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* Join us for a free Virtual Pilgrimage to Medjugorje and Novena for Peace June 15 - 24, 2020 *

Welcome to 206 Tours! Since 1985, we have been the leader in providing Exceptional, Spiritual, and Safe - Catholic Pilgrimages. Every Pilgrimage is cultivated to deepen ones relationship to God, with Mass Daily, a dedicated Spiritual Director, the opportunity for Reconciliation, a private Tour Guide, and attention to detail that prioritizes both “comfort” and “safety”. Your security will always be our highest priority! We are confident the world will reopen its doors soon, and when it does, we have prepared to meet it with our NEW Tours for 2021 and 2022.

Whether you are here to answer the call to Pilgrimage, or just learn more, we welcome you once again!

Cancel for Any Reason - Get 100% MONEY BACK!

For $299 book your Pilgrimage with confidence! Select Travel Insurance, and our Cancel for Any Reason Protection Plan Waiver. If you cancel, you will get 100% MONEY BACK! Up to 48 hours prior to departure. Click here for details or email us: [email protected]

UPDATE: Effects of Coronavirus of Your Travel Plans

206 Tours and Covid-19: click here for more information about Travel during Covid

*Protect your Money and Travel with “Confidence”: CLICK HERE

* MEMO: In accordance with New York State guidelines, the 206 Tours Office is closed through May 15th in an effort to stop the spread of the Coronavirus. 206 Tours is operating business on an at-home level. Please do not mail anything to the office until further notice, as we cannot ensure that snail mail will get to us. Instead, please send all communications, including reservations and payments digitally. Our phone lines are also fully operational during normal business hours 9AM - 6PM EST. Please reach us via email at [email protected] or via phone at 800.206.8687. For more information on how to reach us digitally, click here . Thank you for your cooperation!

We're Always Here For You Call, Chat or Email

Dr. scott hahn & kimberly hahn holy land pilgrimage: in the footsteps of jesus - may 2023.

HOLY WEEK - Where it Happened!

Catholic Pilgrimages with 206 Tours

206 Tours Cares About YOU!

We are being proactive to prioritize our pilgrim's safety & best interests.

A Letter on New Health & Safety Procedures from Our Founder

Updates on Travel Alerts and Guidelines

Protect Your Investment & Travel with Confidence

Travel Tips to Optimize Convenience & Safety

#pilgrimsprayingtoendthepandemic

A letter from 206 Tours President & Founder, Milanka Lachman, DGCHS

Welcome to 206 Tours! Since 1985, we have been the leader in providing Catholic Pilgrimages. Every Pilgrimage is cultivated to deepen ones relationship to God, with Mass Daily, Catholic Priest, the opportunity for Reconciliation, a private Tour Guide, and attention to detail. Whether you are here to answer the call to Pilgrimage, or just to learn more, we welcome you. All are welcomed! -->

*Protect your Money: CLICK HERE

Best Sellers
1 Hotel Tours

United States Pilgrimages

Single Stay Pilgrimages

Stay in just one hotel!

Walking Pilgrimages

Oberammergau Passion Play

Single Stay / One Hotel Pilgrimages

Krakow - Divine Mercy

Krakow · Auschwitz · Lagiewniki (Divine Mercy)

All Italian Shrines

Florence * Padua (St. Anthony) * Venice & More..

$200 Discount March 11, 2019 Departure Only!

Popular Pilgrimages

Danube River Cruise Pilgrimage - NEW

Once in a Lifetime Pilgrims Cruise - 206 Tours will have the entire ship!

$150 Discount - April 7, 2019 Departures Only!

Faith & food pilgrimage to italy sep 12 - 22, 2022 only a few spots left -->.

Feed your Body & your Soul as you explore the best of foods in Rome, Tuscany and Assisi

Rome (Pope Francis) · Orvieto · Assisi (St. Francis) · Bevagna · Trevi · Montefalco · Siena · San Gimignano · Montalcino · Orcia Valley · Pienza · Montepulciano · Florence · Chianti Region · Tuscan Countryside · Greve · Castellina

The Great Shrines of France

Lourdes (St. Bernadette) · Lisieux (St. Therese the Little Flower) · Normandy Beach · Chartres · Paris · Nevers (St. Bernadette) · Paray-le-Monial · Lyon · La Salette (Our Lady of La Salette) · Ars (St. John Vianney)

Netherlands, Belgium, Germany & Switzerland

Witness the sites of 5 Apparitions

Amsterdam (Our Lady of All Nations) · Echt · Maastricht · Beauraing (Shrine of Our Lady of Beauraing) · Banneux (Our Lady of Banneux) · Gent · Bruges · Brussels · Aachen · Kevelaer (Our Lady of Kevelaer) · Cologone · Trier · Strasbourg · Lucerne · Einseideln (Our Lady of Einsiedeln)

Classic Italy

Rome (Pope Francis) · Monte Cassino · Sorrento · Pompeii · Amalfi Coast · Assisi (St. Francis) · Gubbio · LaVerna · Siena · Florence · Padua (St. Anthony) · Venice

Fatima, Lourdes & Northern Spain

Lisbon · Santarem · Fatima · Porto · Santiago de Compostela · Our Lady of Covadonga Sanctuary · San Sebastian de Garabandal · Santo Toribio de Liebana Monastery · Loyola · Lourdes · Montserrat · Manresa · Barcelona

Montreal · Quebec · Trois-Rivieres · Kahnawake

London · Amesbury · Salisbury · Southampton · Glastonbury · Bath · Birmingham · Cambridge · Walsingham

El Camino - The Way of St. James

A Walking Pilgrimage

Madrid · Foncebadon · Iron Cross · O Cebreiro · Sarria · Portomarin · Palas de Rei · Arzua · Arca do Pino · Monte do Gozo · Santiago de Compostela (St. James)

Single (1) Hotel Pilgrimage

BEST SELLER

Mexico · Our Lady Of Guadalupe

Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe · Mexico City · San Juan Teotihuacan · Puebla

The Best of Scandinavia

Copenhagen · Kronborg · Roskilde · Odense · Vejle · Fyrkat Viking Centre · Børglum Abbey · Hirtshals · Bergen · Fantoft Stave Church · Hardangerfjord · Eidjford · Heddal Stave Church · Oslo · Stockholm · Linköping · Vreta Abbey · Vadsten · Varnhem Abbey · Gothenburg · Lund Cathedral · Ystad Monastery · Malmö

Guadalupe and Cristero Saints of Mexico

Blessed Miguel Pro

Camino: The Portuguese Route Sep 7 - 17, 2022 New Pilgrimage! -->

Porto · Braga · Bom Jesus Shrine · Tui · O Porriño · Redoncela · Pontevedra · Caldas de Reis · Padron · Santiago De Compostela

In the Footsteps of St. Paul with Greek Isles Cruise!

Thessaloniki · Philippi · Kavala · Kalambaka · Meteora · Delphi · Athens · Corinth · Cruise (Celestyal Cruises) · Mykonos · Kusadasi · Ephesus (Mary's House) · Patmos · Heraklion · Santorini

In the Footsteps of Saint John Paul II & St. Faustina

Warsaw · Niepokalanow · Swinice Warckie · Czestochowa · Wadowice · Zakopane · Krakow · Auschwitz · Lagiewniki (Divine Mercy)

Oberammergau Passion Play with Germany, Switzerland, Austria

Frankfurt · Heidelberg · Rudesheim · Rhine Cruise · Rhine Falls and More..

Shrines of Italy

Papal Audience with the Holy Father

Rome (Pope Francis) · Monte Cassino · San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio · Monte Sant'Angelo (St. Michael) · Lanciano (Eucharistic Miracle) · Loreto (Holy House) · Assisi (St. Francis) · Gubbio · LaVerna

The Holy Land - Walk Where Jesus Walked

Tel Aviv · Caesarea · Nazareth · Cana · Tiberias · Sea of Galilee · Jordan River · Mt. Tabor · Jerusalem · Ein Karem · Bethlehem · Qumran · Jericho · Dead Sea · Mt. of Olives · Mt. Zion · Holy Sepulchre

Fatima, Spain & Lourdes

The Marian Shrines

Lisbon (St. Anthony) · Santarem (Eucharistic Miracle) · Fatima · Salamanca · Alba de Tormes · Avila (St. Teresa) · Burgos · Loyola (St. Ignatius) · Lourdes (St. Bernadette)

Jim Caviezel Holy Land Pilgrimage

with Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC

2022 Pilgrimages

The Best Shrines of France

Lourdes (St. Bernadette) · Toulouse · Rocamadour · Paray Le Monial · Nevers (St. Bernadette) · Chartres · Lisieux (St. Therese the Little Flower) Normandy Beaches · Mont Saint Michel · Paris

Fatima, Spain, Lourdes & Paris

Marian Shrines & France

Shrines of Spain

St. Ignatius, St. Luke & St. James

Barcelona · Montserrat · Manresa · Zaragoza · Toledo · Madrid · Santiago de Compostela

Rome & Assisi

Papal Audience with the Holy Father & St. Francis

Rome (Pope Francis) · Assisi (St. Francis)

Lourdes, Lisieux & Paris

Our Lady & the Saints of France

Lourdes (St. Bernadette) · Paris · Lisieux (St. Therese the Little Flower) · Normandy · Chartres

In the Footsteps of Saint John Paul II & St. Faustina (Divine Mercy)

Warsaw, Niepokalanow, Swinice Warckie, Czestochowa, Wadowice, Zakopane, Krakow, Auschwitz, Lagiewniki (Divine Mercy)

Florence, Padua & Venice!

Rome (Pope Francis) · Monte Cassino · San Giovanni Rotondo Padre Pio · Monte Sant'Angelo (St. Michael) · Lanciano (Eucharistic Miracle) · Loreto (Holy House) · Assisi (St. Francis) · Gubbio · LaVerna · Siena · Florence · Padua (St. Anthony) · Venice

Sorrento, Pompeii & Amalfi Coast

Pope Francis, Siena & St. Francis

Rome, Sorrento & Assisi

Papal Audience with the Holy Father, Positano, Sorrento, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast & St. Francis

Rome (Pope Francis) · Monte Cassino · Positano · Sorrento · Pompeii · Amalfi Coast · Assisi (St. Francis) · Gubbio · LaVerna · Siena

Holy Land & Rome

Walk Where Jesus Walked & Papal Audience with the Holy Father

Tel Aviv · Caesarea · Nazareth · Cana · Tiberias · Sea of Galilee · Jordan River · Mt. Tabor · Jerusalem · Gethsemane · Ein Karem · Bethlehem · Qumran · Jericho · Dead Sea · Mt. of Olives · Gethsemane · Mt. Zion · Holy Sepulchre · Rome

Copenhagen · Roskilde · Odense · Vejle · Fyrkat Viking Centre · Børglum Abbey · Hirtshals · Bergen · Fantoft Stave Church · Hardangerfjord · Eidjford · Heddal Stave Church · Oslo · Stockholm · Linköping · Vreta Abbey · Vadsten · Varnhem Abbey · Gothenburg · Lund Cathedral · Ystad Monastery · Malmö

Denmark & Norway

Norway & Sweden

Oslo · Stockholm · Linkoping · Vreta Abbey · Vadsten · Varnhem Abbey · Gothenburg · Lund Cathedral · Ystad Monastery · Malmo

Holy Land and Jordan Revisited

Tel Aviv · Haifa · Stella Maris · Akko · Rosh Hanikra · Arbel · Boat Ride · Allenby · Dead Sea · Nebo · Madaba · Petra · Wadi Rum · Masada · Jerusalem · Hebron · Bethlehem · Jerusalem · Gethsemane · Western Wall Excavations · Western Wall Tunnel · Via de Laroza · Holy Sepulcher

In the Footsteps of St. Patrick

Wicklow · Glendalough · Tipperary · Rock Of Cashel · Kerry · Dingle Peninsula · Shanon · Cliffs Of Moher · Corcomroe Abbey · Galway · Corrib Lake · Clonmacnoise · Knock · Dublin

$150 Discount May 3, 2019 Departure Only!

Rome & medjugorje.

Papal Audience with the Holy Father & Our Lady of Medjugorje

Rome (Pope Francis) · Medjugorje

Krakow & Rome

Saint John Paul II & Papal Audience with the Holy Father

London, Paris & Rome

Cambridge, Walsingham, Nevers, Lisieux & Papal Audience with the Holy Father

London · Cambridge · Walsingham · Paris (Miraculous Medal) · Lisieux (St. Therese the Little Flower) · Normandy · Chartres · Rome · Vatican City (Papal Audience with the Holy Father) · Trevi Fountain · Basilica of St. John the Lateran · Holy Stairs · Basilica of St. Mary Major · St. Peter's Basilica · Vatican Museum · Appian Way · Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls · Catacombs

Return to the Holyland

Mukhraka, Magdala, Mount Arbel, Kursi, Bethesda, Korazim, Samaria & More

Tel Aviv · Mukhraka · Magdala · Jordan River · Nazareth · Cana · Mount Arbel · Tiberias · Sea of Galilee · Kursi · Bethesda · Korazim · Mt. Tabor · Samaria · Jerusalem · Bethlehem · Desert Monasticism · Temple Mount · Ancient Churches · Via Dolorosa · Holy Sepluchre · Emmaus

Holy Land & Paris

Walk Where Jesus Walked & Paris

Holy Land, Rome & Assisi

Walk Where Jesus Walked, Papal Audience with the Holy Father & St. Francis

Tel Aviv · Caesarea · Haifa · Stella Maris · Nazareth · Cana · Tiberias · Sea of Galilee · Jordan River · Mt. Tabor · Jerusalem · Ein Karem · Bethlehem · Qumran · Jericho · Dead Sea · Mt. of Olives · Mt. Zion · Rome (Papal Audience with the Holy Father) · Assisi (St. Francis) Siena

Holy Land & Fatima

Walk Where Jesus Walked & Our Lady of Fatima

Jordan & The Holy Land

Amman, Petra, Kerak, Madaba, Mt. Nebo, Jerash & Walk Where Jesus Walked

Amman · Petra · Kerak · Madaba · Mt. Nebo · Jerash · Tel Aviv · Caesarea · Nazareth · Cana · Tiberias · Sea of Galilee · Jordan River · Mt. Tabor · Jerusalem · Gethsemane · Ein Karem · Bethlehem · Qumran · Jericho · Dead Sea · Mt. of Olives · Mt. Zion · Holy Sepulchre

Greece & The Holy Land

St. Paul & Walk Where Jesus Walked

Thessaloniki · Phillippi · Kavala · Kalambaka · Delphi · Corinth · Athens · Kusadasi · Ephesus (Mary's House) · Patmos · Santorini · Tel Aviv · Caesarea · Nazareth · Cana · Tiberias · Sea of Galilee · Jordan River · Mt. Tabor · Jerusalem · Gethsemane · Ein Karem · Bethlehem · Qumran · Jericho · Dead Sea · Mt. of Olives · Mt. Zion · Holy Sepulchre

Eilat - Pre or Post Tour

Relax and enjoy the Red Sea, explore an ancient civilizations, and soak in the rich culture

Jerusalem · Negev · Avdat · Mamshit · Ramon Crater · Eilat · The Red Sea · Tel Aviv · Beit Guverin · Elah Valley

Holy Land, Fatima, Spain & Lourdes

Walk Where Jesus Walked, Our Lady of Fatima & Lourdes

Marian Shrines, Paris, Lisieux (St. Therese the Little Flower) & Nevers (St. Bernadette)

Lisbon (St. Anthony ) · Santarem (Eucharistic Miracle) · Fatima · Salamanca · Alba de Tormes · Avila (St. Teresa) · Burgos · Loyola (St. Ignatius) · Lourdes (St. Bernadette) · Paris · Lisieux (St. Therese the Little Flower) · Normandy · Chartres

Fatima, Spain, Lourdes & Rome

Marian Shrines & Papal Audience with the Holy Father

Lisbon (St. Anthony) · Santarem (Eucharistic Miracle) · Fatima · Salamanca · Alba de Tormes · Avila · Burgos · Loyola (St. Ignatius) · Lourdes · Rome (Pope Francis) Lisbon (St. Anthony) · Santarem (Eucharistic Miracle) · Fatima · Salamanca · Alba de Tormes · Avila · Burgos · Loyola (St. Ignatius) · Lourdes · Rome (Pope Francis)

Our Lady of Lourdes

Lourdes (St. Bernadette)

Lourdes & Medjugorje

Our Lady of Lourdes & Our Lady of Medjugorje

Lourdes (St. Bernadette) · Medjugorje

Lourdes Mini-Stay

Marian shrines in portugal, spain & france.

