Spiritual Tourism in a Celtic context - a Pioneering Ministry story

THE SPIRITUAL Tourism project in the Diocese of Tuam, Limerick & Killaloe is an expression of the Pioneering Ministry of the Church of Ireland, designed to help the Church engage with tourists not only by facilitating local pilgrimages but also by assisting research into the lives of the early saints, offering spiritual insights places and events in the early Christian context.

It’s a core aspect of Celtic Christianity that God may be appreciated and encountered through the medium of nature, not just geographically, but artistically and creatively. God is present through all things all the time. When we visit an inspiring place or see something beautiful, it plucks at our heart strings. This feeling is the voice of the Divine Creator speaking with us through our senses. It is this ability to see God everywhere that marks Celtic Christian spirituality as the distinctive human capacity to touch the Divine in the ordinary. This is what makes the tourist an “Unwitting Pilgrim on their Wild Spiritual Way.” Upon what are we basing this outreach dynamic; where do we find our model? We’ll take as our case study the earliest arrival of Christianity in this island.

* Full article available in printed copies.

Simon J Lumby

is Archdeacon of Limerick, Ardfert, Aghadoe and Emly and Rector of Killarney.