Pilgrimage to Italy with Fr. Andrew Jones and Fr. Peyton Plessala
Nine days in Assisi and Rome, from the tombs of St. Francis, St. Clare and St. Carlo Acutis to the four major basilicas, the Catacombs of St. Callixtus and the Papal Audience, with Mass each day.
Your chaplains
Fr. Andrew Jones
Fr. Peyton Plessala
“You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.”
Matthew 16:18
Our Lord’s words to the fisherman whose tomb lies beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, where we celebrate Mass on our second day in Rome. Later in the week we receive the Holy Father’s blessing at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square.
St. Peter’s Basilica · Vatican City
Assisi & Rome, May 6 to 14, 2027
Nine days, seven nights: two in Assisi and five in Rome, with the four major basilicas, the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, the Vatican Museums and the Papal Audience, and Mass each day.
Begins and ends in Rome
OvernightVisit
Nights: 2 Assisi, 5 Rome.
Departure
Our pilgrimage begins as we depart the United States on our overnight flight to Rome, Italy.
Arrival in Rome & transfer to Assisi
Upon arrival at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, our local professional tour escort will greet us and accompany us by motorcoach to Assisi, the hill town of St. Francis and St. Clare. After check-in, we gather this evening for a welcome dinner to begin our pilgrimage together.
Assisi, St. Clare, St. Carlo Acutis, San Damiano & the Porziuncola
Today is given entirely to Assisi. We begin at the Basilica of St. Clare, resting place of the foundress of the Poor Clares, where we venerate her relics and pray before the San Damiano Cross, from which St. Francis heard the call to rebuild the Church. A short walk brings us to the Sanctuary of the Renunciation, the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, where we venerate the tomb of St. Carlo Acutis, the first millennial to be canonized, a boy of fifteen who called the Eucharist his highway to heaven and who died of leukemia in 2006. We continue to the Basilica of St. Francis, where we celebrate Mass at the tomb of the Poverello, whose radical embrace of poverty and love of creation continue to inspire the Church eight centuries later, and view Giotto’s frescoes of his life. After time for lunch and quiet prayer in the upper town, we descend to the Church of San Damiano, where the crucifix spoke to St. Francis and where St. Clare and her sisters lived out their days, still among the most peaceful corners of Assisi. We conclude at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, built around the tiny Porziuncola chapel so beloved of St. Francis, and see the Cappella del Transito, marking the spot where he died in 1226, along with the thornless rose garden associated with his victory over temptation. The evening is our own in Assisi.
Assisi to Rome, San Clemente & the Colosseum
After breakfast we take leave of Assisi and travel south through Umbria to Rome, where we check in to our hotel for the remainder of our pilgrimage. This afternoon we celebrate Mass at the Basilica of San Clemente, entrusted to the Irish Dominicans, a church built in three layers: a twelfth-century basilica crowned by a golden mosaic of the Cross as the Tree of Life, above a fourth-century church that holds the relics of St. Clement, third successor of St. Peter, and the tomb of St. Cyril, apostle to the Slavs, and beneath that a first-century Roman house. A short walk brings us to the Church of St. Peter in Chains, where we venerate the very chains tradition holds bound St. Peter during his Roman imprisonment, and pause before Michelangelo’s imposing Moses. We come down to the Colosseum and walk its perimeter, where tradition holds that early Christians gave witness to their faith even unto death, pausing at the neighboring Arch of Constantine, raised in honor of the emperor whose Edict of Milan in 313 ended centuries of persecution and opened the way for the Church to flourish. From there we walk the length of the Via dei Fori Imperiali toward Piazza Venezia, the Roman Forum lying open below us on one side and the forums of the emperors on the other, finishing in view of Trajan’s Column and the Victor Emmanuel Monument. The evening is at leisure.
St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums & the Sistine Chapel
This morning we celebrate Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in Christendom, raised over the tomb of the fisherman to whom Our Lord entrusted the keys, and we remain afterward to pray at the tombs of the Apostle and of St. John Paul II and to pause before Michelangelo’s Pietà, a moving meditation on Our Lady cradling her crucified Son. We then enter the Vatican Museums, home to one of the world’s great collections of sacred art, passing through the Gallery of Maps and the Raphael Rooms and concluding in prayerful silence beneath Michelangelo’s frescoed ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. The evening is at leisure.