St. Anthony, Eucharistic Miracle, St. Teresa, St. Ignatius, St. Bernadette & St. Therese

Lisbon (St. Anthony) · Santarem (Eucharistic Miracle) · Fatima · Salamanca · Alba de Tormes · Avila (St. Teresa) · Burgos · Loyola (St. Ignatius) · Lourdes (St. Bernadette) · Toulouse · Rocamadour · Paray Le Monial · Nevers (St. Bernadette) · Chartres · Lisieux (St. Therese the Little Flower) · Normandy Beaches · Mont Saint Michel · Paris

Madrid, Santiago de Compostela & Fatima

Madrid · Toledo · Santiago de Compostela · Lisbon · Santarem (Eucharistic Miracle) · Fatima

The Shrines of Spain, Fatima & Lourdes

Barcelona · Montserrat · Manresa · Zaragoza · Toledo · Madrid · Santiago de Compostela (St. James) · Lisbon (St. Anthony) · Santarem (Eucharistic Miracle) · Fatima · Salamanca · Alba De Tormes · Avila (St. Teresa) · Burgos, Loyola (St. Ignatius) · Lourdes (St. Bernadette)

Garabandal, Santiago de Compostela, Fatima & Lourdes

Garabandal · Covadonga · Santander · Santiago de Compostela · Lisbon · Santarem (Eucharistic Miracle) · Fatima · Alba de Tormes · Salamanca · Avila (St. Teresa) · Burgos · Loyola (St. Ignatius) · Lourdes

Greece, Fatima, Spain & Lourdes

Greece, Our Lady of Fatima, Spain & Our Lady of Lourdes

Thessaloniki · Phillippi · Kavala · Kalambaka · Delphi · Corinth · Athens · Kusadasi · Ephesus (Mary's House) · Patmos · Santorini · Lisbon (St. Anthony) · Santarem (Eucharistic Miracle) · Fatima · Salamanca · Alba de Tormes · Avila (St. Teresa) · Burgos · Loyola (St. Ignatius) · Lourdes (St. Bernadette)

Poland & The Shrines Of Italy

Saint John Paul II, Papal Audience with the Holy Father, Assisi, San Giovanni Rotondo, Montecassino & More

Croatia & Slovenia Sep 26 - Oct 7, 2022 Reserve your spot today! -->

Dubrovnik · Montenegro · Split · Trogir · Zadar · Plitvice Lakes · Opatija · Postojna · Ljubljana

Scotland & Ireland

Glasgow · Edinburgh · St. Andrews · Perth · Carfin Motherwell · Dublin and More..

$150 Discount April 29, 2019 Departure Only!

St. Petersburg, Moscow & More..

$500 Discount - Jan 4 - 16, 2019 Departure Only!

Poland & all italian shrines.

Saint John Paul II, Papal Audience with the Holy Father, Pisa, Florence, Padua & Venice

Poland & Rome

Poland & prague.

Saint John Paul II & Infant Jesus of Prague

Warsaw · Swinice Warckie · Niepokalanow · Czestochowa · Wadowice · Krakow · Auschwitz · Lagiewniki (Divine Mercy) · Prague

Poland, Prague & Medjugorje

Saint John Paul II, Infant Jesus of Prague & Our Lady of Medjugorje

Warsaw · Swinice Warckie · Niepokalanow · Czestochowa · Wadowice · Krakow · Auschwitz · Lagiewniki (Divine Mercy) · Prague & Medjugorje

Poland, Prague, Austria & Budapest

Saint John Paul II, Prauge, Altotting, Salzburg, Mariazell, Vienna & Budapest

Warsaw · Swinice Warckie · Niepokalanow · Czestochowa · Wadowice · Krakow · Auschwitz · Lagiewniki (Divine Mercy) · Prague · Altotting · Salzburg · Mariazell · Vienna · Budapest

Krakow & Prague

Saint John Paul II · Krakow · Auschwitz · Lagiewniki (Divine Mercy) · Prague

Krakow, Prague, Austria & Budapest

Saint John Paul II Krakow, Auschwitz, Lagiewniki (Divine Mercy) , Warsaw, Prague, Salzburg, Mariazell, Vienna, Budapest

Our Lady of Medjugorje

Medjugorje Mini Stay

Medjugorje & dubrovnik.

Our Lady of Medjugorje & The Pearl of the Adriatic

Medjugorje · Dubrovnik

Fatima, Spain, Lourdes & Medjugorje

Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes & Our Lady of Medjugorje

Lisbon (St. Anthony) · Santarem (Eucharistic Miracle) · Fatima · Salamanca · Alba de Tormes · Avila · Burgos · Loyola (St. Ignatius) · Lourdes · Medjugorje

Fatima, Spain, Lourdes, Paris, Rome & Medjugorje

Our Lady of Fatima, Spain, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Terese, Papal Audience with the Holy Father & Our Lady of Medjugorje

Lisbon (St. Anthony) · Santarem (Eucharistic Miracle) · Fatima · Salamanca · Alba de Tormes · Avila · Burgos · Loyola (St. Ignatius) · Lourdes · Paris · Lisieux (St. Terese the Little Flower) · Nevers (St. Bernedette) · Rome (Pope Francis) · Medjugorje

Shrines of Spain & Medjugorje

Barcelona · Montserrat · Manresa · Zaragoza · Toledo · Madrid · Santiago de Compostela · Medjugorje

Holy Land & Medjugorje

Walk Where Jesus Walked & Our Lady of Medjugorje

The Holy Land

Walk Where Jesus Walked!

$300 Discount - Jan 7 - 16, 2019 Departure Only!

Classical egypt with nile cruise.

Giza · Cairo · Luxor · Esna · Edfu · Aswan

In the Footsteps of Pope Francis

Montreal & Quebec

London · Cambridge · Walsingham

Prague, Salzburg, Vienna & Budapest

Prague · Altotting · Salzburg · Mariazell · Vienna · Budapest

$250 Discount - Feb 1 - 10, 2019 & Feb 27 - Mar 8, 2019 Departures Only!

Rome (Pope Francis) · Monte Cassino · San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio) · Monte Sant'Angelo (St. Michael) · Lanciano (Eucharistic Miracle) · Loreto (Holy House) · Assisi (St. Francis) · Gubbio · LaVerna

Glasgow · Edinburgh · St. Andrews · Perth · Carfin Motherwell

Walking the Way of St. Francis in Italy

Rome · La Verna · Sansepolcro · Pieve Santo Stefano · Sansepolcro · Citerna · Citta di Castello · Pietralunga · Monteleto · Gubbio · Biscina · Valfabbrica · Assisi

Valletta · Mellieha · Gozo · St. Paul's Bay · Mosta · Mdina · Rabat

Glasgow · Edinburgh · St. Andrews · Perth · Carfin Motherwell · Dublin · Rock Of Cashel· Knock & More

Carmelite Experience in Spain

Barcelona · Madrid · Segovia · Avila · Alba de Tormes · Salamanca · Malagon · Baeza · Ubeda · Granada · Sevilla · Cordoba · Toledo

Luxury Holy Land - NEW

For 8-nights call Jerusalem “home” as you explore the Holy Land in luxury

Classical Egypt with Nile Cruise, Jordan & Holy Land

Cairo · Luxor · Petra · Mt. Nebo · Jerash · Nazareth · Sea of Galilee · Jerusalem · Bethlehem · Holy Sepulchre and More..

Cruising the Danube Pilgrimage

Discover Europe’s rich history and Catholic roots all while cruising the scenic Danube River!

Greece Pilgrimage - NEW

2nd Missionary Journey of the Apostle Paul

Single (1) Hotel Pilgrimages

Explore the Holy Land - From Jerusalem NEW

Walk Where He Walked..

Rome for Seven Nights

Oberammergau passion play mini tour pilgrimage.

Munich * Oberammergau

Oberammergau Passion Play, Krakow & Medjugorje

Munich * Oberammergau * Krakow * Zakopane * Auschwitz * Lagiewniki (Shrine of Divine Mercy) * Wieliczka * Medjugorje

Oberammergau Passion Play & The Footsteps of St. John Paul II

Warsaw * Niepokalanow * Czestochowa * Auschwitz * Wadowice * Krakow * Lagiewniki (Divine Mercy) * Kalwaria * Olomouce * Vienna * Salzburg * Oberammergau * Munich

Poland, Austria & Oberammergau Passion Play

Warsaw * Niepokalanow * Czestochowa * Auschwitz * Wadowice * Krakow * Lagiewniki (Divine Mercy) * Kalwaria * Olomouce * Vienna * Mariazell * Salzburg * Oberammergau * Munich

Walking Pilgrimage

Camino: The Portuguese Route

Walk the jesus trail in the holy land, santa fe, new mexico - new.

Fr. Timothy Farrell Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

Kentucky Holy Land - NEW

Louisville * Trappist * Bardstown * Loretto * Marion County * Lebanon & More..

California Missions - NEW

Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption & San Francisco Area

Holy Land Pilgrimages - NEW

Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Poland Pilgrimages

St. John Paul II & St. Faustina (Divine Mercy)

United States Pilgrimages - NEW

Washington, D.C., California Missions, Santa Fe

More Options - Scheduled Pilgrimages

What is a Pilgrimage by Michael Aquilina

More Options: Scheduled Pilgrimages

Special Pilgrimages

Dr. scott hahn poland pilgrimage, 33 days to eucharistic glory fatima pilgrimage & retreat, dynamic catholic pilgrimages, chris stefanick & real life catholic italy pilgrimage, fr. donald calloway, mic pilgrimages, pilgrimage to france with fr. martin pitstick, national eucharistic revival congress, france in the footsteps of st. joan of arc, dr. scott hahn pilgrimages, custom pilgrimages.

Southern Italy

Spiritual Director

Group Coordinator

Matthew Leonard

October 9 - 18, 2017

Holy Land Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem Eastern Lieutenancy of the United States

Nov 7 - 17, 2017

Shrine of Guadalupe & Mexico City

Noel Baquilod

December 8 - 13, 2017

Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC

Dec 26, 2017 - Jan 23, 2018

March 11 - 20, 2018

Medjugorje Dragicevic Family Home

April - October, 2018

World Meeting of Families Ireland, 2018

August 22 - 26, 2018

December 7 - 17, 2018

Oberammergau Passion Play Germany, 2020

May - October, 2020

--> Travel Alerts and Guidelines

Interactive Pilgrimage Map

pilgrimage title

Via Francesco Saverio Nitti, 28 00156 Roma, Italia

FR. Garcia & FR. Briliante

Groop Coordinator

Maureen Brien

12. 12. 2016

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What is Medjugorje?

Pilgrimages with Dr. Scott Hahn, Ph.D.

Pilgrimages with Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC

Pilgrimages with Matthew Leonard

Since 1985, 206 Tours has been the leader in providing exceptional Catholic Pilgrimages. Every Pilgrimage is cultivated to deepen ones relationship to God, with Mass daily, a dedicated Priest offering Spiritual guidance, opportunity for reconciliation; best Tour Guides and attention to every detail. All are welcomed!

Foodies Tours for Catholic Pilgrims

Holy land pilgrimages & israel tours 2024, italy & rome pilgrimage 2024 or 2025, europe pilgrimage, marian pilgrimages to marian shrines 2024, fatima pilgrimage 2024, greece pilgrimage in the footsteps of st paul, france pilgrimages 2024, medjugorje pilgrimages 2024, mexico pilgrimage to our lady of guadalupe, pilgrimages to spain.

Pilgrimage to Poland – Divine Mercy Pilgrimage 2024

Asia Pilgrimage Tours

South america pilgrimage tours.

Holy Land Pilgrimage 2024 with Bethlehem Stay
Holy Land Pilgrimage with Jordan and Petra Tour – 12 day
Holy Land & Jerusalem Pilgrimage Tour
Holy Land Pilgrimages to Israel featuring Foodies Tours
Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe – Mexico City Food Tour
Peru Food and Faith Pilgrimage Tour – Lima, Cusco & Machu Picchu
Fatima Portugal Pilgrimage – Food, Faith & Wine Tour of Spain and Portugal
Spain Food & Faith Pilgrimage Tour – Madrid, Pamplona, Barcelona, Avila
Italy Food and Wine Tour – Pilgrimage to Rome, Assisi, Siena, Florence
Greece Food Faith & Wine Pilgrimage Tour with 3 Day Greek Isle Cruise
New Orleans Food and Faith Pilgrimage Tour – Spirits, Saints, and Shrines
Our Lady of Guadalupe Pilgrimage Tour
Medjugorje Pilgrimage 2024
Medjugorje Pilgrimage 2024 & Rome Pilgrimage Tour
Lourdes Pilgrimage 2024
Fatima Lourdes Pilgrimage 2024
Fatima Lourdes Rome Pilgrimage 2024
Divine Mercy Pilgrimage to Poland
Italy Pilgrimage to Rome – Great Shrines of Italy 2024
Pilgrimage to Greece in the Footsteps of Paul Tour 2024
France Pilgrimage – Best Shrines of France
St Ignatius Pilgrimage visiting Ignatian Pilgrimage Sites 2024
Holy Name Pilgrimage to Italy 2024
Vietnam Pilgrimage to Our Lady of LaVang
Catholic Cruises
Pilgrimage to Rome, San Giovanni, Assisi and Bagnoregio with Fr. Leon Oct 2024
Holy Land and Jordan with Petra Fr. David Ducote November 2024
Divine Mercy Poland Pilgrimage Tour Hotels
Holy Land & Jerusalem Pilgrimage Tour Hotel Accommodations
Holy Land with Bethlehem Stay Pilgrimage Hotels
Holy Land and Jordan with Petra Pilgrimage Hotels
Fatima Lourdes Pilgrimage Tour Hotels
Footsteps of St. Paul Hotel and Accomodations in Greece
Guadalupe Pilgrimage Hotels
Great Shrines of Italy Pilgrimage Hotels
Medjugorje Pilgrimage Tour Hotels and Accommodations with Marija
Mexico Food and Faith Pilgrimage Hotels
Very Best Shrines of France Pilgrimage Tour Hotels
Hotels for Food and Faith Pilgrimage Tours in Spain and Portugal
Peru Food and Faith Pilgrimage Hotels
Vietnam Pilgrimage Hotels
Holy Land Food and Faith Pilgrimage Hotels
Fatima Lourdes Rome Pilgrimage Hotels
Holy Name Pilgrimage to Italy Hotels
Travel Checklist for Pilgrimage Tours
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Hot Deals for Pilgrimage Tours – on Sale
Airports we serve — add on fares for a few airports
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Our Lady of Lourdes Story, Apparitions, Pilgrimage Facts
Divine Mercy Shrine Poland – St Faustina & JP II
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Catholic Pilgrimages & Tours 2024

The only pilgrimage tour company 100% catholic owned and operated with a priest on staff. , our catholic pilgrimages have a priest and daily mass..

