Filipino priest completes 800-km France-Spain trek for peace

A Filipino priest completed this week an 800-kilometer (km) walk-run from France to Spain for peace and for the success of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III's administration. Fr. Amado Picardal said he arrived on August 10 at the Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, after a 27-day hike that started at the Pyrenees mountains in France. The Pyrenees are a range of mountains that form a natural border between France and Spain. "My pilgrimage has ended but my life's journey continues. I hope to do this again when I make my sabbatical 11 years from now, " he said. Picardal left for Spain on July 10 to run and walk 800 km from France to Spain for several intentions, including the success of the Aquino government and peace with secessionists and communists. He said in his blog that his hike was a “mobile spiritual retreat" that involved meditation, reflection, prayer, and penitential acts such as barefoot walking, barefoot running, fasting during the day, and "sleeping under the stars at night most of the time." "Greetings from Santiago de Compostela! I finally arrived here at 10:00 am (Tuesday) after hiking almost 800 km for 27 days starting at the Pyrenees mountains in France, across the plains of Northern Spain and the mountains of Galicia. I've done most of it barefoot, but I also wore my sandals when the trails and roads got harsh and hot especially in the afternoons," he said in his blog. Picardal said the last week in the Galician region was easier for barefoot hiking due to the cooler climate and thicker forest cover. One of Picardal's objectives was “for peace in the Philippines (especially Mindanao)," adding that he hopes the government, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and the National Democratic Front (NDF) would reach "a final peace agreement." According to the priest's personal blog site (www.amadopicardal.blogspot.com), his other intentions include: * A deeper awareness of God’s presence in his life; stronger faith;conversion, and discovering God’s will for him in the coming years. * For the new administration of President Noynoy Aquino, that he would lead the Filipino people in transforming Philippine society, rid the country of corruption, and bring about peace, justice and progress, and * For the healing of people with cancer and also for his own healing (from hypertension, myocardial ischemia and atherosclerosis) Picardal said he relied on "God’s providence and the kindness of the strangers" during his pilgrimage. He said the last three days of the hike was an experience of agony and ecstasy. "It was agonizing because my right ankle and shin was very painful while hiking through the beautiful forest paths. I cried out to God to take the pain away. Finally the other day I felt a cold air from the ground entering my feet and the pain disappeared. I felt the intimate presence of Someone whom I engaged in a dialogue within my heart. I was crying in the middle of the forest savoring the experience," he narrated in his blog site. –VVP, GMANews.TV