Author Archives: Schütz

About Schütz

I am a PhD candidate & sessional academic at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, Australia. After almost 10 years in ministry as a Lutheran pastor, I was received into the Catholic Church in 2003. I worked for the Archdiocese of Melbourne for 18 years in Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations. I have been editor of Gesher for the Council of Christians & Jews and am guest editor of the historical journal “Footprints”. I have a passion for pilgrimage and pioneered the MacKillop Woods Way.

Via Francigena – Day One from Viterbo to Vetralla (13 October 2023)

Pictures for today are on Google Photos here. So I started off bright and early this morning after breakfast at 7am. Being Friday 13th, I have decided to take that as a lucky omen rather than an unlucky one. Breakfast … Continue reading

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Starting the Via Francigena – Day Zero getting to Viterbo (11-12 October 2023

Pictures relating to this part of the journey are on Google Photos here. This is the third time that I have flown to Rome. My first overseas trip was in 2007 to Constantinople, and my third was started in Jordan. … Continue reading

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MacKillop-Woods Way 6th Leg – Day Six (Easter Saturday, 10 April, 2021): Hamilton to Alexander McKillop’s Grave

I “slept in”, waking at 7:45am. It was wonderful just to lie in bed for a while. I had woken in the middle of the night, as usual, but instead of working on my journal, I caught up with the … Continue reading

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MacKillop-Woods Way 6th Leg – Day Five (Easter Friday, 9 April, 2021): Dunkeld to Hamilton

The rain woke me at about 2am. It had begun as I was falling asleep, but it was really heavy now. I looked at my weather app and saw a large band of heavy rain sweeping all the way from … Continue reading

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MacKillop-Woods Way 6th Leg – Day Four (Easter Thursday, 8 April, 2021): Glenthompson to Dunkeld

The sky was quite clear overnight, and it was very still and quite cold. In my location south of the railway, the highway was far enough away not to wake me with the sound of the occasional truck going through. … Continue reading

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MacKillop-Woods Way 6th Leg – Day Three (Easter Wednesday, 7 April, 2021): Lake Bolac to Glenthompson

I slept better last night. I woke at about 1:30am, but instead of fighting wakefulness and trying to get back to sleep, I decided to get up and sit in the camp kitchen (at the Lake Bolac Foreshore Caravan Park) … Continue reading

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MacKillop-Woods Way 6th Leg – Day Two (Easter Tuesday, 6 April, 2021): Streatham to Lake Bolac

Despite my sanctified surroundings, I slept badly overnight. I woke around 3am quite sore from sleeping on a relatively hard surface and then tossed and turned for the next two and a half hours before I decided to get up. … Continue reading

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MacKillop-Woods Way 6th Leg – Day One (Easter Monday, 5 April, 2021): Skipton to Streatham

Five years ago on Easter Monday 2016, I and my friends Sean and Josh set out on the first “leg” of the MacKillop-Woods Way from St Mary’s birthplace in Fitzroy toward her tomb in North Sydney. We reached Bairnsdale that … Continue reading

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On the MacKillop-Woods Way Again

I’ve just arrived at the Snake Valley Pub (aka Royal Hotel), and am having pizza and beer for dinner. Tomorrow I plan to start walking from Skipton (where the 5th Leg of the MWW ended in 2019) toward Hamilton, where … Continue reading

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Great Victorian Rail Trail (Day Three – Wednesday 24 February, 2021)

I slept better last night. I woke only at 4am, and this time because of the sound of roaring traffic. I didn’t realise that just the other side of the Yea River next to which I had pitched my tent … Continue reading

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