This article appeared in AJCU's Connections, which can be found here.
In the later years of his life, St. Ignatius Loyola referred to himself as “the pilgrim” – as one on a life-long quest for spiritual formation and fulfillment. His journey as a pilgrim traveler was deeply physical and spiritual. Ignatius’ spiritual pilgrimage began after he sustained serious injuries during the battle of Pamplona in 1521 and lasted until he took his final breath in Rome thirty plus years later. He never could have imagined how God’s transformative Grace would change the course of the Church and the world as he sought to follow Christ more closely in his day to day life.
Since the summer of 2017, The University of Scranton’s Jesuit Center has taken groups of faculty and staff on the “Footsteps of Ignatius Pilgrimage” to Spain and Italy to visit the important sites in the life of St. Ignatius and other prominent Jesuits. The faculty and staff cohorts begin with a nine-month on-campus Ignatian Leadership Program, designed to prepare participants for the experience along the Camino Ignaciano – the path of St. Ignatius – from Bilbao, Spain to Rome, Italy.
“This journey broadened my knowledge about the founding of the Society of Jesus and was a rare combination of fascinating geography, aesthetic beauty, historical significance and, most important, provided a religious and spiritual context to what it is to be part of a Jesuit institution,” said Abhijit Roy, D.B.A., Professor of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship.
Read on, here.
