This is the map and itinerary of the sabbatical adventures of the Revs. David Gortner and Heather VanDeventer
They are covering a lot of ground (and water)! It is a journey of about 10,000 miles around parts of the Mediterranean. They will be in Spain and Morocco for the month of June. In July, they begin in Tunisia and move on to Italy, Albania, Greece, and North Macedonia. At the end of July, they will possibly return to Spain but then connect with their children and some friends in Germany and Austria
This journey walks David and Heather through places of deep and intense religious history. They will touch some spaces of journeys of Paul and his companions, later early Christian movement around the Roman Empire, Jewish presence in all these places, and the rise and spread of Islam across these regions. The people of these religions did not always treat one another well, and sometimes dealt cruelty upon each other. But there were and are important places of harmonious and respectful co-existence and creative partnership.
Spain
David and Heather are enjoying their time in Spain, reconnecting with places that spoke to them on their honeymoon 26 years ago, and immersing themselves in new places.
In their focus on interfaith history, shared holy sites, and current interfaith community work, they meet people and seen historic places in the Jewish neighborhoods and Muslim-era sites in Girona, Toledo, Cordoba, and Sevilla. They also meet with leaders and members in the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church, and other ecumenical and interfaith leaders.
These places span over 1,500 years Abrahamic religions’ history. They reveal stories of cooperation and conflict, of respect and prejudice, of trust and suspicion – and of how rulers set the stage for positive and negative interaction. The time of a more “peaceable kingdom” was during the centuries between AD 711 and 1492, when there was mostly peaceful coexistence and cooperation between Muslims, Christians, and Jews – although there was distinct classism, with Christians and Jews at lower classes.
If you are curious about some of what they are exploring, you can read or watch Ornament of the World. BOOK PBS DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Morocco
The next big part of David’s and Heather’s journey has taken them to Morocco, again reconnecting them with places they first experience on their honeymoon 26 years ago, and immersing themselves in many new places.
The journey begins with time at the World Music Festival in Essaouira, on the Atlantic coast. This city was an especial favorite of Jews when many lived in Morocco.
The journey continues with visits to sacred sites and current faith communities in Marrakesh, and to a village where the High Atlas Foundation is guiding Muslim and Jewish people together in sustainable agriculture with mutual appreciation.
They then fly to Fez, where they tour old synagogues and mosques, visit tombs and caves held by all three faiths as holy sites of pilgrimage, survey the reconstruction of a historic Catholic monastery where over 100 years ago a band of angry Algerian Muslim Berbers killed many of the monks, meet a Christian campus minister, see Islamic universities founded by women over 1,100 years ago and meet leaders and students of the American Language Center.
From there, the journey moves back to the coast, to Rabat (the capital city). David and Heather join a small Anglican congregation for worship, and meet interfaith and Christian ecumenical leaders and tour sites there and in Tangier and Casablanca.
Morocco is one of the few Muslim nations with explicit laws of tolerance and respect for other religions. There are even places where people of the three Abrahamic faiths come together for shared Iftar meals during the fast of Ramadan.
Albania
After a week in Tunisia and Italy, David and Heather get an overnight ferry (set up like a cruise, with private cabin) from Italy to Albania. This begins their journeys through Albania, northern Greece, and North Macedonia. An interesting note – Albania is one of the countries demonstrating the strongest interfaith respect, co-existence, and collaboration. This small country has a number of organizations working for interfaith partnership for the public good, and there are mosques close to monasteries and cathedrals, where people of differing faiths are welcome to come and pray. A shared sacred site is Mount Tomorr, where pilgrims mark the stories of Baba Tomorr (a figure in Albanian history predating the spread of Christianity and Islam) and the shrine of Abaz Aliu, a Sufi leader. The Sufi Muslim tradition runs deep in Albania and intentionally draws together strands from different Abrahamic religions as well as more local cultural religion.
Greece & Macedonia
David and Heather begin their Greek journey with a ferry trip to the isle of Corfu. There was at one time a relatively strong Jewish settlement in Corfu. Nazi incursion and Greek cooperation with the Nazis resulted in destruction of much of the Jewish quarter and deportation of most Jews to concentration camps.
The history of interfaith co-existence and collaboration in Greece is complicated, as it is in Turkey. Of course, there is the interplay of the rise of Christianity and decline of Greek polytheism. But there is also the relatively peaceful co-existence of Orthodox Christianity and Islam in both Greece and Turkey under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. When war erupted between these nations and brought on the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the Treaty of Lausanne enforced an agreed mutual deportation – so Turkish Orthodox Christians were forced to move to Greece, and Greek Muslims were forced to move to Turkey. There are a few shared sacred sites in northern Greece – a Sufi leader’s tomb, and the church of St. Demetrios.
David and Heather cross over from eastern Greece into North Macedonia. Like in Albania, the intersection of Abrahamic faiths has been long in history and is part of the culture. This land-locked country has several shared sacred sites, including a shrine to St. Nicholas where there is an annual pilgrimage and where one finds Christian icons and Muslim prayer rugs in the same space.
