Ignatian Pilgrimage

An annual summertime pilgrimage for faculty at Jesuit schools nationwide to visit important sites representative of the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. The itinerary begins in Bilbao, Spain, and ends in Rome, Italy. More information about the program run through Holy Cross.

Loyola typically sponsors two faculty each year, covering all arrangements for a ten-day pilgrimage in early summer. If you are thinking of applying to participate, consider having a conversation with one of your colleagues who has gone in the past (see list below). Each participating colleague comes away with distinct experiences and reflections on their own place in the Jesuit tradition, though all find the program universally rewarding.

2025 Ignatian Pilgrimage, May 26 - June 5, 2025

Application period closed for 2025.

Past Ignatian Pilgrimage Participants

Name	Department
Jeff Barnett	Psychology/Loyola College Dean's Office
Brian Barr	Chemistry
Frederick Bauerschmidt	Theology
David Belz	Writing
Natka Bianchini	Fine Arts
Carolyn McNamara Barry	Psychology
Rev. Charles Borges, S.J.	History
John Breihan	History
Mary Jo Coiro	Psychology
Angela Christman	Theology
Tuugi Chuluun	Finance
Russell Cook	Communication
Francis Cunningham	Philosophy
Dipa Sarkar-Dey	Mathematics
Bill Donovan	History
Susan Donovan	Executive Vice President's Office
Christy DeVader	Management and International Business
Juniper Ellis	English
Mickey Fenzel	Pastoral Counseling
Andrew Futterman	Psychology (Holy Cross)
Jesse Fox	Pastoral Counseling
Billy Friebele	Visual and Performing Arts
Cinthia Gannett	Writing
Marie Heath	Education Specialties
Raymond Jones	Management and International Business
Suzanne Keilson	Dean's Office / Engineering
Marie Kerins	Academic Affairs / Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences
Heather Lyons	Psychology
George Miller	Campus Ministry
Cheryl Moore-Thomas	Teacher Education
Christopher Murphy	Staff Council
Theresa Nguyen	Chemistry and Biochemistry
Peggy O'Neill	Writing
Rodney Parker	Student Development / ALANA Services
Donna Pitts	Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences
Robert Pomplun	Theology
Thomas Rodgerson	Pastoral Counseling
Camika Royal	Teacher Education
Catherine Savell	Modern Languages and Literatures
Diana Schaub	Political Science
Astrid Schmidt-King	Management and Organizations
Charles Scott	Economics
Robert Simmons	Teacher Education
Wendy Smith	Teacher Education
Jill Snodgrass	Pastoral Counseling
Amanda Thomas	Academic Affairs / Psychology
Karsonya Wise Whitehead	Communication
Amy Wolfson	Psychology (Holy Cross)
Gloria Phillips-Wren	Information Systems and Operations Management

Thoughts from past participants

"Attending the Ignatian Pilgrimage trip to Spain and Italy was a career highlight for me as a faculty member at Loyola.  I learned so much about the life of St. Ignatius and found the experience of visiting the places where he was born, where he preached, studied, lived as an adult, and even died, very moving.  I now feel a profound understanding of the core values and mission of Ignatian education—things I had previously understood on only a cursory level.  This trip will enrich my teaching and service to the University for years to come and I am profoundly grateful for the institutional support offered to any faculty, regardless of background, to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime experience."

--Natka Bianchini, Fine Arts, 2018 Ignatian Pilgrimage. See her full reflection and other highlights from the 2018 experience.

"The pilgrimage has allowed me to gain greater clarity in my own moments of consolation and desolation to date, which in turn have re-energized me not only for the coming year, but in setting meaningful professional and personal goals for the many years to come. I am so very grateful to have been given this significant opportunity for incorporating Ignatian spirituality further into my own life both professionally and personally."

-- Carolyn McNamara Barry, Psychology, 2015 Ignatian Pilgrimage. See her full reflection and other highlights from the 2015 experience.

"The 2014 Ignatian Pilgrimage was a wonderful opportunity to enhance my understanding of the Jesuit mission by following in the footsteps of St. Ignatius Loyola. The camaraderie with my fellow 'pilgrims' and the awe-inspiring natural beauty of Spain made an already deeply spiritual experience even more profound."

"Having been involved in Jesuit education as a student for eight years and a faculty member for twenty-five, I found the Ignatian Pilgrimage to be a deeply rewarding capstone experience."

    -- Mary Jo Coiro, Psychology, 2014 Ignatian Pilgrimage

“I am deeply appreciative of having the opportunity to go on the Ignatian Pilgrimage.  It was a growth experience for me in many ways.  Being in Spain and Rome I came away with a deeper sense of the origins and spirituality of Catholicism, but also the art, architecture, natural beauty and environment, difficult current issues layered on top of long history, you could feel it all.”

 -- Suzanne Keilson, Engineering, 2013 Ignatian Pilgrimage

View Dr. Keilson's slide show!

"Having been involved in Jesuit education as a student for eight years and a faculty member for twenty-five, I found the Ignatian Pilgrimage to be a deeply rewarding capstone experience."

-- Anthony Villa, Fine Arts, 2009 Ignatian Pilgrimage

Writings from past participants

"Highlights from a Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience" (2018)

by Natka Bianchini, Fine Arts, 2018 Ignatian Pilgrimage

"Reflections on the Ignatian Pilgrimage Experience" (2015)

by Carolyn McNamara Barry, Psychology, 2015 Ignatian Pilgrimage

"I Stood in the Founder's Cave," Conversations 41.1 (2011)

by Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Communication, 2011 Ignatian Pilgrimage

"Report on Ignatian Pilgrimage"

by Frank Cunningham, Philosophy, 2006 Ignatian Pilgrimage