A CRUISE following in the steps of the Apostle Paul has been described as a great success.
Going under the name of St. Paul’s First Missionary Journey, the cruise took place last month and was organised by the company, Steps of St Paul Cruises.
The Astoria cruise ship arrived at Limassol port, where her 400 passengers disembarked to participate on a specially arranged excursion towards Paphos.
The participants, mainly American tourists, familiarised themselves with the steps followed by St. Paul in Cyprus. They had applied to join the cruise through their regional churches in the United States.
The ten-day cruise included visits to other Mediterranean ports where the visitors were given the opportunity to see the various places that the Apostle passed through, such as Ephesus, Rhodes, Crete, Corfu and Rome.
The Cyprus Tourism Organisation said they were very happy with the establishment of the cruise, which is part of their overall strategy to develop religious tourism on the island.
Last October, the first International Conference on Religious Tourism was held in Nicosia, aimed at bringing together those involved in the field as well as focusing on key issues.
In his address on behalf of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew and the Holy Synod of Cyprus, Bishop of Tremythous Vasilios said that the motives of religious tourism should be spiritual and not economic or commercial, and should contribute to combating fanaticism among religions.
Conference Co-ordinator Miranda Ioannou told the Mail that, “the island has always been at the crossroads of many civilisations and religion has played a very important part in the life of the people of Cyprus. Visitors are today impressed by what we have to offer, including 11 UNESCO-protected churches, and of course, Kykkos Monastery.”
According to Acts 13-14, Barnabas took St. Paul on what is often called the First Missionary Journey, which took them to Cyprus, visiting Salamis and Paphos.
Afterward he sailed onward to visit the towns of southern Asia Minor, which is in present-day Turkey. However, Paul’s own letters only mention that he preached in Syria and Cilicia. Acts record that Paul later went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches, but it does not explicitly state who founded the churches or when they were founded
