Bishop Hosting Fall 2017 Pilgrimage To Italy
Bishop Charles C. Thompson will lead a 12-day pilgrimage to Italy next fall. Co-hosted by Father Joseph Ziliak, retired priest of the Diocese of Evansville and the first editor of The Message, the group will depart the U.S. on Oct. 23 and return Nov. 3.
Pilgrims will begin and end their Italian stay in Rome. They also will visit Orvieto, Florence, Assisi, Sorrento, Pompeii and Monte Cassino.
Some of the trip’s highlights include visits to the Duomo of Orvieto, the Church of Santa Croce in Florence and the Academia, which houses Michelangelo’s original statue of “David.” The group’s time in Assisi will include visits to the Church of St. Clare, the Santa Maria degli Angeli Basilica and San Damiano Monastery, where St. Francis of Assisi received his miraculous calling from Christ in 1205.
The pilgrims will visit the excavations of the City of Pompeii, which was destroyed in 79 A.D. by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Before returning to Rome, they also will visit the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino, founded in 529 A.D. by Benedict of Nursia.
Pilgrims will enjoy three full days in Rome with Bishop Thompson and Father Ziliak. They will visit the Vatican Museum and Gallery, the Sistine Chapel, and the Basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, St. Paul’s Outside the Wall and St. Peter.
Pilgrims will enjoy the Nov. 1 general audience with Pope Francis and visit the remnants of ancient Rome – the Colosseum, the ruins of the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, the legendary Trevi Fountain and the Roman Circus Maximus.
NAWAS International is the tour provider. The company has been offering high-quality pilgrimages to Italy and other destinations around the world since 1949. The cost is $3,999 per person based on double occupancy ($4,749 per person for single occupancy), which includes airfare, lodging, ground transportation, tour guides, most meals, government taxes and airline surcharges. Round-trip travel will be from Evansville or Louisville, Ky.
Detailed color brochures on the pilgrimage are available from Bishop Thompson’s office and from Father Ziliak. Please contact Renee Werner in Bishop Thompson’s office at 812-424-5536 or email jrwerner@evdio.org, or email Father Ziliak at ziliakjoseph@gmail.com.