Catholic Pilgrimages are all that we do! We offer pilgrimages to Medjugorje , the Holy Land , and Marian Shrines around the world, including Lourdes , Fatima , and Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico , Italy pilgrimage to Rome , Divine Mercy Poland, just to name a few. We have helped thousands of people plan their Catholic pilgrimages by offering quality travel arrangements and excellent service, at affordable prices. Where will your Faith take you this year? With over 20 years of expertise, let us help you plan the perfect Catholic tour and Catholic pilgrimage for you in 2024 or 2025.

Hot Deals! — limited time only for a Spring sale on pilgrimages ! Fantastic prices for Greece, Poland, France, and Italy!

New! Food and Faith Pilgrimages!

Taste a bit of heaven on Earth in New Orleans, Peru, Mexico, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the Holy Land.

Great Prices

We work on low margins to ensure each Catholic pilgrimage is affordable. We will match any advertised price for an identical pilgrimage.

Experienced Professional

Receive the personal touch when you call — talk to Jimmy who is the President of Catholic Journeys and has been assisting pilgrims with Catholic Pilgrimages for over 30 years!

Super Fast Booking - you can now book online!

Book securely online!

Or get the personal touch by calling Marcelle and booking over the phone at 800-715-6670.

No Credit Card Fees!

No surprise credit card fees! No port fees for cruises either.

Destinations

Pilgrimage to Poland - Divine Mercy Pilgrimage 2024

Barcelona Sagrada Familia shrines of spain pilgrimage

Medjugorje Monthly Message

Medjugorje message to the world – march 25, 2024, medjugorje message to the world – february 25, 2024, medjugorje message to the world – january 25, 2024, medjugorje message to the world – december 25, 2023, why book with catholic journeys, 16,000+ customers spiritually renewed.

Our own Fr. Paul reviews all Catholic Pilgrimage content.

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We accept all major credit and debit cards – including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. No credit card fees!

Testimonials

I just returned from a Catholic Journey’s pilgrimage tour of Croatia and Bosnia. The highlight was 5 days in Medjugorje. This place truly lives ‘peace on earth’. The accommodations were superb and our pilgrimage tour guide, Evo, was outstanding. This has been my fourth Catholic Pilgrimage with Catholic Journeys and I have been more than satisfied with all aspects of the trip. They are so professional and caring. I highly recommend them for a Catholic pilgrimage tour.

Mr. Hyland,

Thank you for the wonderful pilgrimage tour to the Holy Land that your company organized. The guide was excellent, the places we visited put me in contact with the places that Christ walked, and the accommodations were great. Truly, a Catholic Pilgrimage!

Thanks to Catholic Journeys for planning a fantastic pilgrimage tour to Israel! I am so fortunate to have been able to experience it with you all. I truly couldn’t have asked for a better group of folks to travel around Israel on a bus for 11 days with!

Here is my email address. As I mentioned, I’d love to be included in the email chain when you email out everyone’s contact info. Hope you had a great time as well!

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Mission Trips | General Information

Discover your mission.

Join our full-time missionaries in living out the mission of the Church — proclaiming Christ to all people, starting with the poorest of the poor.

Because our full-time missionaries live at the posts, you will be able to step into their daily lives, serving alongside them in their ministries, continuing their work, and stepping into the relationships they have formed. No “parachute missions” here: our full-time missionaries stay behind to continue the work and ministries you participate in.

Make friends.

Whether it’s FMC’s own missionaries who hail from all over the world, your fellow mission trippers, or the poor you serve, your mission trip with FMC offers you an opportunity to develop lasting relationships with fascinating people.

See the world.

From the jungles of Peru to the islands of the Philippines, come with us and see something new. Step outside of your routine and encounter Christ in the peripheries.

Where do you want to go?

Abbeville, LA

General Cepeda, Mexico

Summer School of Missionary Evangelization

Medical Missions

What people are saying about FMC mission trips:

“It really changes the ways you see things and helps to help you get a new perspective. To be able to just give a full week to others, but also be poured into so deeply by those around you is so much more rewarding and life-changing than I expected.” – Abigail

“I was going through a very difficult time prior to participating in mission. Throughout the trip, my heart was opened to receive the Lord’s love like I once had, and I felt known cherished by Him. My mission trip with FMC opened my heart to giving and receiving authentic, divine love in a way I have never experienced before.” – Anna

Catholic Mission Trips

For groups and individuals.

Experience Mission is an interdenominational missions organization that partners with groups of all different Christian denominations and backgrounds, including Catholic youth and adults! Bring your team to serve in a cross-cultural setting and live out your faith in a tangible way on a mission trip or join a 1-9 IMMERSION program for young adults.

What does it look like for a Catholic mission trip team or individual to serve with Experience Mission? On most of our mission trips, volunteers are connected to local Christian churches and ministries of many different denominational backgrounds. This is an opportunity to step out of our normal routine, serve others, and live into life-changing cross-cultural experiences—whether in homes, on the street, or in the pews.

Many volunteers from Catholic contexts or backgrounds have served with EM on short-term trips and IMMERSION programs and found their experiences to be transformative. Click below to explore mission trips with EM!

You must have a group size of at least 6 members to join this trip. Please view the Small Team trips or call our Servicing Department for more options at 888-475-6414 .

View Small Team Trips

Which trip are you interested in?

Individuals (age 18-30):, verify your email address, which position are you applying for.

Have your prayer intentions remembered in our daily masses and communal prayers.

Maryknoll Mission Trips

Offering Men and Women Opportunities to Engage in God’s Mission of Love Around the Globe

Short Term Mission

Ever consider spending a year in China teaching English as a second language? Or working with children, visiting prisoners and working with refugees in Thailand?

LEARN MORE ABOUT

Immersion and study programs.

Come to Kenya where we teach, systematically, contemporary cultures and religion of East Africa in such a way that students begin to appropriate and articulate an African perspective. Or come for an immersion experience in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

ABOUT MARYKNOLL

We are a Catholic Society of priests and brothers based in the United States. We are dedicated to missionary work overseas in over 20 countries. Additionally, we animate Catholics in the United States to follow their own baptismal call to share God’s compassion and love with the poor, the sick, and all those in need.

OUR GENERAL COUNCIL

(Fr. Lance P. Nadeau, Fr. James M. Lynch, Fr. Timothy O. Kilkelly, Fr. Juan Montes Zúñiga)

The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers is overseen by our General Council , led by Superior General Rev. Lance P. Nadeau, M.M.

OUR FOUNDERS

(Our Co-Founders Father Price and Father Walsh)

MISSION MINISTRIES

PLACES WE SERVE

EVANGELIZATION, PARISHES, AND PROJECTS

STORIES OF MISSION

The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Africa Region will provide tuition assistance to African clergy, male and female religious at institutes of higher education or specialized training. Read More

Stories of Our Global Mission

NAVIGATE MARYKNOLL VOCATIONS

The calling of a lifetime

Cross Catholic Outreach

Delivering food, shelter, and hope to the poorest of the poor

Mission Trips

Putting faith into action, a unique opportunity.

Mission trips are a unique opportunity for your Catholic community to share Christ’s love with the poor in developing countries.

When you partner with Cross Catholic Outreach, you’re partnering with a Catholic organization that has worked with priests, nuns and Catholic lay missionaries around the world for over 20 years.

Each mission trip experience allows U.S. Catholics to encounter the poor and serve alongside our ministry partners in their work. This service may include building homes or schools, feeding children, digging irrigation ditches, caring for orphans and vulnerable children, or visiting the elderly.

Our mission trips can be tailored to your group’s specific needs and interests, always grounded in our service to the Lord. We will help you plan, organize, and engage your Catholic community for a blessed and enriching experience.

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 1 John 3:18

Encountering Christ through Mission Trips in Belize and Guatemala

Read how u.s. catholics are encountering christ through cross catholic outreach mission trips..

Idaho Parish is a Model for Catholic Evangelization

Nestled deep in the heart of Idaho, Holy Apostles Catholic Church participates in Cross Catholic’s Box of Joy program, which brings Christ’s love and joy during the Christmas season. In addition to its commitment to the good works, the parish also sponsors a mission trip with parishioners to visit Cross Catholic Outreach missions in Belize.

Donors Share Inspirational Visit to Santa Rosa, Guatemala

When Terry and Cindi Ruder visited the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima last year, they saw poverty – as well as incredible signs of hope. This was a “vision” trip provided to major supporters. Even in one of the most destitute areas of Guatemala, the Ruders saw the fruits of their generosity and the restoration of dignity among the poor.

The cost of each mission trip varies by destination,group size, length of stay and type of service project.

All food, lodging, materials for service, travel health insurance and devotional journals.

Airfare, trip insurance, travel visas, immunizations, and your personal essentials like clothing and toiletries.

Trips average seven days, but can be customized up to 12 days to fit each group’s needs.

At Cross Catholic Outreach, your safety is a high priority. We work closely with our ministry partners in each country to ensure your safety at all times. During your trip, you will stay at a secure compound, mission house or hotel. We register all groups with the U.S. Department of State.

Participants must be at least 13, and those who are 13-17 must be accompanied by an adult.

You will need to contact your cell phone carrier for international data packages available in the specific country you plan to visit.

When your group arrives in-country, a Cross Catholic Outreach team member will be there to meet you at the airport. Our team will be with you for your entire experience and see you off at the airport.

Yes. A detailed itinerary will be provided to you prior to your scheduled departure date.

It’s important that visitors respect local cultures and norms, so participants must adhere to a modest dress code. For work times, men and women should wear pants or modest shorts, and T-shirts. For church, men should wear khakis or slacks and a clean shirt; women should wear skirts or dresses (knee length or longer). For leisure time, men should wear swim trunks; women should wear one-piece bathing suits. Bikini-style or tight bottoms or sleeveless shirts are not allowed.

A Cross Catholic Outreach team member will contact you with a packing list before your trip.

Depending on the country you go to, projects range from clean water wells, feeding, construction, and helping at orphanages or nursing homes.

No. interpreters will be provided.

Yes — a valid U.S. Passport is required.

There will be morning and evening devotions, prayer, and worship. Our goal is that your relationship with the Lord grows stronger!

At this time, we do not host trips for individuals to join.

Important Information Regarding COVID-19

Personal safety is Cross Catholic Outreach’s top priority. Whether it’s you, your group, our ministry partners, or those they serve, service to the poor must be done in a safe and controlled manner.

Cross Catholic Outreach has established thorough mission trip protocols to protect against COVID-19. This includes requirements for pre-travel, travel, in-country service and stay, and return travel back to the U.S.

Start Planning Your Group’s Mission Trip

If you’re interested in learning how your Catholic group can put faith into action through a mission trip, complete and submit the form below. Our team will help you plan, organize, and engage your Catholic community for a blessed and enriching experience. Note, at this time, we do not offer mission trips for individuals to join — only trips planned as a group.

Our mission is to mobilize the global Catholic Church to transform the poor and their communities materially and spiritually for the glory of Jesus Christ . Your gift empowers us to serve the poorest of the poor by channeling life-changing aid through an international network of dioceses, parishes and Catholic missionaries. This cost-effective approach helps break the cycle of poverty and advance Catholic evangelization.

Catholic Work in the United States

In the United States there is a great struggle with both physical poverty and spiritual poverty. About 46 million Americans live in physical poverty, and many more live in spiritual poverty. In both cases we need to alleviate their suffering and help them meet Christ.

“the future starts today, not tomorrow.” ― pope john paul ii.

Explore the tabs below to learn about the many ways our donors’ dollars are at work in the United States .

Feeding the Hungry

Fulfill the Spiritual and Corporal Works

Feeding the Children of Georgia

Sharing Love, Sharing Lunch

Forming Leaders in the Faith

Bring Souls to God

Parish Evangelization

50.1 Million Americans Struggle to Put Food on the Table

50.1 million Americans struggle to put food on the table. In the US, hunger isn’t caused by a lack of food, but rather the continued prevalence of poverty. In the United States, we struggle to realize the amount of hunger that is all around us. In every twenty people, there is a family of three that cannot put food on the table and goes hungry every day. We know proper nutrition is vital to a child’s growth. That is why Catholic World Mission has partnered with St. Peters Food Pantry in Yonkers, New York. Together with our donors, we have reconstructed the pantry to keep out the cold and provide food throughout the year.

Fr. José Félix, LC runs St. Peter’s Catholic Parish located in a very low income area bordering the Bronx in Yonkers, NY. As part of their way to help the community they operate a food pantry which distributes bags of food to 300 needy families every week.

The Food pantry serves over 300 families regularly and over 1000 families over the holidays when children are home and not getting their meals at school. Ending food poverty in the United States is critical for the future of our children.

Christmas Blessings from South Carolina!

January 2023.

This Christmas, YOU helped St. Anthony’s Mission Catholic Church and St. Andrew’s Kitchen in Hardeeville, South Carolina provide Christmas meals and care packages! The volunteers delivered these meals and packages to 200 homeless in the area. Elizabeth Redway, a coordinator for the project, only had high praise and left the service opportunity with a grateful heart.

“We met some beautiful souls, knocked on many doors, and gave out hugs to those who needed them. The smiles on the faces of those in need when we handed them a hot meal and a bag filled with essentials warmed my heart and made me realize that we are blessed to be a blessing to others.”

This included a family Elizabeth and other volunteers ran into which showed them the true reason for the season:

“We met a family that did not want to take the meals at first because they said there were others that were in a worse situation than they were…Once we assured them that we had plenty to go around, they cried and said that we were truly a blessing. They could not stop hugging us. The dad was especially appreciative of the meal. He said that they did not always live on the street but that they had fallen on hard times and that this meal meant more to them than we would ever realize.”

The team is already eager to help again for the next Christmas season as they saw how many lives were touched firsthand by their servant’s hearts. We thank YOU and your generosity in feeding and providing for Hardeeville, South Carolina!

The Entire City of Hardeeville Benefit from this Local Food Pantry

Christmas 2019.

Thanks to a very generous supporter, this past Christmas – 2019 – we partnered with St. Anthony Mission in South Carolina with the feeding of over 100 people at their Christmas Eve Dinner Event.

St. Anthony Mission in Hardeeville, SC, is a mission parish of St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Bluffton, SC. St. Anthony Mission is a small diversified parish supporting a food pantry, The Mercy Mission.

The local parish and school, John Paul II Catholic School, hosted a Christmas Eve dinner event for local homeless in their area. The parish provided a hot meal for over 100 people along with gift bags stuffed by the local students from John Paul II Catholic School with personal hygiene items and a gift card to Wendy’s for another hot meal over the holidays.

The entire city of Hardeeville benefit from this local food pantry, which through its services create community and assist those in dire need of help.

Building a Better Pantry

November 2018.

St. Peter’s food pantry has operated the last few years out of an old garage. The roof was caving in, and holes in the siding let in more than the weather. St. Peter’s came to us to ask for help rebuilding their food pantry to serve the immediate needs of their community. We were able to help transform St. Peter’s food pantry from a dilapidated garage, to an insulated and safe structure to work and store food in.

The Diocese of Gallup in the Pandemic

The Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico, is harshly affected by the pandemic. As the poorest diocese in the United States, it serves seven Native American Nations including the Diné (Navajo), Hopi, Zuni, White Mountain Apache, Jicarilla Apache, Laguna, and Acoma nations. It spans over two state boundaries to completely encompass the boundaries of these distinct Native American Reservations and Sovereign Nations.

