Case Study: Extreme Way of the Cross (Kraków, Poland)

With headlamps, wooly hats, and torso-sized wooden crosses tied to their backs, a group of young adults heads out into the night. It is snowing in early April, but over 100,000 Catholics across the region are braving the cold and taking part in the Extreme Way of the Cross – a popular new practice that seeks to help them deepen their faith.  

Started in 2009 by Fr. Jacek Stryczek, a keen outdoorsman and Catholic priest, the practice begins with a Mass held on the evening of the Friday before Palm Sunday – the beginning of Christianity’s Holy Week. Then, participants walk through the night for 40 kilometers or more to a holy site like a shrine, basilica, or wayside chapel. The nighttime journey is taken in silence, interrupted only by reading aloud the spiritual reflections prepared by church leaders while kneeling for each Station of the Cross.

Originally designed to engage young men, the practice has far exceeded the initial vision. Tapping into a cultural interest in health and fitness, the Extreme Way of the Cross is part-workout and part-devotional journey, inspired by the traditional 14 Stations of the Cross (itself an 18th century Franciscan innovation). Perhaps most interestingly, in a culture fixated on gratification, image-management, and wealth, the Extreme Way of the Cross illustrates a deeper desire for voluntary hardship, authentic experience, and simple living. 

The organizers lean into this stark contrast. “The Extreme Way of the Cross is nothing like traditional pilgrimages, where it’s safe, where there’s singing, [and] a priest to look after you,” reads the website. “The Extreme Way of the Cross means a dark night. And struggling to overcome your weaknesses.” As the practice has spread to more than 20 countries, this counter-cultural innovation seems to be striking a chord.

“Always, at every station, I feel great closeness, grace, and love: immense love,” explains one participant, Ania, who is taking part in her fifth pilgrimage. 

The Extreme Way of the Cross demands significant commitment, yet allows for a rich personal experience. Pilgrims can walk any route they choose, as long as it fulfills the core requirements. Some walk for over 100 kilometers. They can walk alone, or in small groups of up to ten, and each person constructs their own wooden cross to carry. 

Bridging tradition and innovation, communal experience and religious individualization, the Extreme Way of the Cross is meant to push participants to face physical demands they have never faced before. In this process, explains spokesperson Fr Matthew Tarczyñski, “you discover your own limits…and meet God.”

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