Compostelle France General Meeting 2024

I attended this meeting with Monique, our General Secretary, and I’d like to report on it.

Organized at the Cité Saint-Pierre in Lourdes, by Marc Fouquerne, President of the Association des Amis de Saint-Jacques en Occitanie, the Association de Lourdes Compostelle, the Association des Chemins de Saint-Jacques Piémont, Ariège, Pyrénées.

Philippe Dionnet, President of Compostelle France, welcomed us with attention and kindness.

At this AGM, we were able to meet representatives from a number of associations, including members of the Board of Camino Europa Compostella, James Portelli (from Malta), and meet Birgit Heinrich, President of the Rhineland Palatinate-Saarland Association, who hopes that Germany, having created a federation, will join our C.E.C.
I also spoke with Jacque Chauty and Martine Souris from Compostelle 2000, while Monique chatted with various participants.

Although not a member of Compostelle France, we took part in the meeting and attended the workshop on promoting the Tours route, which is one of the least frequented.

Like the President of the Spanish Federation, I addressed the assembly at the start of the session to emphasize the need for associations to join forces, and our responsibility to do so. I also pointed out that we are associated with Compostelle France within Camino Europa Compostella, and I believe I was well received. I headed home, and Monique stayed behind to ensure our presence until the end.

At the close of the AGM, Philippe Dione was unanimously re-elected President of Compostelle France; we are delighted by this, and salute him for his contribution to Camino Europa Compostela.

As I was leaving, I met Guy Mattéo, President of the Association pour les Chemins de Saint-Jacques en Région Languedoc-Roussillon, of which I am a member, and the Société Française des amis de Saint Jacques, a statutory member of the Board of Directors.