By Francisco Valdez
I have walked through San Francisco many times, mostly quick trips on tight deadlines. But I had never walked it like I did on Feb. 20. This was my first slow walk, a prayerful walk taken step by step with purpose beyond just getting somewhere. I found myself at the start of the first day of the Camino de San Francisco, a 24-mile pilgrimage route linking Miśion San Rafael Arcángel in Marin County to Miśion San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores) in San Francisco.
Inspired by the life and teachings of St. Francis of Assisi, the route offers participants an opportunity for reflection, prayer and spiritual renewal while moving through a mix of urban and natural landscapes. Organizers describe the Camino not simply as a walk but as a pilgrimage centered on simplicity, encounter and attentiveness to God’s presence.
Miśion San Rafael Arcángel was cold and quiet as pilgrims made their way inside. Some chatting, others in silence, a few already seeming to understand what the day would hold. Father Bobby Barbato, rector of the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, stood before the group and offered not just a welcome, but a reminder of why they were there.
“So, brothers and sisters, as you begin your journey today, we remember what the Scriptures tell us, that we are pilgrims and strangers in this world,” he said as he offered us his blessing. “As we walk through this pilgrimage, we think of what St. Augustine tells us, that when people are on a journey, it’s very nice for them to look at the countryside and all the beauty around them and appreciate those gifts, but also never forget where they’re going.”
That idea stayed with me as the walk began. The route quickly unfolded into a rhythm: city streets, hills that demanded attention, moments of silence, moments of conversation.
I continued reflecting on Father Barbato’s words. “As you walk as pilgrims, enjoy the beauty around you, but remember the Lord is your goal and keep walking toward Him,” he said. “Our journey in life is the same thing. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus walks with you, and He will open your minds to the Scriptures and to His love.”
For Andy Allen of San Luis Obispo, that slower pace is very meaningful. “Being part of a group is wonderful, but to get the most out of it and the deepest spiritual experience, you want to walk by yourself,” he said. “You can just listen to God as you move through your pilgrimage. You listen to yourself, your body, and you don’t have to be distracted by anything else beyond that.”
Even within a group, the Camino becomes something personal, a space to reflect, to pray and to carry intentions that may not be visible to others.
Allen is also part of an effort to connect the Camino de San Francisco to a broader tradition. “I’m here as part of a prelude walk where we can certify up to 30 kilometers of this Camino walk as credit toward the 100-kilometer walk on the Camino de Santiago,” he said. “At the end of the route today, everyone will receive a distance certificate that can be applied toward their pilgrimage in Spain.”
The effort marks a first for a California-based pilgrimage. Allen said organizers hope to expand the model along the Camino Real, eventually linking all 21 California missions into a network that mirrors the historic routes in Europe.
That vision is being led in part by Capuchin Franciscan Father Christopher Iwancio, one of the main organizers of the Camino. “There’s been mission walks before, but what we’re doing with the Camino de San Francisco is creating a route that provides more of a religious experience, more of a pilgrimage versus just a walk,” said Father Iwancio.
Unlike earlier mission routes that primarily connected sites, this Camino is designed to foster encounter. “We’ll visit historic churches, go through nature like the Marin Headlands, and give people an experience of what the Camino is like in Spain,” he said. “Walking through places, meeting people, stopping to pray; it’s about that experience.”
Father Iwancio said pilgrimage creates space for people at all stages of faith. “You can be someone searching, someone very devout, or somewhere in between,” he said. “Pilgrimage gives you a chance to encounter God in a unique way.”
He pointed to the Gospel story of the road to Emmaus as a model. “Sometimes Christ is present in our life but we don’t see it,” he said. “This gives us a break from our ordinary routine to reflect on life, on our relationship with God, and to think about how we can grow.”
The difference, he said, is often the pace. “People drive past these places at 80 miles an hour on Highway 101,” he said. “Here, we’re going two or three miles an hour. Life looks different when you slow down and walk.”
Walking alongside Andy Allen, his wife Debbie described the pilgrimage in more immediate terms. “You encounter God on pilgrimage,” she said. “It feeds our soul, our spirit. It keeps us going through thick and thin.”
She did not describe the walk as easy. “This walk is hard, but the difficulty hides a blessing. We can join our sufferings to Jesus’ suffering on the cross so that it counts.”
During the walk, she said, those small physical challenges — fatigue, strain, even cramping – take on a different meaning. They can be offered in prayer for others. On this day, her thoughts were with a family member facing a medical emergency. “I can offer that up for the wisdom of the doctors and for her well-being,” she said. “We all know people that need prayer.”
As the miles passed, the Camino settled into something both structured and open. Pilgrims moved together at times, then drifted apart. Some talked. Others walked in silence. Some 13 miles into the pilgrimage, we reached the Marin Headlands.
By then, the walk had begun to take its toll – blisters on my feet, legs felt heavy – and the road ahead offered little relief. Only more inclines in front of us. “Keep moving forward,” I told myself. I paused briefly to take photos, trying to capture something that could hold the weight of the day. As I adjusted my camera, my thoughts drifted to Junípero Serra and his well-known acts of penance, placing thorns in his habit as he walked.
Then, in a moment of distraction, I lost my footing. I fell straight into a thorn bush just as the Golden Gate Bridge came into view. It was sudden, sharp and strangely fitting. The pain snapped me back into the present, but it also reframed the moment. What had felt like an inconvenience, fatigue, discomfort, the slow grind of the miles now felt like a small participation in something much older, something deeper. It brought to mind the words often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
I got up, brushed myself off, and kept walking. The Camino has a way of doing that. It takes the unexpected, even the painful, and folds it into the journey not as interruption, but as invitation.
Father Iwancio said that balance between solitude and encounter is part of what makes pilgrimage unique. “You can have moments of silence, but also moments of interaction,” he said. “It’s not like a retreat where everything is structured. You can pray the rosary, then grab a cup of coffee. It’s accessible.”
He added that pilgrimages can meet people in both ordinary and difficult moments of life. “Sometimes people go on pilgrimage after something dramatic – loss, illness, major life changes,” he said. “But it’s good to have these moments before things get really tough, to know where that help is.”
The pace slows enough for reflection. The noise fades just enough to notice what might otherwise be missed. The act of walking becomes less about reaching the destination and more about what is encountered along the way. For Father Iwancio, that is at the heart of the Camino. “To go on pilgrimage is an opportunity to encounter not just nature or your neighbor, but God as well,” he said.
For many, the purpose remains the same: to step away, to walk with intention and to notice. And perhaps, in the process, to realize that the journey is not only about moving forward, but about understanding where and toward whom one is going. In the words of Franciscan St. Junípero Serra, “Siempre adelante” (Always forward).
Francisco Valdez is a reporter for Catholic San Francisco.
