Canterbury Cathedral, the historic home of English Christianity, is searching for to re-establish its status as a centre of pilgrimage for the nation.
In the Middle Ages Canterbury was a pilgrimage destination on a par even with Rome. Now, with interest in the traditional practice growing once more, Canterbury Cathedral has appointed a dedicated pilgrim officer.
One of probably the most well-known pilgrimage sites in Canterbury is the tomb of Thomas Becket, the archbishop who was murdered by knights loyal to king Henry II. Seen as a martyr to the religion, pilgrims got here from throughout Europe to go to his shrine in Canterbury Cathedral.
Coming back to the twenty first century, Torin Brown, the brand new pilgrim officer, first went to Canterbury to review theology. During his studies Brown worked as a shepherd on the cathedral and got here into frequent contact with modern-day pilgrims.
Brown was intrigued and moved by their stories and commenced gathering details about what motivated them to take up a spiritual practice commonly related to the Middle Ages reasonably than the fashionable day.
Spirituality appears to be the driving factor, although other pilgrims appear concerned with expressing their faith in environmentally friendly ways. An end to the confinement caused by the pandemic appears to have been an element with others.
Brown says, “There appears to be an undeniable spiritual thirst for what religious people experience as transcendent realities – that characteristic of pilgrimage which may bridge the gap between the sacred and the profane in extraordinary places where the veil is believed to be especially thin.
“It can provide an area where the large questions of life, death and suffering may be offered up for profound contemplation and cathedrals and shrines can represent an axis mundi for this meaning-seeking.”
Canterbury hopes to once more grow to be, in line with Brown, “the premier site of pilgrimage in England built around a core strategy of sanctuary and hope”.
The cathedral can even be holding a medieval pageant this summer, again in recognition of its historic place in English culture.
