A Pilgrimage to Italy

Pilgrims gather at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in the late afternoon for group check-in with the ProRome team. The transatlantic flight to Copenhagen departs at 7:30 PM on Scandinavian Airlines. The whole group travels together on the same flights, outbound and return. Buon viaggio!

The group connects in Copenhagen and lands at Rome Fiumicino (FCO) at 3:45 PM, where a ProRome representative meets the pilgrims and a private motorcoach transfers the group to the guesthouse for check-in. After a chance to rest and freshen up, the pilgrimage begins as it should: with Arrival Mass at a church near the guesthouse, followed by a Welcome Dinner at a nearby trattoria. Those with energy left can walk out to St. Peter’s Square afterward for a first look at the dome by night. An early evening is encouraged — Sunday begins at the tomb of the Apostle.

After breakfast, the group walks to St. Peter’s Square and enters St. Peter’s Basilica for Mass and time for personal prayer at the heart of Christendom. (Guided tours are not permitted inside the basilica on Sunday mornings; the formal guided tour of St. Peter’s takes place on Wednesday, following the Vatican Museums.) At noon, the group gathers in the square for the Angelus with the Holy Father, who addresses the pilgrims and imparts his blessing from the window of the Apostolic Palace. After lunch on your own, the afternoon walking pilgrimage crosses the Tiber into the centro storico: the Chiesa Nuova (the church of St. Philip Neri), Piazza Navona and Sant’Agnese in Agone, San Luigi dei Francesi (home to Caravaggio’s three paintings of the life of St. Matthew), Sant’Agostino (Caravaggio’s Madonna di Loreto and the tomb of St. Monica), and the Pantheon (Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres). The walk continues into Baroque Rome — Sant’Ignazio, with its astonishing trompe-l’œil dome by Andrea Pozzo, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, where the Blessed Virgin appeared to Alphonse Ratisbonne in 1842 and where St. Maximilian Kolbe celebrated his first Mass. Dinner follows before the return to the guesthouse.

A full day by private motorcoach through the southern arc of pilgrim Rome. The morning begins at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major), which houses the Byzantine icon of the Salus Populi Romani as well as the relics of the Manger of Bethlehem in the Crypt of the Nativity. The group continues to the Basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura (St. Paul Outside the Walls) — raised over the tomb of the Apostle to the Gentiles — for Mass and a tour of the basilica. After lunch nearby, the afternoon follows the Via Appia Antica, the ancient Appian Way, to the Catacombs of St. Sebastian, where the early Christians buried their martyrs and gathered to celebrate Mass. The day closes at the cathedral of Rome, the Basilica of St. John Lateran; the Scala Santa across the piazza, the “Holy Stairs” brought from Jerusalem by St. Helena and traditionally climbed on the knees; and the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, home to the relics of the True Cross. Dinner follows.

A full-day excursion by private motorcoach to Assisi (approximately 2.5 hours each way). The day begins at the Basilica of San Francesco. Per the trip leader’s request, there is no formal guided tour here. Instead, the group receives a brief orientation to the main points: the Tomb of St. Francis in the crypt and the Giotto and Cimabue frescoes of the Upper and Lower Basilicas. The group is then free to explore the basilica informally. The pilgrimage through the upper town continues to the Basilica of Santa Chiara (St. Clare), home to the San Damiano Crucifix that spoke to St. Francis and the tomb of St. Clare; the Chiesa Nuova, built over the childhood home of St. Francis; Santa Maria Maggiore, resting place of St. Carlo Acutis; and the Cathedral of San Rufino, where both St. Francis and St. Clare were baptized. The group returns to Rome in the evening for dinner.

After breakfast, the group walks to St. Peter’s Square for the Papal General Audience with Pope Leo XIV. Following the audience, Mass is celebrated at a Vatican-area church, followed by lunch on your own in the Borgo. In the afternoon, the group enters the Vatican Museums for a guided visit featuring the Belvedere Courtyard, the Gallery of Maps, the Raphael Rooms, and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, concluding with the guided tour of St. Peter’s Basilica: the Pietà of Michelangelo, the Confessio above the tomb of St. Peter, the Altar of the Chair, and the Tombs of the Popes in the Vatican Grottoes. Dinner follows.

Please note: Papal Audience tickets are confirmed approximately 4–6 weeks prior to the trip date, and papal events are subject to change at the discretion of the Holy See.

After breakfast, the group crosses into Trastevere, the medieval heart of Rome, for a morning of church-hopping through its cobblestone lanes: Santa Maria della Scala, the ancient Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere with its glittering apse mosaics, San Crisogono, and Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, built over the house of the martyr St. Cecilia. Mass is celebrated in Trastevere. After lunch on your own, the pilgrimage crosses the Tiber to the Basilica of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli atop the Capitoline Hill and the Gesù, mother church of the Society of Jesus and tomb of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The afternoon continues east past the Roman Forum and the Colosseum for exterior views and photographs, ending at the Basilica of San Clemente — one of Rome’s most fascinating churches, a 12th-century basilica built atop a 4th-century church, itself raised over a 1st-century Roman house and Mithraeum. The group may divide by interest for part of the afternoon (each part still accompanied by a guide or the ProRome Tour Manager) before reconvening for the Farewell Dinner.

An early start: breakfast and check-out at the guesthouse, then the private motorcoach transfers the group to Rome Fiumicino (FCO) for the 9:40 AM departure. The group connects in Copenhagen and arrives back at Atlanta (ATL) at 5:05 PM the same day. We carry home the memory of the churches where we prayed together.

Please note: because of the morning departure, there is no final Mass on the last day. The Farewell Dinner on Thursday evening closes the pilgrimage.