The 70 members of the seminarians, faculty and staff from Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology and Borromeo Seminary who are on a weeklong pilgrimage to Rome began their experience on March 3. The group is sharing regular highlights of their experience.
(See photo gallery above.)
The trip to Rome, described as the experience of a lifetime for many of the travelers, is winding down. Their last full day in the Eternal City was March 9. They will board flights to head back to Cleveland on March 10.
During the final hours of their pilgrimage, there was time to visits sites in Rome, including the catacombs, Villa and Galleria Borghese and Trastevere. Faculty members and others who visited Rome previously were resources to help the rest of the group decide which locations to visit.
The travelers attended Mass at Casa Santa Maria and enjoyed a closing dinner before heading back to their quarters to pack and rest up for the trip home.
Casa Santa Maria is a division of the Pontifical North American College in Rome. It serves as a house of continuing formation and a residence for English-speaking priests who are assigned to pursue graduate-level studies in Rome. A number of priests from the Diocese of Cleveland have studied there.
The trip is in conjunction with the 175th anniversary of Saint Mary Seminary, which was established in 1848, a year after the Diocese of Cleveland was founded.