The missionary portal Kinonia is pleased to present a new project entitled The Orthodoxy of the Celts. The leadership of this project, which aims to acquaint the readership with the history and distinctive features of Orthodoxy among the Celtic people, has been entrusted to the Reverend Deacon Nenad Erkman, a cleric of the Diocese of Bačka, doctoral candidate at the Orthodox Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade, and a regular contributor to the missionary portal Kinonia. As of 4 March 2025, every first Tuesday of the month, visitors to the Kinonia portal will have the opportunity to read contributions belonging to this project.
The Orthodoxy of the Celts is the experience of the Christian faith by the Celtic peoples (Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and the Isle of Man), who embraced Christianity in the fifth century through the missionary endeavours of Saint Patrick, the Enlightener of Ireland. Permeating all strata of Celtic society, Christianity enriched Celtic culture and tradition. This harmony of Christianity with culture, tradition, and society represents a rich and still largely unfamiliar treasury of Celtic Orthodox spirituality. Below we present an introductory text by Deacon Nenad Erkman:
Nearly sixteen centuries ago, the sinful one, the most unlearned, the least among all believers, as he refers to himself in his Confessions, Saint Patrick set foot on Irish soil. Lighting the Paschal fire on a hill above the sanctuary of the ancient Celtic druids at Tara, he illuminated with the light and flame of the Gospel of Christ an island then regarded as the end of the world. What Saint Patrick did not know at that time was that this flame would warm the soul of the Celtic people of the Emerald Isle and bring forth a multitude of saints, so that Ireland would rightly be called the “Isle of Saints.”
Before the Paschal fire from the hill near Tara, the old idols and gods of the ancient Celts vanished, but their culture, tradition, customs, and history did not disappear. The Gospel of Christ permeated every stratum of Celtic society and enriched the cultural, traditional, and religious life of the Celtic peoples of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man. This perfect harmony of Christianity and the entire culture and way of life of the ancient Celts produced a distinctive experience of Christianity among this ancient people. Celtic legends, mythology, traditions, and stories from antiquity found their place within the Lives of the Celtic saints. The Celts’ relationship to nature and the whole created world was in concord with the Christian understanding of God as Creator and of His love for creation. The monasteries around which the entire social, political, and economic life was centred became the foundations for the development of towns in Ireland, which had not existed prior to the arrival of Christianity. At the same time, as places of great ascetic striving, prayer, and the pursuit of the monastic life following the tradition of Egypt and Palestine, the monasteries were also centres of learning where knowledge was imparted in the Christian sciences and the heritage of ancient times was preserved through songs, legends, and tales of old. Forests, river islands, sea isles, and riverbanks became the gathering places of renowned and great hermits who replaced druidic magic and enchantments over groves and sacred springs with the ceaseless chanting of the Psalter.
All of this represents an as yet unexplored, rich treasury of Celtic Orthodox spirituality, which we shall present to the followers of the official missionary portal Kinonia, which carries out its mission under the auspices of the Missionary Department of the Archdiocese of Belgrade and Karlovci.