Fr Wim Hoekstra to lead tour to Eastern Turkey

St Peter’s Grotto Church in Antioch

Catholic Outlook, February 2011

Rev Wim Hoekstra, Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Parramatta and former lecturer in Biblical Studies at the Catholic Institute of Sydney, will be leading a pilgrimage tour to Eastern Turkey from 2-21 July 2011.

The tour is limited to a maximum of 25 people and will include visits to Tarsus (birthplace of St Paul), Antioch (“where they were first called Christians”), Haran (links with Abraham), Mount Ararat (Noah’s Ark), and many other cultural and historical places associated with the history of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  The tour concludes with a few days in Istanbul.

This will be Fr Wim’s fourth visit to Turkey. “Previously I’ve led tour groups to Western Turkey focussing on Ephesus and Anzac Cove” he said, “but eastern Turkey provides a real opportunity to see a totally different side of that country.

“When we think of tours associated with Christianity, groups tend to focus on the Holy Land, Rome, and perhaps Egypt. But when we think of a vast country like Turkey, or Asia Minor in Jesus’ time, and we think of what Paul and the early apostles achieved and how they travelled distances in a country almost as large as Australia, we realise the work of the apostles, and following in their footsteps, that this place is really worth visiting.”

The tour price starts from $6,990 per person twin share, and covers airfares from Sydney to Istanbul, internal flights, all accommodation, meals, tours, transportation and tips. A deposit of $350 is due by 18 February 2011.

Brochures of the tour are available on St Patrick’s Cathedral website: http://www.stpatscathedral.com.au/ 

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