As we enter the third millennium we look back to the first century and the expansion of the early Christian Church and particularly its transition westwards from Asia into Europe. St Paul was the first missionary bringing Christianity to Europe and this pilgrimage follows in his footsteps as he first ministered to an exclusively Jewish audience and, later in Athens, preached the gospel to the Gentiles for the first time. There are visits to the major sites described in the Acts of the Apostles.  Some like Thessalonica and Athens are still major cities, others like Philippi and Corinth have fallen into ruin and are now archaeological parks. The journey through mainland Greece includes overnight stops beside the spectacular Meteora monasteries and the oracle at Delphi which was once the centre of the ancient world. Pilgrims pray where some of the first Christians worshipped and witnessed, and read in situ from the letters St Paul wrote to the Philippians, Thessalonians and Corinthians.

McCabe’s eight day pilgrimage uses scheduled flights of Olympic Airlines and begins in Thessalonica and finishes in Athens.