Scotland’s ‘cradle of Christianity’ on Iona is saved by small mercies

The Benedictine abbey on the Hebridean island reopens tomorrow after a £3m renovation funded by bake sales and sponsored walksA Christian community on a tiny Hebridean island which for centuries has attracted pilgrims from all over the world will reopen on Monday after a mammoth campaign raised £3.75m to save it from closure.The Iona community, centred on a Benedictine abbey in whose grounds John Smith, the late Labour leader, is buried, has spent the past three years making its buil