The Old Appian Way, the Catacombs of St. Callixtus & St. Paul Outside the Walls
This morning we journey out along the Old Appian Way, the ancient road walked by the earliest Christians and, tradition holds, by St. Peter himself as he fled Rome, pausing at the little church of Domine Quo Vadis. We descend into the Catacombs of St. Callixtus and celebrate Mass amid the same underground galleries where the early Church buried her dead, among them the Crypt of the Popes and the tomb of St. Cecilia. We visit the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, raised over the tomb of the Apostle to the Gentiles, whose nave is ringed by mosaic medallions of every pope from St. Peter onward. This afternoon we visit the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, where Bernini carved his Ecstasy of St. Teresa, his rendering of the Carmelite reformer’s own account of the wounding of her heart, and the neighboring Church of St. Charles at the Four Fountains, Borromini’s small masterpiece dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo. The evening is at leisure.
Papal Audience, St. John Lateran, the Holy Stairs & the Holy Cross in Jerusalem
This morning we attend the General Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square and receive the Holy Father’s Apostolic Blessing. This afternoon we visit the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, whose facade proclaims it the mother and head of all the churches of the city and of the world. Across the street we come to the Scala Sancta, traditionally believed to be the very steps Our Lord climbed to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate, brought to Rome by St. Helena and ascended by pilgrims on their knees in prayer, and we look into the Sancta Sanctorum, the private chapel of the medieval popes. We celebrate Mass at the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, raised within St. Helena’s own imperial residence to house the relics she brought back from the Holy Land, among them fragments of the True Cross, the title board that hung above Our Lord, and a nail. The evening is at leisure.
St. Mary Major & the Churches of Old Rome
We open the day with Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the oldest church in the West dedicated to Our Lady, where we venerate the relic of the Holy Crib and the ancient icon of Salus Populi Romani, so beloved of the popes, and pray at the tomb of Pope Francis. The rest of the day belongs to the churches of old Rome, which we visit on foot. We begin at the Church of the Gesù, mother church of the Society of Jesus, where St. Ignatius of Loyola lies beneath the altar of his chapel and the arm of St. Francis Xavier is venerated. We continue to the Church of St. Ignatius, whose vault carries Andrea Pozzo’s soaring painted heavens and whose celebrated dome is an illusion painted on flat canvas, and where St. Aloysius Gonzaga and St. John Berchmans are buried. At Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome’s great Dominican church, we venerate the body of St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church and co-patroness of Europe, and pause at the tomb of Blessed Fra Angelico. Steps away stands the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs, better known as the Pantheon, an ancient temple given to the Church in 609 and consecrated to Our Lady and all the martyrs. We continue to the Church of St. Louis of the French, home to Caravaggio’s paintings of the calling, inspiration and martyrdom of St. Matthew, and to the Church of St. Augustine, where the tomb of St. Monica rests near Caravaggio’s Madonna of Loreto and Sansovino’s Madonna del Parto. We pause in Piazza Navona before concluding at the Chiesa Nuova, the church of St. Philip Neri, apostle of Rome, where we pray at his tomb and see the rooms in which he lived. This evening we gather for a farewell dinner at Ristorante Abruzzi, near the Pontifical Gregorian University (pending availability).
Return home
With hearts renewed by the grace of pilgrimage and by the intercession of St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi and the Apostles Peter and Paul, we transfer to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport for our return flight home to the United States.
What’s included
Everything below is covered by the package price.
Your hotels in Assisi and Rome
Four-star hotels throughout: two nights in Assisi and five in Rome. Hotels are subject to final confirmation; if a hotel changes, it is replaced with one of the same standard.
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“The entire trip from start to finish went smoothly. We felt very safe and well cared for.”
Questions pilgrims ask
Short answers to what most people want to know before they put down a deposit.
It is a walking-heavy pilgrimage, with a motorcoach for transfers and longer drives. Expect about 3 to 4 miles of walking on a typical day. Days usually start around 7am, with evenings mostly at leisure. Assisi has steep streets and stairs, and the walk from San Clemente to Piazza Venezia and the day among the churches of old Rome are the longest on foot.
You can have a room to yourself, with a single room supplement of $699, or share a room with two beds with another pilgrim. If you would like to share, we will do our best to match you with a roommate. If we cannot find a match by February 5, 2027, the single room supplement applies. Couples, families, friends and singles are all welcome, and plenty of pilgrims come on their own.
