A few months ago I joined in spirit with every other American to pray and ponder with great sadness the continuing echoes of the unspeakable tragedy of September 11, 2001. Something dawned on me that, as with so many things, was so obvious it hadn’t occurred to me before. My personal commitment to leading and promoting the Early Christian World Pilgrimage to Turkey has its roots in the events of 9/11.
Neither retaliation nor revenge can provide a real solution to the conflicts that plague our world. Destruction continues to spawn destruction. Nor can the ultimate answer to perceived threats be to retreat behind a wall of self-protection.
What then is the answer, or at least a viable and moral direction toward an answer, in the dangerous and difficult world we face?
The second Eucharistic Prayer for Masses of Reconciliation accurately sums up our faith focused on the reality of our world:
Your Spirit is at
work
when understanding puts and end to strife,
when hatred is quenched by mercy,
and vengeance gives way to forgiveness.
There are today between 1.4 and 1.9 billion Muslims in the world—estimates vary, and comprehensive figures are hard to come by. Most population estimates count Christians, at about 2.1 billion, as still outnumbering Muslims.
Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, both through conversion and a high birthrate among predominantly youthful populations. Trends indicate that by 2020, the ratio of Christians and Muslims worldwide will be reversed.
Islam is not going to go away. Neither is Christianity.
The history between the two has never been easy, but the times of violent conflict have more often arisen from political, cultural, ethnic, economic, and social differences rather than purely religious. And there have been times of relatively harmonious relations, e.g., the convivencia that characterized signiicant periods of Medieval Spain and the Ottoman Empire of the fifteenth to the nineteenth century.
One of the most difficult elements of understanding “the other” is that it demands understanding of oneself. Aydin Eroglu, our Pilgrimage tour guide, often laments that the biggest problem with Muslims is that they don’t know their own faith. Sadly, that is so true of us Catholic Christians too, isn’t it? We can only have the kind of dialogue that leads to mutual understanding if we first make the effort to understand ourselves!
Do we have the courage to commit ourselves to seeking the kind of understanding—of self and of “the other”—that can lead to dialogue? We have a lot to learn.
When I went on a “mini-sabbatical” study tour of Turkey and Greece in 2005, I was struck by the unique position of present-day Turkey in the history of both Christianity and Islam. It is the perfect place to study and come to understand both our own faith and life as Christians, and the faith and life of Muslims, as both have developed through the past two millennia. Immersing ourselves in the complexities of the past and present of this land is the core our Pilgrmage.
What is a Pilgrimage? And how does it differ from a vacation, a tour, or even an academic travel program?
I’ve been doing a fair amount of background reading on the history and spirituality of pilgrimage in order to get a clearer idea for myself. In the literature, three things seem to characterize pilgrimage, making it different from any other kind of journey.
First, on a pilgrimage on goes away from one’s accustomed place and normal routine. It’s a step outside the ordinary, into something new. Anthropologist Victor Turner described pilgrimage as “going to a far place to understand a familiar place better.”
Secondly, the destination of a pilgrimage is contact with the person or event that makes the “far place” holy. In visiting the tomb of a saint, for example, one touches the life of that saint here and now, and drinks from his or her spirit.
Thirdly, a pilgrim always returns with a deeper sense of his or her relationship to the community. While it will be an intensely personal experience, a true pilgrimage can never be simply for one’s own private benefit. Having experienced a sense of the larger, more universal community, one brings that awareness back into the day to day life, responsibility, and interaction with one’s own community.
Pilgrimage is always a life-changing experience.
My own conversion experience through pilgrimage has given me a passion to share the treasures of what it means to be a Catholic Christian: to value a heritage rich in diversity, and to gain from that heritage insight into how to live in the challenging world today. The enemies of such a conversion can be things like the humdrum of routine that dulls our interest and enthusiasm, and the fear-induced ideological battles that narrow our vision.
The Early Christian World Pilgrimage is a unique and captivating experience. The pilgrims themselves most often describe it as “life changing.” This is why I continue to be passionate and enthusiastic about promoting it. This is why, I have felt it so important to encourage especially teachers—those who help to form our future world.
And this is why I have doggedly (and successfully) pursued getting the Early Christian World Pilgrimage to Turkey accredited for Continuing Education units by Loyola Marymount University. (Click here to go to the LMU website.) Teachers will benefit immediately from the opportunity to earn these credits, but it is our children and our families who will be the ultimate beneficiaries of their participation.
I want to make it clear that this is not a vacation. If you want to relax, take a cruise, not a pilgrimage! The pace is very steady from morning till evening every day, and there is not much free time. Not only do we visit a lot of places and see and do a lot of things, but much of our time on the bus is devoted to talks and discussions that are relevant to the pilgrimage. These are be led by Aydın and me, and also include some presentations by participants, in addition to DVD videos on various subjects. We did a lot of this kind of education this past year, and I think it worked really well.
Yes, there’s a lot of walking, a lot of praying, and many opportunities for learning and understanding. That’s why we emphasize that it’s a pilgrimage. Spiritual exercise on wheels. If you just want to see new and exotic places, find another kind of tour.
Unlike most pilgrimages, which concentrate on a particular shrine (e.g. Lourdes) or a theme (e.g., Footsteps of St. Paul) we are visiting a wide range of places, as you can see from the itinerary. We seek to discover the hand of God in the great panorama of history and culture that makes up our heritage.
We celebrate Mass nearly every day—in some locations daily Mass is just not possible. We pray morning prayer on the bus each day, and read relevant sections from the Bible, the Qu’ran, and other spiritual writers, especialy those connected with the places we visit.
There are times of fun too, such as the early morning balloon ride over Cappadocia, a folk-dance show, the hot mineral water of Hierapolis, and some really great meals.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that I have become deeply committed to making the concept and the reality of pilgrimage an integral part of the life of our parish community. I do this realizing that 95% or more of the people of the parish cannot now, and perhaps never will, actually go on such a pilgrimage—a journey to a far, holy place precisely because it is a holy place. And yet, the benefit of the pilgrimage experience must be in some way available to all without exception if its purpose is to be fulfilled.
If you can come, believe me, you will find ways to enrich others because of the ways your own life will have been changed.
But even if you can’t come yourself, you can still benefit from the Pilgrimage by helping to support a Catholic schoolteacher by contributing to a “scholarship fund.” Contact me for more information.
The time for decision and commitment is now. As of December 1, there are only 117 days until the opening of the Pilgrimage at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, March 26, 2008, in the downstairs conference room of the Madison Hotel in Istanbul.
But an early decision is even more important because in order to derive the most benefit, preparation is needed. Beginning Sunday afternoon, January 6, there will be a series of four preparatory gatherings for the Pilgrimage. At these meetings, we will talk about details of the trip; investigate the religious, historical and cultural background of places we will visit; and get to know one another (including the past pilgrims). Of course, there will also be food with a Turkish flavor. Teachers especially can make good use of this time to engage their students in preparation as well. The pilgrimage experience is really enhanced by these meetings, and everyone should have the opportunity to take full advantage of them. (The other gatherings will be on January 27, February 17, and March 16.)
Please explore the rest of the Early Christian World website, and contact me with any questions you may have.
Fr. Tom Welbers
November 21, 2007