As they begin the academic year, five Fordham students carry with them fresh memories of a transcendent spiritual experience—the World Youth Day celebrations in Rome, led by Pope Leo XIV for the first time since assuming the papacy in May.
The students created a website to share their experiences and reflections from the trip, organized by Campus Ministry. The visit coincided with the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Youth event, part of its yearlong Jubilee celebrations held every 25 years.
From July 28 to Aug. 4, the students visited holy sites in Rome including the Chiesa del Gesù, the mother church of the Society of Jesus, the religious order whose principles guide the mission of Fordham. The trip culminated with an eight-mile pilgrimage on foot to the Roman suburb of Tor Vergata, where the students camped out overnight and communed with other visitors from around the world—and where Pope Leo celebrated Mass the following morning, Sunday, Aug. 3, before a congregation numbering a million plus.
“The fact that all of us young people came together to pray with each other and our spiritual father,” senior Aidan Nanquil wrote on the site, “it sprouts hope in the vitality of our youth to go out and set the world on fire.”
See the Instagram posting about the trip.