Resources like running water and electricity are scarce on the Reservations, creating a perfect storm for COVID-19 to run rampant. Without electricity or running water, how are people supposed to wash their hands–one of the simplest defenses against the virus?

You can help today.

“We are, and have always been, ‘a poor Church serving the poor’, as Pope Francis desires.” – The Diocese of Gallup

Unlike the majority of Catholic World Mission’s past projects, The Diocese of Gallup has a combination of 20 parishes/schools, each with their own unique needs due to COVID-19 . Because they are a mission-based diocese, they are heavily reliant on the generosity of others to sustain the ministry.

The spiritual works.

To Admonish the Sinner – Some parish confessionals need to be rebuilt to comply with the social distancing regulations. This will provide a safe space for reconciliation.
To Instruct the Ignorant – Some parish catechism and RCIA programs, as well as schools, will need to reformat classrooms for social distancing and are in dire need of extra cleaning supplies.
To Counsel the Doubtful and to Comfort the Sorrowful – In order to continue safe pastoral outreach and visitation, pastors, religious sisters, and lay ministers are in need of protective personal equipment.
To Bear Wrongs Patiently and to Forgive All Injuries – Postage funds are needed for parishes to mail uplifting prayers to those who are at risk or suffering, without access to online masses and homilies.
To Pray for the Living and the Dead – Additional bulletin funds are needed to announce mass intentions and parish news, as many bulletin advertisers are no longer sustaining ads in parish bulletins. Bulletins will be mailed to parishioners without the internet in remote regions.

The Corporal Works

To Feed the Hungry – Some parishes host food banks. Due to a greater need for food because of pandemic-related job losses, parishes will be distributing supermarket gift cards to those in need.
To Give Drink to the Thirsty – Because many of the Native Americans don’t have running water at home, the parishes allow parishioners to use the church’s water supplies. To provide safe and reliable water, many hoses and equipment must be replaced.
To Clothe the Naked – Some parishes provide thrift shops, which will be hosted more frequently due to the increased need. More personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies are needed, as well.
To Visit the Imprisoned – Pastors, religious sisters, and lay ministers are in need of protective personal equipment to continue safe pastoral outreach and visitation.
To Shelter the Homeless – Some parishes use “rectory annexes” to house the homeless overnight. To provide a safe space, parishes are increasing their regular cleaning schedules and are in need of additional supplies.
To Visit the Sick – In order to continue safe pastoral outreach and visitation, pastors, religious sisters, and lay ministers are in need of protective personal equipment.
To Bury the Dead – Additional personal protective equipment is needed for pastoral visitations and funerals.

Getting Help to Those Who Need it Most

You helped 11 churches and 9 schools hit hard by the pandemic, who struggle during normal times. These churches and schools decided how best to serve their community getting help to those who need it most. Like St. Paul’s Catholic Church, a small predominately Navajo parish in Crown Point, New Mexico. Without running water or electricity this rural parish depends on wood as a fuel source. The elderly use wood for cooking their meals and to provide warmth. Your donation helped supply wood and impacted the community in two ways; the person providing the wood earned money for their work and the recipients benefited. One elderly women exclaimed, “I’m so glad you came. I don’t have any more wood and no money to buy any.”

Your generosity also provided hand sanitizing stations for their church, food and other supplies. Sanitizer stations eliminate the need to handle bottles-further preventing the spread of germs and keeping the elderly and handicapped safe.

You helped Sacred Heart Cathedral provide 7 families with $100 each when they needed it most and meals to many who come to the church for help during these unprecedented times. You provided urgently needed water, sanitizer, food boxes and food coupons to provide for families’ nutrition in Christ the King, St. Jude, and Our Lady of Fatima parishes. In doing so, you helped others to share in the collection, distribution, and sharing of these gifts. You facilitated a culture of empowering the poor and sharing the Gospel through acts of works of mercy. Thank you!

In the schools, you stocked food pantries and helped food insecure children receive the weekend bag program where meals are prepared and distributed to children so they have food for the weekend. The daily lunches and to go bags helped my family tremendously! I don’t have to worry whether they have brain food or not. I am super grateful our school is able to help families like mine.” Again, by your grace, you helped others to reach out and help their neighbors. Many of the children picking up meals were local school kids who needed help. You ministered to them through their neighbors. Thank you!

You also provided volunteer teachers who give their time with stipends and PPE equipment like masks, gloves and cleaning supplies – all needed to resume learning activities. Each school community within the larger community choosing where and how to help each other. Because of you so many lives were impacted. “We extend our gratitude and that of our people to Catholic World Missions and their donors for blessing us with their care and generosity.”

Mercy Missions Atlanta

Mercy Missions Atlanta is a faith-based, youth organization that is committed to serving the local community, forming disciples, and evangelizing the Gospel.

On a monthly basis, Mercy Missions Atlanta purposefully hosts mission opportunities for young adults and high-school teens. Through their missions, teens and young adults gather in community to share testimonies and become empowered to encounter strangers with the same compassion that Christ has for each of us.

For example, some missions include distributing “hygiene kits” to the homeless that contain an assortment of socks, soap, toothbrushes, food, water, and more.

In order to further extend their helping hands, Mercy Missions Atlanta partners with other local nonprofits in hopes of serving even more brothers and sisters in need.

Providing Meals to Young Students in Georgia

Due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 within the United States, it has become especially important to stay healthy, safe, and well-nourished. Unfortunately, many families were unprepared to stay home for an extended period of time and are currently struggling to put food on the table.

This Summer, in partnership with Smart Lunch Smart Kid (SLSK), Mercy Missions Atlanta is taking action by providing meals to children who rely on the government and school systems for food during the school year. Since the pandemic, regular in-person school years were cut short, extending the need for those dependent on the school system for food.

With your help, Mercy Missions Atlanta and Smart Lunch Smart Kid can provide 1,200 children with meal-boxes that provide nourishment for an entire day. Each meal-box contains prayer cards and 3 nutritious meals, for a total of 3,600 meals! This mission will directly serve school-aged children across the state of Georgia including the cities of Smyrna, Atlanta, Roswell, etc. Furthermore, the project will teach young missionaries to serve through teamwork and hands-on activities.

COVID-19 has made it difficult for many organizations to reach the same volume that they would under normal circumstances. To combat this limitation, all meals will be collected and packed by Mercy Missions Atlanta’s young adults to then be distributed by Smart Lunch Smart Kids at designated “drop sites”.

At Catholic World Mission, we support the initiative of Mercy Missions Atlanta and Smart Lunch Smart Kids (SLSK) to alleviate the hunger of young children around Georgia. Click on the green button on this page to donate.

At Catholic World Mission, we support the initiative of Mercy Missions Atlanta and Smart Lunch Smart Kids (SLSK) to alleviate the hunger of young children around Georgia.

Thanks to your generosity, the 2020 Meal-Boxing Mission was a wonderful success! As seen in the “Thank You” video, 15 young adults safely participated in the mission and packaged over 1100 meal boxes. Your support was instrumental in providing nourishing meals to young students throughout the state of Georgia.

Serving the Homeless During the Coronavirus Outbreak

We are all being hit hard in different ways due to the spread of the Coronavirus, but one group being hit in a drastic way is the homeless. Many food banks and charitable organizations are no longer able to provide support to the homeless. The homeless are therefore without basic necessities such as food, water, and hygiene products.

Thanks to the generosity and quick response of three sisters and their family in Atlanta, GA, the local homeless are being taken care of!

The three sisters are: Natalie , a medical student from the Medical College of Georgia; Sophie , a college student from the University of SC graduating this year with a Psychology Degree; and Taylor a high schooler from St. Francis High School.

Each week Sharing Love, Sharing Lunch prepares 80-100 packages, which include a sandwich, cereal, snacks, hygiene products, and an encouraging message each week. These packages get delivered to the homeless around Atlanta every Thursday.

“The kind deed that one person in a desperate situation does for another – if we can’t get to someone in a wheel chair or unable to walk (we don’t leave the Jeep) someone always offers to help.”

“One child that had the biggest smile and started dancing around because he was given a bag of food. His mother and his baby brother were happy, but he was over the moon with excitement!”

“Serving the homeless during the Coronavirus outbreak has been quite a unique experience due to all the precautions that need to be taken to ensure the safety of the team and those being served. Normally, when we work with the homeless, we spend most of our time trying to encourage and embrace them (often literally) and when possible share the Good News; providing a meal is almost secondary. With the Coronavirus outbreak many services for the homeless have been reduced or stopped altogether so we find ourselves in a situation where the primary need today is to provide a meal in a safe manner.”

Local parishioners of the Catholic Church of St. Ann in Marietta, GA band together each week (observing the social distancing directive) to pack and provide over 200 sandwiches and over 400 bags of cereal to be passed out to the local homeless in Atlanta every Thursday.

*Please note: all COVID-19 protective measure guidelines are being followed during the execution of this project. We at CWM support and honor the CDC guidelines and local shelter-in-place orders issued by the government.

Supply Physical and Spiritual Nutrition to the Less Fortunate

Sharing Love, Sharing Lunch has partnered with Lady T’s Homeless Ministry to ensure Atlanta’s homeless population still receives meals and encouragement during this tough time.

Teresa “Lady T” Hamilton was greatly moved by the homelessness she encountered while visiting Nigeria. Her heart was so moved that she knew she had to help the homeless in her local community of Atlanta, GA. When she returned home to the United States she left DeKalb Medical to start her own catering business. Every catering contract indicates that all leftovers will be donated to feed homeless people, and “Lady T’s Homeless Ministry” was started. She has been feeding the homeless for over 20 years.

“The mission of Lady T’s Homeless Ministry is to supply physical and spiritual nutrition to the less fortunate individuals who live on the streets, in the parks, behind alleys, in the woods and those that have found a place in the battered women, children and men shelters. Our objective is to give them the basic necessities of life to lift them up and encourage them.”

Through Lady T Ministry, over 300 homeless people are served a hearty meal every week. She serves homeless living on the streets and homeless families living in extended stay low income hotels, which includes over 100 children.

In addition to a weekly meal, she provides clothing, blankets, toiletries, stuffed animals to children, cereal snacks, crayons and coloring kits. Each homeless person she serves is given two pairs of socks and a daily devotional.

See pictures from this wonderful program below, and our very own Senior Manager of Operations, Roxanne Haslach, and her daughter, Sophia, assisting in packing lunches.

70% of Catholics Will Leave the Church

Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit we are responding to the many prayers requests we receive every day for your daughter, son, niece, nephew, granddaughter, grandson, neighbor’s child, etc. who have left the faith once they entered college.

70% of Catholics will leave the church after high school and will never return. We must help build the bridge that has seemed to collapse carrying faithful Catholics through young adulthood. This is the least served group within the Church, but the group that can make the most difference.

By partnering with Catholic Campus Ministry programs we will help bridge the gap in hopes of forming future leaders in our faith. We don’t want lack of finances to prevent students from participating in the many faith formation opportunities helping them foster a stronger relationship with Christ.

Read more in the tabs to see how we are beginning to answer this call by partnering with the Catholic Student Union at Florida State University. Together we can help young people find their community, their purpose, their faith and their mission.

“With Christ as the center of your life, you will never be disappointed” – Pope Francis

Catholic center program at florida state university.

We are partnering with the Catholic Student Union (CSU) at Florida State University in forming future leaders in our Catholic faith. CSU has been meeting college students where they are at and inviting them into a relationship with Jesus Christ since 1947. CSU is run by the Brotherhood of Hope, a community of religious brothers, and staff.

The CSU is a college campus ministry that reaches out to thousands of students each year from The Florida State University (FSU) and the Tallahassee Community College (TCC). CSU provides several opportunities for students to experience an encounter with Jesus Christ. CSU does this by hosting and facilitating various events throughout the semester, incorporating St. John Paul ll’s vision for the “New Evangelization”, relational evangelization and discipleship formation and preparing them for the next steps after graduation.

CSU offers many opportunities for the students who are “poor in spirit” to become immersed in their faith. The projects are designed for students to encounter Christ through “relational formation” and eventually “discipleship formation”. As they deepen their own relationship with Christ they become disciples for Christ. Fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commandment: “You shall love…God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31).

CSU provides many programs for students including:

A Spirit Nite (Faith Formation/Hot Topics discussion) every Wednesday when schools is in session
Men’s and women’s small groups – weekly meetings
Bible study
Two annual retreats
Men’s and women’s retreats
International and national mission trips
Attend March for Life
Volunteer in the local area to serve the poor and homeless
Invite students to participate in a conference entitled School of the New Evangelization (SNE) every August
Social Events: Halloween Party, Christmas Party, Sports events

Each of these different forms of “relational formation” and “discipleship formation” are designed to assist the student to continue to grow in their faith, gain leadership skills and continue in deepening their faith in Christ. So as they graduate from college they are able to go out and change the world through the new found calling to holiness and in particular to marriage, to priesthood or religious life.

The formation begins when they encounter Christ through our campus ministers and student leaders. One of the major avenues they experience this encounter is at the CSU bi-annual retreat. CSU has on average 200 students who attend a given retreat. The students are provided with opportunities to share their faith by listening to talks given by CSU Staff/other guest speakers and student leaders, praise and worship, small groups and fellowship. It helps them to get connected with their peers who are growing in their faith to become selfless in love, to have a personal prayer life and evangelistic outreach. They experience this love for Christ also in our Men’s and Women’s retreats and small groups. With this deepening personal relationship with Christ, the Light of the world, they will be able to bear His Light into a world darkened by sin.

As the students grow in their faith they want to act on it. CSU provides the students multiple opportunities to serve. CSU provides this growth through our service projects and mission trips. They offer every year, three different mission trips that we hold during FSU’s spring break. This year, they had 16 men head to New York to serve the poor and homeless. They had 16 women who served the poor and homeless in Alabama. The international trip went to Haiti where 12 men and women served with the Missionaries of Charity. Each trip provides the student to grow in appreciation, understanding and of giving oneself to Christ. A big part of the students growing in their understanding of true selfless love is by serving the homeless and the poor.

CSU also provides student leaders the opportunity to experience and deepen their faith and grow in their understanding of their baptismal call to discipleship by attending the School of the New Evangelization (SNE) conference in St. Paul, MN hosted by St. Paul’s Outreach. It is a one week conference that is held at the beginning of August right before a new college school year begins. The conference gives the students the opportunity to deepen their faith through orthodox teaching, prayer and community living with over 200 other teachers and college students across the country. The response from the students who want to attend the conference has been overwhelming.

“I arrived in Tallahassee in 1999 to begin my studies at Florida State University. Initially, I visited numerous churches around the area and was seeking a place to call home. My roommate, who was my good friend from high school, began attending the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More and got involved with the Catholic Student Union. Eventually, he attended their Fall Retreat that semester, and I saw the incredible impact it had on him when he returned. As he shared about it and I observed the change in his life, it stirred my heart to want to attend a retreat myself in the Spring… I continued to be very involved with the Catholic Student Union as a student leader until I graduated in 2004, and it was during a Spring Break Mission Trip to serve the materially and spiritually poor in Boston, MA, where I realized that I really loved sharing my faith — I experienced such great joy when doing this sort of work! This realization on that unique mission helped me discern a call to the priesthood by steering me in the right direction. I eventually entered the seminary and was ordained a priest on June 4th, 2011 for the mission Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee.”

