WORDS Michael McVeigh Facing down pumas and shotgun-wielding farmers, Samuel Clear is taking the long way around in his pilgrimage from Tasmania to Sydney for next year’s World Youth Day. The 28-year-old has travelled through Latin America, and over the next 12 months will visit North America, Russia and Europe on his pilgrimage for unity. Sam’s journey has had more than its fair share of incidents and encounters. He’s faced verbal abuse, been threatened with a shotgun, been robbed twice, and has suffered from food poisoning and numerous injuries from the physical strain of walking long stretches of each day. At one point, he was stalked by a puma, managing to frighten the creature off with his whistle. Australian Catholics caught up with him to talk about his journey.
This journey is about promoting unity among Christians of all denominations. What has the reception been like among other Christians? The response has varied, from severe lectures on the errors of the Catholic Church (upon finding out I’m a Catholic), to being prayed for (as opposed to prayed with), through to 100 per cent encouragement and a strong desire to see all Christians united. With everything that has happened to you, have you ever thought of giving up and getting a plane home? I haven’t once contemplated coming home even though I’ve often wished I was somewhere else! I expected that I would face more than just sore feet on this journey but nothing like what I’ve encountered. Really, it is a privilege to go through so much day after day for the sake of the Church, for Christ. It’s incredible how quite often the locals aren’t particularly interested in what I’m doing until something bad happens. So each injury, each brush with death, has only strengthened the call to pray What has been the highlight of your journey? Meeting incredibly hospitable and warm people in the most unexpected places and, if I had to pick a place, walking across the Grand Savanna in south-eastern Venezuela—massive mountains, breathtaking waterfalls, cool crisp air and indigenous villagers with broad welcoming smiles. It must be really difficult for your family and friends to read about your journey, and the associated hardships. How are they coping? Being able to keep in contact through the website blogs each week has been a real gift. It’s perhaps most difficult for my mum. There’s not much we can do other than touch base a few times a week and keep the conversation light. Nothing like sending a few stupid emails to brighten the mood. Has this journey opened your eyes to the plight of others? Massively. To begin with I’m discovering so many guises of ‘poor’. Everything from poverty of money, drinking water and shelter, through to education, respect for others and self-respect. The greatest poverty though is love. The burning question now is what to do, day by day, and how much longer can I do so little about it? The other burning question is why isn’t the Christian world united on this fundamental level? Why are there so many of our brothers and sisters in massive need?
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