Rappahannock resident ‘Unlikely Pilgrim’
Regnery recounts the vivid comparison of Orthodox faith to Catholicism, much of it through the people he met along the way. In fact, George Weigel, biographer to Pope John Paul II, reviewed “Unlikely Pilgrim: A Journey Into History and Faith,” stating simply that it’s “Full of great stories.”
In Turkey, the author, who has spent his career in business, politics, law and journalism — lecturing on them all in a classroom at RappU — visited what remains of the Seven Churches of Revelation, described by John in the first chapters of the Book of Revelation, all central to the development of the Early Church.
And just before 9/11, as it would turn out, Regnery was in Syria, traveling to nether regions when they were still relatively peaceful and benign. Many of the sites written about in the book were since destroyed by Muslim extremists.
A rather common exchange with a Syrian, when it became apparent that Regnery was American, went something like this: “So you’re an American. I don’t care for your government much, but then I don’t like our government much, either. I cannot do anything about my government — it is what it is — and I assume you cannot do anything about yours, either. But let’s be friends.”
Publisher Beaufort Books says Unlikely Pilgrim is inspiring; rich in history, geopolitics, culture and faith; and “will make readers want to drop what they are doing, pack up a rucksack, and follow in [Regnery’s] footsteps.”