By Fr. Hugh Davoren
– Hassop/ Bakewell
Early in 2017 I had the good fortune to do a sabbatical. It was almost 20 years since I had had that opportunity previously and I would recommend that everybody does a sabbatical. Unfortunately not everybody gets the opportunity to have one although it is now more common than it used to be especially in dioceses, religious communities and professional life.
The three month sabbatical was based in the North American College Rome which is on the Janiculum Hill only a few minutes from St Peter’s Basilica. This college is home to about 250 seminarians from many different US dioceses.
Our group on sabbatical was only 34 and we were all priests coming from pastoral ministry including a few military chaplains and, fortunately for us, we were housed in our own wing of the college.
The majority was American but we also had Australians & Canadians, Irishmen & Englishmen, Mexican & Argentinian and Nigerian. We were back to the community life of a seminary with all the little (and sometimes not so little!) stresses and strains of community life … but in general it was very nice and I am very happy that I had this time of renewal and refreshment.
Well what did we do all day long? We had a structured day with prayer in common along with daily Eucharist. There were updating lectures in Scripture, liturgy, canon law and ethics etc. along with opportunities to reflect on our own faith journey in the Church of today, the ups and the downs.
One lecturer who stands out was a Jesuit priest who is one of the world’s experts on St Paul. He must have worked very hard to get that distinction, I’m sure! He gave us two guided tours around Rome and one tour included a visit to Rome’s main Synagogue which has been visited by the Popes in recent years. We followed in the footsteps of many Jews who were arrested and deported to the camps.
Their memory is preserved by little plaques embedded in the pavement which name the person and the date he or she was arrested. As always, I am deeply moved by such tragic reminders of our World War II history. We also visited the little church where St Paul is thought to have written his letter to Philemon.
Also worthy of mention is the visit we had touring the Scavi of St Peter’s. It was absolutely fascinating and something I had never done before. The Scavi or Necropolis are quite recent excavations. Tradition suggests that St Peter was buried here on the Vatican Hill and I found the whole very deep underground history of ancient Rome simply fascinating.
The Scavi are open to the public but times and visits are restricted so good planning and early contact with the Vatican archaeological department would be advisable. Two visits to the Vatican Museum were also part of our programme – again wonderful.
Of particular interest to myself were two visits I made outside “normal” routine. I was able to visit the village Sotto il Monte which is the birthplace of Pope John XXIII for whom I have always had a great admiration.
The house in which he was born is still there and very well preserved. It is a lovely place and I would be very happy to go back there one day. The second visit was to San Giovanni Rotondo . It was in this little town (now not so little!) that the Franciscan friar Padre Pio ministered to hundreds of thousands of pilgrims over the years he served as a confessor and spiritual guide.
I happened to be present on a Sunday morning and there were about 1,000 gathered in the church for the 10.00am Eucharist and the gospel text at this Eucharist was “Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect …”
Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed my sabbatical and I only wish I could arrange for the readers of Good News to do one as well. Alas, most will have to be satisfied with my modest efforts to relive it all again.
Pax et Bonum – Peace and Goodness to you all.
