Fife to fore as Kirk takes new look at pilgrimage

Church out to 'revive rural communities and use powerful tool to reach people

Fife is at the centre of new efforts by the Church of Scotland to raise the ancient practice of pilgrimage’s profile across the country.

Europe’s most famous pilgrimage route – the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain – attracts 250,000 pilgrims annually, up from just a few thousand during the 1970s.

The tradition is seeing a massive resurgence in Scotland, with six major pilgrimage routes under development and enthusiasm for spiritual journeying rising every year.

Last month the National Lottery announced new funding of £399,000 to develop the Fife Pilgrim Way, a 70-mile route that will travel from Culross and South Queensferry to St Andrews.

On Easter Sunday – which will mark the 900th anniversary of St Magnus’ death – a new pilgrimage route in his honour will be launched in Orkney.

The Rev Dr Richard Frazer, convener of the Kirk’s Church and Society Council, said: “Worship comes in many forms and pilgrimage is one of them.

“The habits of Sunday morning services, as noble and as good as they are, do not necessarily reach people who have a profound spiritual hunger but have never developed those habits.

“People who walk the Camino may not be conventionally religious, but very few who reach Santiago de Compostela would deny the journey there was a spiritual experience. In a time when the Church is looking for new ways to touch the hearts of all people, pilgrimage is a very powerful tool.”

Nick Cooke, secretary of the Scottish Pilgrim Routes Forum, said the new Fife route will bring tourism to rural communities which need a boost.

“Fife was a huge pilgrimage centre in the Middle Ages and by bringing walkers and cyclists to the middle of Fife, this route will help revive some vulnerable rural communities,” he said.

It is hoped Scotland’s pilgrimage routes can bring tourism to rural areas and offer people a spiritual experience.