 Pilgrims need not visit each church.The tradition of visiting all seven churches was started by Philip Neri around 1553 in order to combine conviviality and the sharing of a common religious experience through discovering of the heritage of the early Saints.Neri drew up an itinerary that included visits to St. Peter's Basilica, then St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, St. Sebastian's, St. John Lateran, Holy Cross-in-Jerusalem, St. Lawrence-Outside-the Walls and finally St. Mary Major.