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“ Spring Break Mission Trip to New Orleans; Women’s Spring Break Mission Trip to Ohio; Break Mission Trip to Haiti – Through these experiences and many more with the Catholic Student Union, I have been formed and shaped in countless ways… I knew what the life of a disciple looked like, in following Jesus, but my heart has been changed to longing not only to be a disciple, but to become an apostle, to be able to share this love with others and to make my life truly focused on working for Christ… I have recently accepted an offer to do a year of medical mission work in the South Sudan and the Dominican Republic of Congo. Going into college, I never thought this would be a part of my life, but I have learned so much about what it means to serve.”

“After graduating high school in 2012, I decided to attend Florida State University… Over the course of my first year and a half of college, I was confronted with the reality that the current college culture is often directly opposed to a life of faith. As a result, my unpreparedness led me to a time of desolation and spiritual poverty… I heard an announcement that the Catholic Student Union (CSU) of FSU was going on a weeklong Spring Break Mission Trip to Haiti… Through this, God revealed to me my own spiritual poverty, and I realized God was reaching out to me — and always had been… Experiencing God radically change my life through CSU has strengthened my faith beyond what I ever thought it could be. I am so thankful for the Catholic Student Union, and I pray for other students to experience God as I have through this wonderful ministry.”

Brother Clinton

“I wasn’t raised Catholic: my dad was a non-practicing Catholic and my mom a non-practicing Protestant through most of my childhood, but God’s grace slowly began to capture my heart… It wasn’t until college that I encountered God’s love for me… As I continued to grow in my relationship with Jesus, it became clear that He had been preparing me to consecrate the entirety of my life to Him as a religious Brother in the Brotherhood of Hope – to live a life with God First and God Alone… Currently, I am the director of the Catholic Student Union at Florida State University, and it’s impossible for me to tell you of the countless lives changed by God’s grace here… but it’s happening! College students are entering into a vibrant, life-giving relationship with the Lord and His Church.” Click here to read Brother Clinton’s journey and the impact CSU is making

“As I entered college, surrounding myself with people of faith wasn’t a priority of mine. I began to develop friendships with some good people, but as with many college students, they were atheists who didn’t have a positive view of religion or the Catholic Church… my parents forced me to go to the Catholic Student Union’s (CSU’s) Spring Retreat… My mentality upon arriving at the retreat was one of survival — making it through the weekend, tell my parents I had a miserable time, and then never have to face another boring, ignorance-filled camping trip… Well, I survived retreat (if that isn’t already obvious). Life continued, and retreat was quickly forgotten… but not for long. The Brother that I had conversed with at the Spring Retreat contacted me some weeks later and invited me to chat again. I could not pass up an opportunity to debate, so I got together with him and had another fantastic conversation… With continued guidance and support from the community, I was able to grow in conviction for my newly acquired faith, and I am proud to say that it has only grown stronger since.” Click here to read Monique’s full story

By God’s Grace, CSU has Produced Abundant Fruit

There have been hundreds of beautiful marriages and many who have responded to His invitation to the priesthood and to religious life. Specifically, CSU has helped form approximately 30 men who have entered the seminary with nine having already been ordained priests within the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee and with men in seminary formation for another five dioceses; eight women have entered vowed religious life; four women are currently at the novitiate or postulant level; five religious men (two of which are priests as well) have entered religious communities; and one man is a religious novice. These men and women serve all over the world. All of these inspiring vocations to the priesthood, religious life, and marriage have had a major impact in diocesan offices, public and private schools (education), the business and medical fields, parishes, family life, and more. We also have men and women who currently are part of missions to the poor in Haiti, Honduras, Peru, and the United States.

Across the country, we have alumni who are serving their parishes in different capacities, including youth ministries, liturgical ministry, marriage preparation, elderly care, and ongoing men’s and women’s groups to carry on the relational evangelization and discipleship formation that they received here in the CSU outreach.

“I started going to daily Mass while I was in college at Florida State University. No one required this of me, and no one had to. It was attractive because CSU made it easy to recognize the friendship and community that was generated by sharing in the Church’s prayer together each day. To pause and listen together to the Word of God and to be fed by Christ’s Body and Blood: it was the rhythm of this prayer life of the Church that gave a foundation to my closest friendships .” – Reverend James Grebe – Alumnus – Class of 2005

“I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Bible Study small groups when I was involved in CSU during undergrad. It was in these small groups that we were able to really explore how God was calling us to live out our faith through scripture. We gained insight into the history behind each reading and then discussed how it related to us in our own lives. The Bible study fostered a sense of real community for me; the group both encouraged and challenged me to grow in my faith!” – Claire Butler – Alumna – Class of 2012

“ My involvement with the Respect Life Committee of the Catholic Student Union laid the foundation necessary for the work God has called me to in the medical profession. As an Ob/Gyn physician today, my practice motto “Respecting the Dignity of Women and Building a New Culture of Life,” can be traced to my formation and involvement with CSU.” – Damon Cudihy , MD – Class of 1999

“When I reflect on my experience at CSU, weekly Spirit Nites, retreats, service trips, etc., I am reminded how deeply grateful I am. It has been 1 years since I graduated and there are two main lessons I learned that have helped me immensely in my family and professional life. At CSU I learned how to pray and I learned how to lead . While I continue to learn lessons in both prayer and leadership, I can definitely say they have their origin in my experience at CSU. As a husband, father of five, and business owner, I can tell you that without the foundation I received at CSU, I would not have been nearly as well prepared for the challenging adventure of life.” – Justin Biance – Alumnus – Class of 2001

Spring Break Mission to Jamaica

This Spring Break, 16 students from the Florida State University Catholic Student Union spent their time in Jamaica – not relaxing on the beach as one might expect, but giving of themselves wholeheartedly as they worked alongside the Missionaries of the Poor.

These inspirational students devoted themselves to the poorest of the poor, serving in five homes in the community (two for women, two for men, and one for children) for residents with mental and physical disabilities, patients with HIV, and elderly men and women who had been abandoned by their families. In their own words, each day the students, “served at a different center, and the residents of each house welcomed us with enormous hugs, hand-holding, and shouts of joy. Throughout our time of service, we cleaned, prepared meals, helped feed the residents, made up beds, folded laundry, cleaned wounds, and –most of all –spent time with the people we were serving, which was full of prayer, moving conversations, and overflowing love.”

Thanks to your support, these student were able to not only bring the love and light of Christ to those in desperate need, but felt God moving in and around them – filling them with love and enabling them to serve as Christ’s hands and feet. These students have had an encounter with Christ that moved them deeply and will stay with them, deepening their faith, for their whole lives, teaching them to see God in every aspect of life. Through you these Catholic youth feel the call of Christ, not only towards their work in Jamaica but a call they bring home with them to share the Gospel and Christ’s love everywhere!

“We are called to be missionaries and disciples of Jesus wherever we are. We were exhorted to “be the bridge” when we return home. As we sit in the graces of this trip, we are to take the love of Christ that we encountered through this experience and share it with others who have not encountered that love.”

Spring Break Mission Trip to Jamaica

16 students from the Florida State University Catholic Student Union headed down to Jamaica to spend their Spring Break on a mission trip serving the people there. The group served at a preschool, as well as communities of elderly, orphans, and children with disabilities.

Student Kevin McNaughton shares his profound experience, “An experience that significantly impacted me in Jamaica occurred at the final visit we made… One of the elderly residents joined us outside for praise and worship. Although we had brought a guitar to play, the gentleman and his friend picked up the bongo and tambourine and started belting praises to the Lord. [We all] danced with the residents with tears in their eyes. I remember standing behind the man and seeing the strength that he had in the Lord while proclaiming His name. It was at that moment, that I realized the dignity and beauty that every person there possessed. This man wasn’t in full health, nor was he living with his family, yet he still praised God for the life he was given. I realized that in whatever circumstance I find myself, my mouth should always proclaim the graces the Lord has given me and how truly good my heavenly Father is.”

Thanks to your generosity, young people in the United States are experiencing the love of Jesus Christ in new and profound ways. The students from the Catholic Student Union go on mission trips every Spring and Summer break; for many it is where they decide to include Christ in their lives for the rest of their lives. You can continue supporting this mission by visiting our United States donation page.

“The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.” – Mother Theresa

Regnum Christi Mission Corps

The RC Mission Corps program is an apostolate of the Regnum Christi Movement which seeks to help young people have an authentic experience of Jesus Christ through active Apostleship in communities, schools and parishes throughout the world.

Since Regnum Christi has the unique purpose to be at the service of the Church and mankind, the RC Mission Corps Program seeks to reawaken others to the mystery of Christ’s love for them and to their commitment of living out their An RC Missionary is a committed apostle of Christ and the Church who through the charism and spirituality of Regnum Christi seeks to bring souls to God by giving one or more years of his/her life in service of God’s people vocation in Christ.

The RC Mission Corps Program seeks to form Missionaries in Spiritual, Social, Intellectual , and Apostolic dimensions so that he/she is educated and formed in the teachings of the Catholic Church so as to empower them to go out and “travel on the path of love” which God has called them on.

Working through parishes, schools and service organizations, young missionaries touch up to 4,000 people in their time of service.

The RC Missionaries serve in: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Washigton, and Manila, Philippines

RCMC Alumni ’14

“People everywhere need Christ, the world is starving because we have removed God from the center of society so there is nothing sustaining in it. Your donation is not simply a gift of money, it is a gift of Christ.”

“This program gives you the opportunity to work with all kind of people: young, old, local, and international. Already being here has amazed me how much my friendship with Christ has grown which has led me to discover myself deeper. We live in a world that is screaming for love and hope, this program gives you the tool to go and spread God’s live. So help us to bring that joy!”

“During a retreat we read the passage when Christ gives the keys to the kingdom and the leadership of the Church. This was very powerful to one 8th grader because he realized that Christ did not give the keys to the Kingdom to Peter and then make it impossible to attain heaven. He realized that Christ wants us to join Him in heaven and for the first time he realized he could get to heaven one day if he fought for Christ.”

“People ask me how I can give a whole year of my life but I don’t see it as giving. I feel like I am receiving this year as a gift. I’ve learned to love my faith and share it openly with everyone I encounter. My heart is transformed and I’ve found a joy for serving others. I have two goals: to grow and to give. I hope to grow in my relationship with Christ and to give all I have back to Christ by serving others.”

“I’ve realized that the smallest action can have the greatest impact on somebody. After serving the poor I got the privilege of helping an elderly man get his food to his apartment. It made me want to serve more and have an impact on the community no matter how small.”

23 Young People Dedicated Themselves to Give a Year of Their Life to the Lord

In the Fall of 2016, 23 young people dedicated themselves to give a year of their life to the Lord through Regnum Christi Mission Corps. This program allows young people to experience Christ by serving others. Before the missionaries enter into the program they spend six weeks in training, learning Catholic Skills and ECYD methodology. ECYD methodology is forming conscious decisions, experiences, and convictions with Christ at the center. Prayer is at the center of their mission, ensuring that they remain close to Christ to live the missionary life fully. Regnum Christi Missionaries have the unique opportunity to go deeper spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally through leadership development, vocational discernment, prayer life, and Catholic formation. This year the missionaries are spreading the Gospel in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and The Philippines.

The team in Houston recently completed their first retreat; Ana Paula Sanchez, an RC Missionary, shared, “We just had our first retreat for 6th & 8th grade, and the theme was “He Looked at Me and He Loved Me”. In the retreat, the girls were able to see how Jesus saw them and how much He loves them. One of the moms told me that her daughter’s favorite part was being able to go to a chapel to pray her morning and night prayers, and she hopes to have a chapel in her house when she grows up so she can pray.”

The missionaries in Philadelphia go door to door in their community to promote the Healing/Adoration Service the team will organize. One of the goals is to revitalize the struggling local Parish. The Regnum Christi Mission Corps program provides young people with the opportunity to be witnesses of Christ to others.

Fr. José Félix, LC runs St. Peter’s Catholic Parish, located in a very low-income area bordering the Bronx in Yonkers, NY, is a vibrant community with average weekend Mass attendance of almost exactly 2,000 people, a religious education program of over 450 students and about 300 kids active in youth groups. Hispanic immigrants make up over 80% of our community.

Last year, in order to empower the faith formation of the community, they created for the first time small groups that meet weekly in houses to pray and receive formation. In October 2013, about 90 small groups were created with about 900 participants in total. Though many of the groups persevered for a couple months, by the end of the year only about 20 groups were still active. The spiritual fruits seen in those groups, however, were astounding.

This drop-off can be attributed to many factors: they’ve learned a lot about the infrastructure necessary for the leadership of the initiative, how to get all parish groups on board, and what forms of follow-up are effective, but most of all what hurt them was the almost complete lack of good Catholic material for small group formation.

Three Weeks of Healing

With Fr. Shane Johnson, LC

Adore the Lord Your God, and Only Him

What area(s) of my life need healing?
What are the temptations in my life that are leading me to sin?
Which side (good or evil) am I on when I make decisions?
How is evil getting into my life? Are there habits, secret habits, sinful habits, that are tearing me apart? Am I a slave to any things that are leading me to sin and that I need to be freed from?
Read Deuteronomy 5:6-10. Am I fully living out the first commandment? Is God my only God? Do I truly trust God with my whole life? Where do I put my trust?
If I need to break bonds and chains of evil that I have allowed to enter my life, have I realized how critically important Confession and Communion are for this? Have I asked a priest to bless my house, my car, my children, the sacred objects in our house, etc.? Have I gone to a healing Mass to ask God to cure me, and have I taken other people so that they can be cured?
Examine my day every evening and recognize the areas of my life that are causing me to sin, the areas that are evil in which I’m a slave to.
Go to Confession right away to break any bondage in my soul, and receive Communion at Mass.
Say this prayer as often as needed throughout my day to combat the evil, “I renounce every influence and every way that this spirit of ___________ (jealousy, envy, lust, greed, etc.) has influence over me.” Then invite God into my life and into my heart to fill that hole of whatever was damaging me and my relationship with God.
Recite the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel daily – every morning when I wake.
Do 30 minutes of Eucharistic adoration at church.

Jesus Is Alive and Heals Your Heart

Have I discovered the root of the sin or the trauma that is holding me back in my life?
Do I feel guilty for the bad decisions I have made? Do I suffer from fear, insecurity, addiction, abuse or violence in my family?
Why is it hard to forgive from the heart those who have offended me, freeing ourselves from desires of revenge?
Do I truly and fully believe that Jesus wants to heal me, just as he healed those who came to him in the Bible?
Do I fully trust in the love and mercy of Jesus to heal my mind, my soul, and my heart? Do I show it by going to Confession and Communion?
Have I ever asked a priest or a trusted friend to pray over me that the chains I bear be broken? Do I want to attend a healing Mass?
Pray together in a spontaneous way as a group to ask forgiveness from God for all the offenses we have ever committed.
Seek to forgive from the heart everyone who has offended you in your life, praying for them and giving all that suffering to God.
Attend a healing Mass as a group, to ask God’s mercy and healing from any resentment or inner wounds.