Airfare, if you choose the land-only price. Lunches, and every dinner except the welcome dinner in Assisi and the farewell dinner in Rome. Donations at Masses, souvenirs and laundry, and the cost of a passport if you need one. A typical lunch costs about $15 to $20. Tips for your tour manager, local guides and driver: the recommended amounts are in your final travel documents. Travel insurance if you choose it, and a 3% fee if you pay by card. Abroad, we recommend paying for most things by credit card, which is accepted almost everywhere and comes with protection that cash does not; bring a couple hundred U.S. dollars in cash for emergencies. When a card machine or ATM asks whether to pay in dollars or in the local currency (euros in Italy), choose the local currency; it is almost always cheaper.
Cancel in writing. Up to February 5, 2027 (90 days before departure), everything you have paid is returned except $200. After that date, the $450 deposit and any costs we cannot recover are kept. Travel insurance may cover a cancellation, depending on the reason.
Fr. Andrew Jones and Fr. Peyton Plessala lead the group.
More answers in the FAQ below and in our Support Center, or call us at +1 (800) 653-0017.
Price per person
Per person. The land-only price does not include airfare; the airfare package adds roundtrip group flights from Montgomery (MGM). Flying from another city? We can arrange air from your airport; call or email us for a quote.
$200 per person is non-refundable.
Final payment is due 90 days before departure. Payment plans are available if you would like to make smaller payments before then.
Check
ACH bank transfer
Zelle
Cash, money order or cashier’s check
Protect your pilgrimage
Your pilgrimage is paid for long before you leave. After you reserve, your booking confirmation email has our Allianz Travel Insurance plans and a link to buy one directly. Classic is the plan we recommend for most pilgrims.
- Covers your trip cost. Classic reimburses 100% of the trip cost you insured if you cancel for a covered reason, and adds emergency medical care and baggage cover.
- Buy within 14 days of your first deposit to keep Cancel Anytime and pre-existing condition cover. The plans stay available until departure.
- Buy it from your confirmation email. Prefer to add it by phone? Call us at +1 (800) 653-0017.
Frequently asked questions
This is an active program that covers a good amount of ground each day, much of it on foot. Expect a wake-up call around 7am and a departure by 9am, with evenings mostly at leisure. You should be able to walk 3 to 4 miles a day at a moderate pace, with uneven surfaces, stairs, cobblestones and hills in Assisi. The afternoon walk from San Clemente to Piazza Venezia and the day among the churches of old Rome are the longest walks.
Breakfast is included every day, with two group dinners: a welcome dinner in Assisi and a farewell dinner in Rome, both with wine. The other dinners are on your own, so you can try the restaurants of Assisi and Rome.
The General Audience is held on Wednesday mornings in St. Peter’s Square. We go through security early to be in the square by 7:30am, and we celebrate Mass later that day at the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. The Audience depends on the Holy Father’s schedule.
Yes. Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond the return date, and passport cards are not accepted for international travel. We need your passport details at least 90 days before departure. Entry rules for Europe can change, so we will let you know before departure if anything new applies to your trip.
Yes. The land-only price of $2,950 does not include flights. Send us your flight details once booked, so we can line your arrival up with the group’s at Rome Fiumicino on May 7 and its departure on May 14. The airfare package from Montgomery (MGM) is $4,299; call or email us for group air from other airports.
Final payment is due on February 5, 2027, 90 days before departure. Payment plans are available if you would like to make smaller payments before then.
We strongly encourage travel insurance for all of our pilgrims, and we partner with Allianz Travel Insurance to offer affordable coverage. Most of our pilgrims choose the Classic Plan. Insurance can be quoted and purchased after registration.
A pilgrimage is not a vacation or excursion but a unique spiritual journey that provides many opportunities to deepen your relationship with God and enrich your Catholic faith by bringing Scripture to life. Pilgrimages offer the opportunity to let Christ draw you near.
More questions are answered in our Support Center, covering booking, payments, travel insurance, passports and what to expect on pilgrimage.
Couples, families, friends, singles, all are welcome!
Some pilgrims come as a couple, some bring the whole family, some come with a friend from the parish, and plenty come on their own. Everyone is welcome.
Assisi and Rome
May 6 to 14, 2027, with Fr. Andrew Jones and Fr. Peyton Plessala. Reserve today with a $450 deposit per pilgrim.
Questions? Call +1 (800) 653-0017 or email hello@canterburypilgrimages.com.
Secure your spot today with a $450 deposit per pilgrim.