What could be more natural, here in Rome, than to begin this Spring Session in the company of the Vicar of Christ on Earth by attending the Epiphany Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV at St. Peter’s Basilica?

 

What a luminous beginning to the Spring 2027 Session! 

 

But following in the footsteps of Christ also means becoming a pilgrim in the footsteps of the saints. That is why the ICTE Spring Session offers two remarkable pilgrimages.

 

The first will take you to Assisi and its surroundings, in the heart of Umbria, a gentle and beautiful region, a land of saints. The softness of its green hills, the silence of its hermitages, and the exquisite beauty of Giotto’s frescoes and other masterpieces of the Middle Ages will immerse you in the beauty of God’s works and His mercy. There, close to St. Francis, the Alter Christus, priests on sabbatical will experience profound spiritual renewal.

 

After Rome, where continuing education is provided by leading scholars and lecturers, including experts from the Pontifical Universities, another pilgrimage awaits priests on sabbatical. Further afield, yet still closer to Christ, they will follow in the footsteps of St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.

 

There, in Turkey, let yourself be blinded by the ancient ruins, quench your thirst in Tarsus by drinking from the same well as Paul, and find spiritual renewal in Colossae, Ephesus, Antioch… Rediscover St. Paul and the first Christian communities through the Acts of the Apostles, and renew your own missionary spirit.