Jesus Is Alive and Heals Your Illnesses

If you have ever received healing at a retreat, a prayer session, or a healing Mass, can you share your story?
Why do we sometimes believe that God causes our illness or the suffering that we and our families go through? Why is it hard for us to realize how infinite his mercy is, and that he is not a Father who punishes, but who wants us to approach him to be healed?
Do I truly have faith and trust in the power of Jesus Christ to heal me completely in soul, mind, spirit and body, or do I still doubt him?
Do I care for the sick and the elderly, praying for them, visiting them, and helping my own sick and elderly relatives, or do I forget all about them?
Have I ever seen the full power of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick?
Do I truly trust in the powerful motherly intercession of Mary? Is there a testimony of healing through her intercession that I can share?
What is God asking you to do right now to make a change in your life for continual healing? What is God asking you to do to continue healing in your life? Write it down and how you will accomplish it.
If you have someone sick in your family, call the parish office so that a priest can go administer the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick for them.
Pray sincerely to remove any obstacle to physical healing that is in your heart – hatred, anger, resentment, envy and jealousy – through a sincere repentance, since a healed heart is often a condition for physical healing from God.
Mothers who have sick children can pray over them every night by laying hands on them and praying that Jesus heal them.

Con P. José Helio Cantú, LC

Adorarás al Señor tu Dios y Solo a él Darás Culto

¿Me había dado cuenta de que cuando las personas confían su familia y su futuro al espiritismo, están rechazando a Dios y entregándose a espíritus que quieren el mal para ellos?
¿Cuáles son las tentaciones que llevan a las personas a la superstición: por ejemplo, las pulseras de energía, las herraduras, el horóscopo, etc.?
¿Por qué tenemos tanta dificultad en confiar en Dios que la gente recurre a veces a brujos, curanderos, baños, botánicas, santería, vudú, la santa muerte, etc.?
¿Mi familia está completamente libre de objetos para la suerte: como por ejemplo la manita negra, el ojo para cuidar el mal de ojo, los demás amuletos, los billetes de 2 dólares en la cartera, las patas de conejo, etc.?
En cambio, ¿he pedido que un sacerdote bendiga mi casa, mi coche, mis niños, los objetos sagrados en nuestra casa, etc.? ¿He ido a una misa de sanación para buscar que Dios me cure, y he traído a otras personas a que lo experimenten?
Si tengo que romper ataduras o cadenas del mal que hemos permitido que entren en nuestras vidas, ¿me he dado cuenta de la urgencia de confesarme y comulgar?
Hacer un examen de conciencia, e identificar las areas donde se necisita la curacion de la brujeria u otros espiritus que no sean el Espiritu Santo. Escribirlas y llevarlas al sacramento de reconciliacion.
Acudir inmediatamente al sacramento de la confesión ara romper cualquier atadura que tenga en mi alma y recibir la comunión en la Misa.
Si no me puedo confesar, pedir con sinceridad el perdón Dios, haciendo oración de perdón y renuncia frente al Santísimo Sacramento.
Asistir como grupo 30 minutos a la adoración al antísimo los martes o los viernes.

Jesús está Vivo y Sana tu Corazón

¿He descubierto cuál es la raíz de mi pecado o el trauma que llevo arrastrando en mi vida?
¿Me siento culpable por las decisiones malas que he hecho? ¿Sufro de miedo, inseguridad, adicciones, abuso o violencia en mi familia?¿Por qué es difícil perdonar de corazón a los que nos ofenden y nos hacen mal, liberándonos de deseos de venganza? ¿Cómo se hace para entregar a Dios este dolor?
¿Creo de verdad que Jesús me quiere sanar, igual que sanó a las personas que vinieron a pedirle la sanación en la Biblia?
¿Confío de verdad en el amor y la misericordia de Jesús para sanar mi mente, mi alma y mi corazón? ¿Lo demuestro acercándome a la
confesión y la Eucaristía?
¿He pedido alguna vez que este grupo o un sacerdote ore por mí para romper las cadenas que llevo? ¿Quiero asistir a una misa de sanación?
Hacer una oración espontánea en grupo pidiendo perdón al Señor Jesús por las ofensas que hemos cometido en la vida.
Buscar perdonar de corazón a todas las personas que me han ofendido en mi vida y entregarle a Dios todo mi dolor y sufrimiento.
Asistir como grupo a la misa de sanación e invocar la misericordia de Dios para que nos sane integralmente de todo resentimiento o rechazo.

Semana Tres

Jesús está Vivo y Sana tus Enfermedades

Si usted ha participado en algún retiro, grupo de oración o misa de sanación etc. y ha recibido sanación, ¿nos puede contar su experiencia?
¿Por qué motivos podemos creer que Dios causa nuestras enfermedades o las desgracias que nos pasan en la vida o en la familia? ¿Por qué no nos damos cuenta de su misericordia infinita y que no es un Padre que castiga, sino que quiere acercarse a nosotros a sanarnos?
¿De verdad creo que la enfermedad y la muerte son fruto del primer pecado de Adán y Eva, o tengo mis dudas?
¿Tengo fe y confianza de verdad en el poder de Cristo Jesús para sanarme completamente en alma, mente, espíritu, cuerpo, o tengo mis dudas y mis reservas?
¿Me preocupo por los enfermos y los ancianos, hago oración por ellos, les visito en sus casas u hospitales, ayudo a mis padres enfermos y ancianos, o los tengo olvidados?
¿He visto alguna vez el poder del sacramento de la unción de los enfermos?
¿Confío de verdad en la intercesión poderosa y maternal de María, nuestra Madre Santísima? ¿Hay un testimonio de sanación por su intercesión que puede compartir?
Si tengo algún familiar enfermo, llamar a la oficina de la parroquia para que un sacerdote le administre el sacramento de la unción de los enfermos.
Remover todos los obstáculos de mi corazón, odios, iras, resentimientos, envidias, celos, por un arrepentimiento sincero, pues al sanar mi corazón se sanarán también mis enfermedades.
Si tengo algún hijo enfermo yo como madre le puedo hacer oración todas las noches imponiéndole mi mano y pidiendo a Jesús que le sane de su enfermedad.

Launching the Initiative

October 2014.

In October 2014, St. Peter’s Catholic Parish relaunched the initiative. Once again they had 90 groups meeting and the first campaign began which was FOCUS founder Curtis Martin’s “Made for More” with videos of St. Peter’s priests and discussion questions that they developed themselves. This year’s plan was developed in coordination with all the priests on staff and the entire parish council. They have also added more “coaches” to help the leaders of each group and pledged to the people that we will use only Catholic materials, but for any given campaign of 4-6 weeks, they need materials both in English and Spanish. The campaigns are planned to fit the Catholic liturgy and their homily themes as closely as possible.

The topics for last years campaigns were the following:

ADVENT: Reasons for Hope (4 weeks)
CHRISTMAS SEASON: The Family God Planned (5 weeks)
ORDINARY TIME BEFORE LENT: God is My Doctor (healing) (3 weeks)
LENT: God is Faithful, though I am a sinner (5 weeks)
EASTER: Basic Apologetics (5 weeks)
SUMMER/OT 1st campaign: Praying with the Psalms (5 weeks)
SUMMER/OT 2nd campaign: The Eucharist, leading up to the “Siege of Jericho” parish adoration event (5 weeks)
SUMMER/OT 3rd campaign: My Relationship with My Brothers and Sisters (Letter of St. James) (5 weeks)
FALL RELAUNCH CAMPAIGN: We are Lost and We Need Help (5 weeks)

Participants attending weekly Masses, requests for Sacraments, and children enrolled in Religious Education classes have increased. Father Ortega is convinced these increases are the fruit of the small group/faith-formation programs.

Learn More About

Projects in Haiti
Projects in Jamaica
Projects in Mexico

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Part Conference Part Service Camp 100% Catholic

Get ready for the most exciting Catholic Youth event that you and your group have ever experienced!

Igniting the fire of Christ in the hearts of todays’ Catholic Youth

Experience the love of christ through the eucharist, reconciliation, mass, service, high-energy praise and worship, prayer, talented speakers, team building, games, activities, and small faith groups..

Combined hours spent serving dozens of communities. Everything from painting, building projects, and landscaping to volunteer work at food pantries, social service organizations, and working with children at low income day cares.

Many being former campers, the staff at Alive in You is always engaged with the teens. Together, with our speakers and musicians, they utilize their gifts & talents in order to inspire your teens to be the best Catholics they can be.

Full band, complete with video, audio, and light production.We bring in the greatest musicians to perform praise and worship throughout the entire week. We take pride in providing a top-quality worship experience each morning and evening.

Teens have the privilege of listening to over a dozen spectacular witness talks throughout the week tied together with our theme, culminating with a nationally renowned keynote speaker.

LIVE YOUR FAITH

Gather your friends, pack your bags, and join young people from around the country on this incredible journey of faith. open your heart and let the fire of the holy spirit become alive in you., tour our facilities.

Dates and Rates

Find out what’s in store for next summer!

Learn what to expect during your Alive in You experience!

Registration

Our Leadership Team
Mission Week At a Glance
Lake Charles, LA
South Texas
Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico
New Orleans, LA
Angel Jimenez
Aaron Trevino
Lauren Geddings
Dominic Kovacic
Christina Bingham
Peter Vandal
Cole Hottovy
Rebecca Dalsass
Nate Virgil-Fenelus
Clara Anderson
Lauren Carey
Sydney Cooper
Jake Whitener
Kamryn Alvarez
David Lawless
Richard Hilton
Stephany Head
Join The Team

2023 Mission Season

2023 mission locations.

Lake Charles, LA January 12-18, 2023

Lake Charles, LA March 13-18, 2023

Dominican Republic April 23-29, 2023

Dominican Republic June 5-10, 2023

Harlan, KY June 5-10, 2023

Lake Charles, LA June 5-10, 2023

Dominican Republic June 12-17, 2023

Harlan, KY June 12-17, 2023

South Texas June 19-24, 2023

Harlan, KY June 19-24, 2023

South Texas June 26-July 1, 2023

Harlan, KY June 26-July 1, 2023

Harlan, KY July 3-8, 2023

South Texas July 3-8, 2023

New Orleans, LA July 3-8, 2023

New Orleans, LA July 10-15, 2023

Lake Charles, LA July 10-15, 2023

New Orleans, LA July 17-23, 2023

Belize July 24-29, 2023

Lake Charles, LA July 31-August 5, 2023

Belize July 31-August 5, 2023

JOIN US IN 2023! REGISTER EARLY TO SECURE YOUR WEEK AND LOCATION.

SOUTH TEXAS

RURAL APPALACHIA

GULF COAST (NOLA, LAKE CHARLES)

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

PUERTO RICO

Alternative locations and dates available upon request.

If your group is interested in a winter or spring break mission trip, different dates or locations, please send your dates and location to Stephany at [email protected] and we will try to meet your needs.

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What trips are you interested in?

Dominican Republic Belize Puerto Rico Fort Myers, FL Lake Charles, LA New Orleans, LA Kentucky South Texas New Mexico Other

Which week works best for your group?

Spring Break June 3-8, 2024 June 10-15, 2024 June 17-22, 2024 June 24-29, 2024 July 1-6, 2024 July 8-13, 2024 July 15-20, 2024 July 22-27, 2024 July 29 - Aug. 3, 2024 Other

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SERVE Mission Trips for Teens With all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, Go SERVE

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SERVE Youth Mission Trips for Groups

SERVE is typically a one-week mission trip for teens in the United States or Canada that introduces middle school (Grades 6-8) or high school (Grades 9-12) students to spreading the gospel through missional living and confronting issues of justice. Each all-inclusive missions trip experience is planned with individual and corporate benefit in mind. SERVE provides hands-on service that is people-focused, giving SERVE trips a very personal and long-term impact.

The week typically starts with fun teambuilding and get-to-know-you activities. Each workday starts with morning devotions before teams go off to their work sites, where the emphasis is to connect with the people you are serving and share God’s love. Every night the students are led in worship and the speaker for the week brings a message related to the theme. These sessions are challenging and faith-building. Each evening also includes free time for games, sports, or hanging out with new friends. One day of the week is a ‘Day Away’ where everybody has a fun day off together at the beach, local theme park, cottage, or local attraction. You can find more information about SERVE in our FAQ section here .

See our current Trip Locations

SERVE is not just a week-long summer youth mission trip. It’s about a transformation that lasts a lifetime!

Where will you serve, (choose a youth mission trip type below).

High School Mission Trips

High School SERVE mission trips are week-long (7 day) mission experiences open to students who have completed grade 8 through graduating seniors. The community-focused environment of SERVE encourages students’ passion for their own congregation and community, so the impact of SERVE continues long after the high school students return home.

Middle School Mission Trips

Middle school sites are not available for SERVE 2024. If you’re interested in hosting a future middle school SERVE site, please contact us!

Middle School SERVE mission trips are shorter mission experiences open to students who have completed grade 6 through students who have completed grade 8.

Custom SERVE

Looking for a special trip during fall, winter, or spring break for just your students? A custom SERVE site can be designed to build unity, provide discipleship, and create shared service opportunities for a sending church youth group. Custom SERVE sites allow adult leaders to oversee their own students for small group interaction and worksite assignments. Contact ThereforeGo Ministries and let us partner with you to create a custom SERVE experience!

FAQs About SERVE

“How wonderful would it be if all teenagers at some point during their high school years could travel on a SERVE mission trip and get a clearer understanding of God’s purpose for their life sooner, rather than later?”

Youth leader of a serve mission trip, browse serve trips.

All Locations Eastern Canada (6) Mid West USA (6) North East USA (1) South East USA (2) Western Canada (1) Western USA (4)
All Dates August (3) July (15) June (4)
All Trip Types High School (19) Middle School/High School (1)

Go or Host?

Youth group mission trips.

Mission trips and other faith-forming experiences are proven to be the #1 way to keep teens active in the church and growing in their faith . SERVE youth mission trips for teens are all-inclusive, 5-7 day service trips for Middle School or High School students . The students go into communities in the USA and Canada to care for and restore their world in an environment where they’ll encounter the concepts of justice and missional living. More than just a week-long short-term mission trip over the summer, SERVE is a faith-forming experience where the communities, congregations, and students who are involved all experience lasting transformation.

Impact of Hosting a Teen Mission Trip

Students on SERVE mission trips are helping to transform communities and congregations across North America (think of them as domestic mission trips). Together, ThereforeGo and local churches work together to share the love of Jesus Christ with those in our own backyards. SERVE is more than just a week-long missions trip for teens ; these young adults will walk away with an experience that will have a long-term impact on your local community and the people that live, work, and worship in them. We can use help hosting youth group mission trips in 2024 .

“SERVE started a momentum in our congregation that is like a mini revival. I’ll have to determine how to make the most of it throughout the rest of the year.”

Get a FREE copy of the Complete Guide to Planning a Youth Mission Trip . This complete guide will help make you plan your youth mission trip from beginning to end! Get The Free eBook

for SERVE Mission Trips

How much does a serve mission trip cost.

SERVE mission trips for teens cost $400 USD if online paperwork is completed by April 1. Everything is included except transportation. Between April 1 and April 15 a $25 late fee is applied. After April 15, the late fee increases to $50. Not ready to pay? That’s okay. The final payment isn’t due until May 1.

*Some sites vary slightly in price based on different lengths of experience. Choose a trip location and check its description to find out more!

Find a mission trip destination here »

Who can participate (ex. how old do you have to be)?

We get this question a lot: “How old do you have to be to go on mission trips with ThereforeGo?”

High School SERVE Mission Trips : Any student who has completed grade 8 through graduating seniors in the same year as the SERVE mission experience.

Middle School SERVE Mission Trips : Any student who has completed grades 6 through 8 in the same year as the SERVE mission experience.

Adult Leaders : Adult leaders must be 21 years or older. Due to insurance and liability stipulations, Adult Leaders cannot bring babies or children under the required age for any SERVE mission experience. Adult Leaders are required to complete and submit a current background check to the ThereforeGo Ministries office. See more information under the question “What are adult leader expectations (and how many are needed)?”

