Religious Shelters

Sanctuary has multiple meanings. A sanctuary is the consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar. An animal sanctuary is a place where animals live and are protected. In modern parlance the term is used to mean a place of safety. Sanctuary was also a right to be safe from arrest in the sanctuary of a church or temple, recognized by English law from the fourth to the seventeenth century. (Wikipedia)

But not only they gave shelter to medieval criminals, the WorldWalkers enjoyed their hospitality several times. (Not that they are criminals. :)

by FERENC IVANICS
Here in Florida it’s not always an easy task to find a camping spot, even though local people are really helpful. We often stay for a night at the back or front yards of churches. Usually they not only let us stay but they make our walking trip more pleasing with a small treat, a nice chat.

A few times we don’t have a chance to ask for persmission. We arrive late at the evening, the church is closed, we have no idea who should we contact. In these cases we just put up our tents and fall into a deep sleep due to the long day’s walk. Usually, to be woken up to the noise made by the folks coming to the morning service... But sometimes we wake up to a coffee or some cakes they share with us. We have visited many churches of many religions, but it’s safe to say that they all have helped us with small details, or with post-permissions to camp on their property. In the Trinity Church seen on the next photo they were particularly kind to us.


We had good experiences only in Europe and Africa as well. In the September of 2007 we arrived late, freezing cold and very wet in Munich, where we contacted the Hungarian Catholic Mission. They received us with a warm welcome, let us wash and dry our clothes, to warm ourselves in the building. It was really cold outside, or so we thought.


But we found out about real cold later in November, in France. We slept in freezing cold, on snowy fields; in fact, we didn’t sleep too much... Then we ariived to the Taizé Community. We spent a few nights there with the young fellows, living their everyday life, taking part in their programs. But after a few days the road called, we had to part.


And of course, we have to mention the San Juan de Dios center in Málaga, where we were able to take a shower after months without running water, had a haircut; we became human-like creatures again. But we have already told you the story.

Read “Shower in the Church”