shrine.” During the Middle Ages there were three locations upon which the imagery of the Christian Church depended: Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago. Those who went to Jerusalem were called palmers and those who went to Rome were romeros, but only those who went to Compostela were entitled to be called pilgrims. The pilgrimage to Santiago began around 900 AD. In medieval times about half-million pilgrims moved along the road each year, despite Erasmus of Rotterdam’s warning that “one has to be crazy to go to Santiago”. They were helped by the first tourist guide ever produced in Europe, the Codex Calixtinus, written by Aimery Picard, a cleric from Poitou, in the 12th Century. Some of those pilgrims were Charlemagne (778 AD), King Alfonso II of Spain (813 AD), El Cid Campeador (1064 AD), King Louis VII of France (1154 AD), St. Francis of Assisi (1214 AD) (“taking quite a few monks along”), King James III of Scotland and England (1719 AD), and – in more recent times – Pope John XXIII, Pope John Paul II, and Shirley McLaine (strange bedfellows). Goethe went as far as stating that the spirit of Europe developed along the way of this pilgrimage. In 1987 the European Council declared the Camino de Santiago the “first European cultural itinerary”. At present, there are about 70,000 people taking the pilgrimage each year, with the number almost doubling on Holy years, which 2010 happens to be.

According to Michener, during the middle ages the pilgrims were divided into seven fairly well distinct groups. First were the devout Christian laymen; second were knights; third were monks, priests, and even a few cardinals; fourth were criminals who had been told by their judges “Five years in jail or a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James, whichever”; fifth were beggars, forgers, thieves, robbers and other unsavory characters; sixth were merchants, architects, itinerant painters, and weavers; and seventh were Spanish government agents and French clerics keeping a watch on this unquiet land. To this we added in 2004 an eighth group, that of pathologists, and buoyed by the success of the enterprise we will do it again in 2010.

For our previous pilgrimage, we chose El Camino Francés (the French route), the best known of the ten or so routes leading to Santiago. This time we will be taking the second most spectacular and popular route, i.e., El Camino Portugués (the Portuguese route), which started in the high medieval period and intensified following Portugal’s independence in the mid 12th Century. It has the special distinction of being the route most intimately connected with the life, ministry, death and burial of St. James. The route follows the Atlantic coast of Portugal and Spain through stunning and unspoiled countryside. It starts in the medieval heart of Porto in northwest Portugal and continues northwards, crossing the rivers Lima and Minho, where it enters Spain. Still heading North, it crosses the river Ulla at Padrón before arriving to Santiago. The total distance is about 241 Km (150 miles), divided into 126 Km (78 miles) for the Portuguese portion and 115 Km (72 miles) for the Spanish portion.

Day 1 will be the arrival day to Porto for most of the participants, with check-in at the Ipanema Park Hotel and dinner on their own.

On Day 2, participants will attend lectures during the day and the Opening lecture by Dr. Manuel Sobrinho-Simões, a private concert, and a welcoming dinner at the Casa da Música of Porto in the evening.

Starting on Day 3, the Course schedule will consist in alternating days of travel and lecturing. The travel days will be composed of 3 walks about 12 Km/7.4 miles long each, combined with approximately 205 Km/127 miles on bus. The walking stretches have been selected in each instance by taking into account their attractiveness and ease. The motorized portion of the trip will take place on luxury buses rented for the exclusive use of the participants for the entire duration of the Course. In addition, a small van will be on-call to assist Course participants during the walking stretches if needed. Additional facilities will include medical emergency services, local guides, and a photographer who will document on pictures and videos the progress along the route.

The last academic session will take place on the morning of Day 8 at the Medical School of the University of Santiago de Compostela and will consist of a Surgical Pathology Seminar run by Drs. Juan Rosai (5 cases), Jerónimo Forteza-Vila (2 cases) and Manuel Sobrinho-Simões (1 case), followed by the Closing Lecture by Dr. Jéronimo Forteza-Vila. The group will then attend a special mass at the Cathedral of Santiago, which will feature the great botafumeiro in full swing.

After a leisurely visit to Santiago on Friday afternoon, a gala dinner and a welldeserved restful night, the participants will be free to return to their homes on Saturday, May 29, or to begin a vacation of their own.

Course directors

Juan Rosai, M.D.
International Center for Pathology Consulations
Centro Diagnóstico Italiano (C.D.I.)
Milan, ITALY

Jerónimo Forteza-Vila, M.D.
Department of Pathology
Hospital Clínico Universitario
Santiago de Compostela, SPAIN

Manuel Sobrinho-Simões M.D.
Department of Pathology
Medical Faculty & IPATIMUP
Porto, PORTUGAL

Associate Course directors

Fátima Carneiro M.D.
Department of Pathology
Medical Faculty & IPATIMUP
Porto, PORTUGAL

José Cameselle-Teijeiro M.D.
Department of Pathology
Hospital Clínico Universitario
Santiago de Compostela, SPAIN

Supporting organizations

  • Spanish Society of Pathology
  • Portuguese Society of Pathology
  • European Society of Pathology
  • Facultad de Medicina
  • Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
  • University of Porto
  • Consellería de Sanidad - SERGAS
  • IDICHUS
  • S.A. de Xestión do Xacobeo
  • Xunta de Galicia

Faculty

  • Ferrán Algaba, M.D.
  • Héctor Battifora, M.D.
  • José Cameselle-Teijeiro, M.D.
  • Fátima Carneiro, M.D.
  • Paula Chaves, M.D.
  • Howard Dorfman, M.D.
  • Jonathan Epstein, M.D.
  • Fabio Facchetti, M.D.
  • Jerónimo Forteza-Vila, M.D.
  • Robert Kurman, M.D.
  • Gregory Lauwers, M.D.
  • María Merino, M.D.
  • Elizabeth Montgomery, M.D.
  • José Luis Rodríguez-Peralto, M.D.
  • Juan Rosai, M.D.
  • Fernando Schmitt, M.D.
  • Stuart Schnitt, M.D.
  • Manuel Sobrinho-Simões, M.D.
  • Fattaneh Tavassoli, M.D.
  • Robert Young, M.D.