Do I have to be in a youth group or can I come by myself? Our current SERVE model does not accommodate individual participants. For more information contact us .

How do I find a mission trip?

Find SERVE mission trip locations here on our trip locations page .

When choosing a mission trip, we recommend taking the following factors into consideration.

Dates : It’s important to figure out what dates work for your church and the largest number of people in your youth group.
Location : Do you want to drive? Are you willing to fly? Transportation can be one of the most complex factors to a mission trip so it is important to factor in how far and by which method you are willing to travel.
Capacity : If you have a large group (more than 15 people) we recommend that you look for a SERVE site that has a capacity of 60 or more. We have found that SERVE sites are more successful if we can place 3 or more different churches at any one site.

Browse trip locations here »

What’s included in SERVE mission trips?

Short Answer: Most Everything Long Answer: Your registration fee includes most everything you need once you arrive onsite, except transportation to the site and daily transportation while at the mission experience.

What’s included?

Spiritual Life Guide with small group leaders training notes, theme-based small group discussion outlines, pre-trip lesson suggestions and commissioning litany, post-trip debriefing and follow up guides for adult leaders
Spiritual Life Guides with daily devotionals for students
SERVE theme t-shirt
Supplemental medical insurance
Lodging (usually in a church or school)
Daily schedule with planned activities
Engaging worship and speaker
Organized service projects and supplies

What’s the typical schedule of a SERVE week?

Registration, welcome, community-building games.
You will usually be introduced to your small group, which consists of six to eight students and one adult leader from different churches.
Breakfast, personal devotions, commissioning service at the Host Church. ( Interested in hosting a mission trip as a “Host Church” ?)
Lunch, team building, orientation, and organized fun.
Dinner, session with a speaker, worship, and small group discussions.

Monday through Friday

6:30 AM – Wake up
7:00 AM – Breakfast/prepare lunches
8:00 AM – Devotions
8:45 AM – Leave for work sites
4:00 PM – Showers/free time/organized games
5:15 PM – Leaders’ meeting
6:00 PM – Dinner
7:30 PM – Evening session with a speaker and worship
9:00 PM – Small group discussion
10:00 PM – Snack and free time
11:00 PM – Lights out
Pack up and head home to serve in your own community!
Recreation/Sightseeing: At some point during the week, a half day or full day is set aside for recreation (organized by the Host Team). Expect to visit a local attraction, such as beach, theme park, do some sightseeing, etc.
Detailed schedules are set by the local Host Team and may vary from what’s described here. Please be flexible, and follow the schedule set by the Host Team.
Middle School experiences may start on Saturday or Sunday, and typically wrap-up on Friday.

What’s the registration process?

After you’ve picked a site ( see mission trip destinations ), follow this process to register:

STEP ONE : Place a $50 deposit per participant to save spots at a particular SERVE site. You’ll just need the number of youth and adult leader spots for your group. Approximately 1-3 weeks after you submit this form, you’ll receive a site confirmation letter by email confirming which site your group has been placed at and providing you with the access code that your group will use to complete your paperwork in Step 2. Save your spots starting November 1 at Noon (EST)!

STEP TWO : After you place your deposit and receive your site confirmation letter with your access code, you can then complete your online registration for each participant individually. You must complete your paperwork by April 1. All registrations completed between April 1 and April 15 will be charged with a $25 late fee. All paperwork completed after April 15 will be charged a $50 late fee.

STEP THREE: Payment in full is due on May 1 for all SERVE sites. Background checks are due for all adults on May 15. For more information on the ThereforeGo background check policy, click here .

Is there still room at a particular site (trip destination) or is it full?

Check the site description page or contact us to find out whether there are still openings available at a particular site.

Can 19 & 20-year-olds come along?

Our current SERVE mission trips model does not accommodate 19 & 20-year-old participants. For more information contact us .

What are adult leader expectations (and how many are needed)?

How Many Adult Leaders Are Needed for a SERVE Mission Trip ? One adult (21 years of age or older) is required for every five youth. At least one adult of each gender (if students of each gender are attending).

Adult Leader Responsibilities

Serve as small group leaders.
Act as work site overseers.
All adults are required to attend the entire week with SERVE .
Driving their small group to and from work sites throughout the week.
Be safety-conscious at all times.
General crowd control and spiritual coaching throughout the week. Download the leader handbook (PDF).

Other Details Due to insurance and liability stipulations, Adult Leaders cannot bring babies or children under the required age for any SERVE mission experience. All Adult Leaders (21 and older) are required to complete and submit a current background check to the ThereforeGo Ministries office. To be considered current for the 2024 SERVE season, the check must be completed after June 15, 2021. See how to submit a background check here .

What do small groups look like during SERVE?

The host team will place participants in small work/prayer groups, trying to not have more than two people from the same church in the same group in order to promote community among the entire SERVE Site.

What’s the SERVE Site Confirmation?

1-3 weeks after you place a deposit for a SERVE Site, you will receive (by email) a site confirmation letter with instructions to complete your online paperwork (if you already have received this letter, click here ).

Where can I get more information about my SERVE Site?

The Host Team for your SERVE Site will be sending out a welcome letter which will include more details about the week and a packing list. You can expect to receive the information approximately 30 days before your mission experience begins. You can find out who your Host Church is by going to the site’s page ( one of the locations found here ).

Do mission trips really help?

We believe that whether mission trips help or not depends on the type of mission trip you have. Real lasting impact is never accomplished in a week. This is why we partner with local churches to provide our SERVE mission trips! All of our sites are run by volunteers who live and work in these communities all year long.

We believe that SERVE mission trips provide a two-fold impact:

Become doers of the Word and not hearers only
Become justice conscious, meeting needs while being introduced to the root causes and concerns
Grow in their personal faith
Continue serving others when they return to their home church and community
Identify community assets and needs
Provide an infusion of energy to their mission, vision, and outreach efforts
Help deepen personal relationships and partnerships within their local community. Our host sites are encouraged to partner with ministries that they have an existing relationship with and allow this group of teenagers to bring energy and excitement to the long term partnership.

What tips do you have for traveling with students?

Traveling with Minors: Any adult who is not a parent or guardian should have written permission to supervise the child from the parent or guardian, as well as the child’s identification, and carry it with them. A letter would also facilitate entry for any one parent traveling with their children. This permission letter should contain addresses and telephone numbers where the parent or guardian can be reached. ( Example Consent to Travel Form – find more forms and resources here ) It is strongly recommended that the letter is notarized.

Passport and travel requirements for U.S. and Canadian citizens vary according to the country where you are going. For more information about passport and travel requirements you may check the websites below:

Canada Border Services Agency — www.cbsa.gc.ca Foreign Affairs Canada — www.travel.gc.ca U.S. State Department — www.travel.state.gov U.S. Customs and Border Protection — www.cbp.gov

*15-passenger vans are not allowed into Ontario due to MTO restrictions

It is your group’s responsibility to have the correct documentation if you are crossing a border.

Keep It Safe: Make photocopies of your passport’s identification page and/or of your identification cards, and keep the copies separate from the original when you travel. For added security, leave a copy with a friend or relative at home.

Be Mindful: As COVID policies and requirements continue to change, before crossing an international border, be sure to look up the current COVID vaccine or testing requirements for entry and exit.

For more information, contact us .

Are there resources for sending (going) churches?

There are numerous resources for your church to use in the planning and preparation for your trip. Visit our online Resource Box!

Are there scholarships available?

Need-based scholarships are available for SERVE. Download a scholarship form and/or contact us for more information. Deadline for request is April 1, 2024.

What forms of payment are accepted and how do I make them?

All SERVE payments are in USD.

ThereforeGo Ministries accepts check/cheque, money order, Visa, MasterCard, or Discover payments .

Payments can be made three ways:

Online through the registration system
Over the phone by calling ThereforeGo at 616.241.5616 x3038
By mail. Checks/cheques should be made out to ThereforeGo Ministries and mailed to:

ThereforeGo Ministries Attn: SERVE 4695 44th Street SE Suite 130 Kentwood, MI 49512

What about insurance?

ThereforeGo Ministries carries secondary health insurance and liability insurance. All insurance claims must be submitted to the participant’s individual insurance first. ThereforeGo’s insurance will begin where the participant’s insurance ends for any medical expenses incurred while at the site. If a participant does not have insurance coverage, ThereforeGo’s insurance becomes the primary coverage. Participants are not covered while traveling to or from the youth mission experience. Check with your insurance provider to verify your coverage in the state/province/country where you are traveling, and bring a copy of your insurance card along .

What’s the transportation policy?

Registration fees do not include transportation to and from sites (except where noted). Any exception is noted in the site descriptions as “on-site transportation included” (find the site description on one of the locations found here ).

Each group must provide a vehicle(s) and adult driver(s) to transport an equal number of participants during the duration of the mission trip. If your group is unable to provide van transportation, please contact us to discuss options and additional charges.

What’s the cancellation policy?

Please note that while we were blessed to be able to refund all deposits for SERVE 2020, moving forward all deposits will be non-refundable and not transferable to your remaining balance due.

In the case of extreme weather, disaster, or COVID cancellation: TGM has your group’s safety in mind as we host events. If we are unable to host an event due to weather conditions, national disaster, or because current COVID guidelines set by government agencies prohibit TGM from continuing a SERVE experience, deposits cannot be refunded. Refunds of final balance payments will be made only if properties and/or locations refund TGM for these costs. If an event is hosted as scheduled and your group cancels or reduces numbers due to weather conditions or other concerns, all payments are non-refundable.

If a registrant or immediate family member has an emergency prior to or during the summer mission experience, TGM will do what we can to refund a significant portion of the money.

If you request a change of location or substitution of participants within 30 days of the start date, an additional $50 may be charged to cover administrative costs.

Could you send me some references?

Would you like to hear from a youth pastor or volunteer who has either brought their youth group on SERVE or been a part of a SERVE host team? We would love to connect you with a reference! Contact us today to request a reference.

How can I contact you if I have other questions?

You can email us through the form on this page or call us at (616) 241-5616 .

Want to know the latest information about SERVE and ThereforeGo Ministries?

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CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND

Service Trips

Spend this Spring Break making a difference. Every year, CCM offers students the opportunity to participate service trips over Spring Break. Depending on the destination, these trips differ in the type of service work involved, but each involve daily service to those in need, daily prayer and spiritual reflection, and fellowship with a group of awesome people! The participation fee for this trip is only $50, because of the generosity of CC M donors. Sign up here. Jonesville, Va Dates: Sunday, March 10 - Saturday, March 16 Type of Service Work: Construction and moderate manual labor Population Served: Rural Poor Number of Spaces Available: 13

Urgent Opportunities

Volunteers Needed – Check Out these Urgent Opportunities

Do you want to serve where your help is needed most urgently? On this page, our programs post several Urgent Opportunities for prospective volunteers who are ready to get started. Browse through the list of placements to see if any of them speak to you. Check back frequently, as new Urgent Opportunities are posted every week.

Vitae Corps

Vitae Corps volunteers are female college graduates who volunteer by living and working together in community at our maternity homes… Read more »

View Opportunity

Camp Counselor/Memory Maker

Why You’ll Serve You can make a positive impact on children in need in Kentucky! Every summer, Christian Appalachian Project’s… Read more »

Home School Support at Bethlehem Farm

Each member of our Caretaker community has felt called to life and service at Bethlehem Farm. Some join the Bethlehem… Read more »

Become a Caretaker at Bethlehem Farm

Live on a farm, improve housing in WV, and transform lives as a Bethlehem Farm Caretaker! Bethlehem Farm is seeking… Read more »

Lay Missionary

Do you have experience living abroad and possess an affinity for Asian language and culture? Are you actively involved in… Read more »

Live-in House Manager

At In My Shoes, through our Core Values of Hospitality, Faith + Works, Empowerment, Wholeness, and Authenticity, we provide a… Read more »

UCC Summer Communities of Service

Summer Communities of Service United Church of Christ Summer Communities of Service (SCOS) is a program for young adults aged… Read more »

Social Services Mercy Volunteers

Mercy Volunteers promote social change through compassionate service with people experiencing homelessness, migration, and food security, or advocacy for the… Read more »

Amate Fellow

Amate House is searching for young adults ages 21-29 (must be 21 by July 26, 2024) who want to commit… Read more »

Summer Volunteers at the Border

The mission of ARISE Adelante is to promote the personal development and empowerment of the immigrant community, especially women, children and youth… Read more »

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Bound to serve for spring break

In recent years colleges and universities across the country have posted on their website and social media accounts stories about “alternative” spring breaks organized for students as an option to the traditional spring break to relax or for fun-themed trips to get away from classes. The alternative spring break is designed to give students the chance to focus not so much on self, but to look outward, to see and to serve others by offering helping hands to local or distant communities and neighbors in need.

Ideally, as the years pass, the once alternative spring break can and often becomes the norm for students and faculty filling unmet needs for the destination community, while at the same time resulting in a transformative and life changing experience for the students, faculty and staff who make the choice to serve.

Thankfully, The Catholic University of America is a place where students, faculty, and staff immerse themselves in these experiences. These service trips embody the obligation we are called to live from the Gospel, our Church and in our university mission. Serving others is by no means an “alternative” action. To serve others is one of the most uplifting experiences we can have through the act of service and in the receipt of service.

For the last five years, for example, the law school clinic at Catholic University, where I serve on the faculty, has coordinated spring break trips for students to the U.S. southern border to bridge the gap in legal services for the men, women and children seeking refuge from the poverty, violence and political persecution they have suffered from their various home countries in Central America, South America, the Caribbean, as well as other parts of the world. During this year’s spring break in March, one of our faculty staff attorneys took several law students to volunteer with the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project, an immigration project of the American Bar Association.

The law students were trained to provide immigrant detainees with “know your rights” presentations, met with individual asylum seekers to update them about the status of their asylum cases, and hosted a legal clinic to assist border newcomers in completing work permit applications so they can work lawfully in the United States to support their families while navigating the immigration process.

In addition, the team toured the U.S.-Mexico border and saw for themselves the challenges and confusion that recent arrivals to the border face. They also volunteered at a respite center run by Catholic Charities of Rio Grande Valley, where they provided legal information and engaged with families, serving meals and playing with the children, serving as a brief and welcomed distraction from the uncertainty and chaos at the border.

For most of the students, this experience would be their first to apply what they were learning in the classrooms and to be able to see how their newly acquired skills and knowledge could actually help one of our most vulnerable communities of neighbors. In their reflections following the trip, students took time to reflect on their reasons for coming to law school to help others, to appreciate the connection between what they are learning in class and how their studies enable them to be effective advocates for others, and to understand the intersection of the border crisis as it is manifested in the lives of asylum seekers with our nation’s immigration laws and regulations.

A group of students from the law school clinic at Catholic University pose for a photo during a spring break service trip to the southern border of the United States in Texas, where they served immigrants arriving from Mexico. (Photo courtesy of The Catholic University of America)

This spring break of service at the university was not limited to the law school. The university’s Conway School of Nursing and Campus Ministry also sponsored service spring break trips. Nursing and pre-med students participated in service practicums to Costa Rica in rural villages and urban neighborhoods, where the students helped set up temporary clinics in underserved communities to provide medical screenings, health care education and met with a local health care provider to learn about specific health care needs for the children in these communities.

This experience, like that for our law students, was transformative, providing a great opportunity for practical application of their skills and knowledge in real life experiences, developing cultural competency with marginalized and diverse communities, and vividly witnessing the life changing impact of their compassionate service in such communities.

