College President to Meet with Cardinals, Lead Pilgrims to Rome for Year of Mercy

Christendom College president Dr. Timothy O’Donnell will lead a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi this fall, October 28-November 6, to commemorate the final weeks of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Over the course of seven nights in Rome and one in Assisi, O’Donnell will lead guests on tours through some of Italy’s greatest wonders, while also introducing them to several of the Church’s top dignitaries, including Francis Cardinal Arinze, Fr Wojciech Giertych, and George Cardinal Pell.

Pope Francis, after granting the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy last fall, encouraged the faithful to make pilgrimages to Rome and receive special graces as a result. After heeding the call and organizing a similar pilgrimage to Italy this past spring to great success, O’Donnell and his wife, Cathy, decided to embark on another trip this fall, in order to give others the chance to visit the heart of the Church during the final weeks of the Year of Mercy.

Beginning on Friday, October 28, O’Donnell and his fellow pilgrims will fly into Rome, where they will begin touring such locations as Santa Maria Maggiore, S. Spirito in Sassia, the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the Cathedral of St. John Lateran, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, and the ancient city of Assisi. In between visiting sites, the pilgrims will have the opportunity to eat authentic Italian cuisine at several different locations as well, giving them the full Italian experience during their time in the Eternal City and beyond.

One of the many highlights of the trip will include the chance to meet and mingle with some of the Church’s greatest minds and voices as well. The group will dine with Francis Cardinal Arinze, Fr. Wojciech Giertych, the theologian for the Papal Household, and George Cardinal Pell, and will receive a tour of Vatican Radio with Mr. Sean Lovett, Director of English Programs — all friends of Christendom College, who have visited the school and given talks over the years.

Christendom College has had a devotion to the Holy See since its founding, sharing close connections to Pope Saint John Paul II, who said that Christendom is “doing a great work for the Church,” and Pope Benedict XVI, who was chair of the college’s 25th anniversary committee. O’Donnell is also a consultor for the Pontifical Council on the Family, a position he was appointed to by Pope St. John Paul II, which has been renewed by both Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

To find out more about the pilgrimage, please visit christendom.edu/pilgrimage.