{"id":6989,"date":"2014-03-27T14:14:38","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T13:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=6989"},"modified":"2014-03-27T14:14:38","modified_gmt":"2014-03-27T13:14:38","slug":"calling-all-%e2%80%9cfriends-of-st-columbanus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2014\/03\/calling-all-%e2%80%9cfriends-of-st-columbanus\/","title":{"rendered":"Calling All \u201cFriends of St Columbanus”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday 10 April will see the launch of \u201cThe Friends of St Columbanus\u201d, a group that are forming to celebrate the life and legacy of Bangor\u2019s Saints, most notably Saint Columbanus.<\/h2>\n
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Bangor Abbey & St Columbanus Stained Glass Window (St Columbanus Church, Ballyholme).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The formation of the group comes on the back of the recent moves to see the establishment of \u201cThe Columban Way\u201d Cultural Route to link Bangor, Luxeuil-les-Bains (France) and Bobbio (Italy.<\/p>\n

The union will recognise the influence of Columbanus\u2019 work within central Europe and is to be formally established by 2015, the year that will mark the 1400th anniversary of the passing of St Columbanus. This anniversary year being one that will be marked with events throughout the European countries he was influential in.<\/p>\n

This route is set to become the 30th<\/sup> European Cultural Route and sit alongside some of the most famous routes such as the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela.<\/p>\n

After the initial creation of \u201cThe Columban Way\u201d it is envisaged that it will expand to take in the additional countries of Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the Republic of Ireland where Columbanus also left his mark.<\/p>\n

As part of this development of the legacy of Columabnus and Bangor to European Christianity \u201cThe Friends of St Columbanus\u201d group is to be formed to undertake a number of roles.<\/p>\n