Our Campus Ministry also provided several immersion service trips for students at the University during the March spring break. The students accompanied members of our religious and lay staff to New York City, Los Angeles and Guatemala. During these visits students were able to provide outreach to the homeless communities in these areas, and to participate in food distribution programs and street evangelization with religious orders sharing the Gospel. One participant described the week of prayer and service as one of “countless powerful interactions.”

By combining service with academic and professional development our students can find a special meaning and purpose in their university experience that is often transformative for them, as well as the people they have served.

These alternative spring break experiences of students bring to mind the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:35-40, “ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. ... Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers, you did for me.”

(Veryl Victoria Miles is a professor of law and special assistant to the president at The Catholic University of America.)

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After Living Life of ‘Countless Sins,’ Actress Embraces Catholic Faith After Trip to Italy

On April 3, Solstad shared on her social media some photos of her first Communion at the Easter Vigil on March 30.

Bree Solstad, a young woman who previously produced and acted in the pornography industry, is among the adult converts who entered the Catholic Church this Easter, leaving behind her life of “countless sins” and embracing the Catholic faith.

Solstad told ChurchPop that prior to her conversion, she led a life full of promiscuity and self-obsession, which spiked when a “recruiter” reached out to her.

“I was drinking more heavily and started a blog about my hedonistic behavior. The blog caught the attention of a successful sex worker, who reached out to me and essentially recruited me,” she said. “She showed me how to get set up and introduced me to some important people in the industry who could help me make as much money as possible. I had no moral compass and was all about myself anyway.”

Solstad, who now goes by Miss B Converted on X and presents herself as “a repentant sinner who converted to Christ; former porn actress and producer,” announced on Jan. 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, her decision to “quit sex work. To repent of my countless sins. To give up my life of sin, wealth, vice, and vain self-obsession.”

She shared with her followers that her decision came after a trip to Rome and Assisi in Italy, where touched by the beauty of the art she saw in the churches she visited and the theology it represented, she experienced “what can only be described as a life-altering conversion.”

“This is a humbling experience and one that I know may be mocked or questioned by many. I am giving up all my income and turning my life over to Christ. I am leaving behind my life of rampant sin, vice, pride, debauchery, vanity, and lies to — with God’s grace — live a life of truth, beauty, obedience to God’s divine will, virtue, and humility,” she wrote on X.

Solstad, who had an account on various pornographic content platforms, said that she had been preparing for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) for some time and that she planned to be confirmed and receive her first Communion during the Easter Vigil this Holy Week. She made her first confession on Spy Wednesday.

“Thank you, Jesus,” she prayed on X, “for not giving up on such a wretched sinner. Thank you Blessed Mary, Mother of God, for your immense love and consolation.”

The young convert added that “God’s forgiveness and mercy is real. If someone as broken and sinful as me can be redeemed and converted, there is no doubt anyone reading this can also be saved by his divine mercy.”

The Virgin Mary and St. Clare of Assisi

Solstad was baptized as a Lutheran when she was 8 years old and considered herself at least “nominally Christian,” she explained April 5 to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

However, during college she lived a life of “drunkenness, drugs, and promiscuity.” Experiencing a tragedy in her life, she prayed hard but, she said, “I felt like God had turned his back on me and so I did the same to him,” Solstad commented to ChurchPop.

In 2023 she traveled to Italy, where she always noticed the crucifixes in the churches she visited. However in Sorrento, she said, “I noticed the Virgin Mary on street corners all over the place. All of a sudden, I felt like Mary was calling me in the strangest way. Each time I entered a church, I felt compelled to seek her out.”

At Assisi, she said, “I was impressed by St. Francis, but I was moved to tears by St. Clare. I knelt by her tomb and again asked for assistance. I felt like St. Clare was actually present with me and that she was going to take all the pain and anxiety from me and somehow give it to God,” Solstad told ACI Prensa.

After that experience and returning home, “I quickly realized that I didn’t like what my life was like,” she said. “I hated my job. I felt disgusting and guilty for the work I had been doing for a decade. I couldn’t stop thinking of all the things that I had done and all the lives I negatively affected through pornography. I felt grotesque.”

Solstad soon looked for a priest and spoke with him and his secretary, who told her “God loves you,” words that were like “a waterfall of light” and made her long “to be someone better. I wanted to be clean, I wanted to be happy and a great example of God’s love.”

While in RCIA, she said, she had to overcome some anti-Catholic prejudice she inherited from the Lutheran background, but she diligently researched everything “and I always came to the realization that what the Catholic Church was teaching was true.”

“I have honestly fallen in love with the Catholic Church,” she continued, “There is such richness in the faith. The Holy Trinity, the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Mary the Mother of God, all the inspiring, heroic, and beautiful saints, the sacraments, the history, the tradition, everything! But what has touched me the most is the Eucharist … something so surprising for me with Jesus physically present.”

Entry into Catholic Church, First Communion

“These five seconds will forever be emblazoned in my heart, mind, and soul. This is the best moment of my life,” the young woman wrote.

“My life has changed for the better so much during these past several months, but it pales in comparison to how much this moment of receiving my first Eucharist permanently transformed me,” she recounted.

“I will never be the same again and I thank God for this undeniable fact. I am so in love with you, Jesus. Never allow me to move even one inch from your most Sacred Heart,” she wrote.

Solstad concluded her post with the first part of the Magnificat , the prayer the Virgin Mary exclaimed when she was pregnant with Jesus and met her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist.

“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation,” she wrote, quoting Mary’s response to Elizabeth as recorded in Luke’s Gospel.

Solstad’s sole source of income now is from her religious goods store, which can be found here .

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Campus Ministry — Service and Justice

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We are excited that our Service and Justice Immersion Program is back in full force for they 2022-2023 school year! Back to encountering new people, forming new relationships, learning new things, going new places, and growing together. Look at our Trip Locations page to see all of the communities that we'll be visiting this Spring Break and Summer. Click on the link below to apply.

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Vatican at a Glance

A trip to moscow for pope francis.

Cardinal Parolin’s official schedule for the trip has not been released yet. It seems certain that the Cardinal will meet both President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

A papal trip to Moscow is a longtime dream. It dates back to 1990s, when – after the fall of the Berlin Wall and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbaciov’s visit to the Vatican – Pope St. John Paul II hoped that, with a trip to Moscow, he could finally certify his concept of a Europe breathing with two lungs .

That longtime dream trip was never realized. Joaquin Navarro Valls, then Director of the Holy See Press Office, once said that the trip was “an open door as long as it is not closed.” It has been so until now.

The trip was not impeded by political issues. The Pope had been invited to Moscow several times. The first invitation came from Gorbaciov during his visit to the Vatican on December 1, 1989. Gorbaciov’s successor, Boris Yeltsin, invited the Pope when he first met him on December 20, 1991, and after his second visit in February 1998. However, at the end of this last meeting, a spokesperson from the Kremlin underscored that a papal visit to Moscow could only take place after a “careful preparation” and a settlement in Catholic – Russian Orthodox relations.

The issue behind the scenes was that of the “Uniates”, which, in Russian Orthodox parlance, refers to the Catholics of the Byzantine Rite from western Ukraine, whose church properties had been given to the Orthodox Church after Stalin declared the former outlaws .

This issue still weighs on Catholic-Russian Orthodox relations, especially now that Ukraine is enduring an almost forgotten conflict . The issue burns so much that the Moscow Patriarchate has raised complaints over the Ukrainian situation many times. It even happened during the 2014 Synod of Bishops in Rome , when Metropolitan Hilarion addressed the issue in a speech delivered at the Synod, the main purpose of which was to discuss issues concerning the family.

Pope Francis is well aware of the issue. In an in-flight press conference, he emphasized , “if I were to go to Moscow, I should also go to Ukraine.”

However, the Holy See’s relations with the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate certainly have strengthened.

The first, historical meeting between a Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow took place on February 12, 2016 in Havana, Cuba. At the end of the meeting, the two delivered a joint declaration that the Pope hurried to describe as a “pastoral declaration,” in part, because it conceded a lot to the Moscow Patriarchate in diplomatic terms. For example, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was described as “Uniate”, a term taken from a document from the 1990s , the Balamand declaration. The use of the terms “uniates” created some bitterness in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

Out of that meeting, the very peculiar “diplomacy of the relics” was born : following on Patriarch Kirill’s request, a small piece of St. Nicholas’s relics safely kept in Bari left the Italian city and traveled to Moscow and St. Petersburg, to be venerated by Russian faithful according to a devotion that dates back to the times of the undivided Church.

This “ecumenism of people” that goes beyond the still open theological issues will be one of the issues at the center of the meeting between Cardinal Parolin and Patriarch Kirill.

The Moscow Patriarchate pursues a pragmatic ecumenism, to be carried forward via an alliance between the Churches against secularization and in defense of persecuted Christians, as well as an alliance on life and family issues. However, other theological issues are still controversial. The theme of the next Catholic-Orthodox International mixed commission on theological dialogue generated much discussion , as Moscow does not want to talk about the Church of the first millennium, because at that time the Moscow Patriarchate did not exist. The same Patriarchate suffers by being only the fifth in the sinaxis of the Orthodox Churches, though it is the largest in numbers .

Patriarch Kirill took steps toward the Catholic Church, thereby going against the most extremist part of the Orthodox world. The dialogue with the Holy See goes on, and the meeting with Cardinal Parolin will help to foster it.

Cardinal Parolin and Patriarch Kirill already met in Moscow on February 12, 2016, at the time of Pope Francis’s meeting in Cuba with the Patriarch. After the joint declaration, the wounds of the Greek Catholic Church were salved by Cardinal Parolin’s trip to Ukraine, by the Extraordinary Collection for the Ukraine which the Pope launched on Apr. 24, 2016 , and by the most recent Cardinal Leonardo Sandri’s, the Prefect of the Congregation of Eastern Churches, trip to Ukraine.

Cardinal Parolin met with President Putin twice: on November 25, 2013 and June 10, 2015, during the two visits by the head of the Kremlin to the Vatican. In both cases, the geopolitical situation was at the center of the talks, with a special focus on the Middle East and Ukraine.

Speaking to Il Regno , Parolin recalled that relations with Russia date back centuries. He also recalled that Czar Nicholas I paid a visit to Pope Gregory XVI in 1845, and this led to a concordat signed for the Holy See by Pope Pius IX.

The meeting between Parolin and Kirill will fall on the eve of the eighth anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic ties between the Holy See and the Russian Federation. Full diplomatic ties were announced on December 3, 2009 , after the meeting between the then president Dimitri Medvedev and Pope Benedict XVI.

The turning point in relations between the Holy See and Russia was the meeting between Gorbaciov and John Paul II that took place three weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall. After that meeting, a first agreement was made to re-establish the diplomatic relations that had been interrupted during the Soviet era.

However, as Cardinal Parolin averred, it is since the 14th century that the Rus’ of Moscow and the Holy See entertained relations . In 1472, Pope Paul II blessed the marriage between the Great Prince of Moscow, Ivan III, and the Byzantine princess, Sophia. The ambassadors of Popes Pius V and Gregory XIII regularly visited Moscow, and the Holy See also operated as a mediator in the Livonian War, that took place in 1582-1583 and involved Russia, Poland and Sweden (the mediation was undertaken by the Jesuit, Fr. Antonio Possevino).

Since the 16th century, Russian-Holy See relations were strong and intermittent at the same time. The Holy See and Russia established full diplomatic ties in 1816, though the Russian representatives in the Vatican did not have a Vatican counterpart in St. Petersburg. However, papal envoys were always sent to take part in the coronations of the emperors of Russia.

But following the visit of Czar Nicholas I and the subsequent signing of the concordat, relations came to an halt. As a consequence of the Polish Revolution, the concordat was rescinded, and diplomatic relations resumed only in 1894. The 1917 Russian Revolution changed everything: with no diplomatic relations, only unofficial contacts could take place.

In 1960 the Holy See restored regular contacts with the Soviet Union. In 1967, these contacts were brought to a “stable working level”, and the Soviet Foreign Affairs Minister, Andrei Gromyko, met many times with Popes Paul VI and John Paul II. In February 1971, Archbishop Agostino Casaroli, Secretary of the Council for the Church’s Public Affairs, traveled to Moscow to ratify the Holy See’s commitment to the Treaty for the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

During the 1980s, the era of perestroika led to the exchange of official representatives between the Vatican and Moscow. The Holy See’s first official representative to the USSR, and then to the Russian Federation, was Archbishop Francesco Colasuonno.

After Gorbaciov, President Yeltsin visited the Vatican in 1991 and 1997. President Putin visited the Vatican for the first time on June 5, 2000, and he returned on November 5, 2003. Between the 1990s and 2000s, Holy See-Russian relations fluctuated because of discussions over the Russian law on religious freedom, but also because of strained relations with the Moscow Patriarchate.

Putin visited the Vatican once again on March 13, 2007, and the Holy See Press Office release that followed underscored that both the Holy See and Russia are willing to further bilateral relations. In 2009 the bilateral relations were elevated to the level of full diplomatic relations.

Now that the dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church has reached an historic peak, Cardinal Parolin’s trip to Moscow can be considered an additional step in the dialogue. Besides promoting geopolitical relations – Archbishop Antonio Mennini, one of the most important of the Holy See’s past representatives to Moscow, is now working in the Secretariat of State – the aim is that of advancing the dialogue with the Moscow Patriarchate. Greeting St. Nicholas’s relics, Patriarch Kirill said that his meeting with the Pope “was not a unique chance.”

Everything is seemingly working together to foster the possibility of a papal trip to Moscow. Will this be the first concrete outcome of this new Vatican Ostpolitik?

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Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

#Russian History

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is the main cathedral of the Russian Orthodox church located near the Kremlin on the left bank of the Moskva River. It is the largest cathedral of the Russian Church designed for 10 000 people, built in the tradition of Russian-Byzantine style, and enjoyed the broad support of the state at the start of construction. The structure of a modern complex of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour includes the Upper Church, actually the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, and the Lower Church, Transfiguration Church, built in the memory of the Alexis Convent. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow was built as gratitude to God for help and intercession in the difficult period of Russian history — during the War of 1812. This is a monument to the Russian people for their courage and heroism. The author of the first project was architect Alexander Vitberg. October 12, 1817, there was the solemn laying of the church on the Sparrow Hills. The building was to consist of three parts — the Incarnation, the Transfiguration, and the Resurrection. Soon the ground of the hill began to sink under the weight of the constructing building.

Emperor Nicholas, I found the project by Vitberg unsuccessful and unworkable. In 1832, Konstantin Thon was appointed as the architect. It was decided to begin construction near the Kremlin, on the site of a former Alexis Convent, that was to be destroyed. At that time, one of the nuns of the destroyed convent said that the new church would not stay there for more than 50 years. On September 10, 1839, the church building was laid. In 1860, the cathedral was first brought before the Muscovites. May 26, 1883, the cathedral was consecrated. Since 1918, the cathedral completely lost the support of the state, and on December 5, 1931, it was destroyed by order of Joseph Stalin. The predictions of the nun came true — the cathedral had been staying for 48 years. In 1958-1960 there was constructed a swimming pool in place of the pit formed after the explosion. In the late 1980s, there was created a social movement for the revival of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. On the night of 6 to 7 of January 2000, the shrine was restored. The Divine Liturgy was held here in honor of two thousand years after the birth of Christ. August 19, 2000, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II performed the complete consecration of the shrine in honor of the birth of Christ.

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explore. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is the main cathedral of the Russian Orthodox church located near the Kremlin on the left bank of the Moskva River. It is the largest cathedral of the Russian Church designed for 10 000 people, built in the tradition of Russian-Byzantine style, and enjoyed the broad support of the state at the start ...