By Rainty Tioh
PENAMPANG – Camino Walk may be a new thing for the Catholics in Sabah, but it has been long in practice in Spain. In Spanish, camino simply means road, path, or way. To those who had the experience of following the El Camino de Santiago in Spain, generally they said it was a journey that challenges and rediscovers oneself spiritually, physically, and emotionally. But above all, it is a journey that brings them closer to God.
Historically, the long pilgrimage serves as an expiation of sin and is imposed by the Church as penance for a grave sin.
Closer to home, we have two similar settings to which recently the local Catholics had taken the journey. One at the parish of Penampang and another at the parish of Limbahau and Papar, two selected parishes as pilgrimage sites within the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu. Though the trail is unofficial, many have taken the path as a personal spiritual activity.
Here is the sharing from those who had made the journey.
“On Jun 14, my husband Henry, two friends, Melisa and Koh, and I walked our own Camino right here in Penampang, Sabah. The idea was inspired by the Catholic Church’s celebration of the Jubilee Year 2025, a special time to renew our faith and walk together in hope.”
“We named our first journey “Camino de San Miguel,” or Path of St Michael, and Penampang became the first place where we began our local Camino. We started early in the morning, parking one car at our finishing point, then driving another to the starting point.”
“In total, we visited five churches: First, the Divine Mercy Church, Kg Maang, which was our starting point, then we walked about 4.6 km to Assumption of Our Lady Church, Sugud, continued 5 km to St Aloysius Church, Limbanak, and then headed to Sacred Heart Church, Inobong. This stretch was more challenging, with uphill trails and overgrown bushes (8.4 km), and finally, under the scorching heat, we made our way to our last stop at St Michael Church, Penampang (about 4 km).”
“It was tiring but meaningful. Every step was a reminder of gratitude, faith, and the beauty of journeying together. We may not have been in Spain walking the famous Camino de Santiago, but this journey felt just as special, a local pilgrimage full of purpose and prayer.”
