Nurturing the Local Presbyterate: Clergy Retreats and Seminars
Illume collaborates with diocesan leaders to develop and host clergy retreats, study tours, seminars and convocations in settings conducive to reflection, learning, leisure and building community - such as Rome, Israel, Turkey, Greece, Spain, France and other destinations around the world. These events nurture priestly life and ministry, help them better connect to one another and diocesan leadership, foster learning in settings that are enriching and inspiring, and provide opportunities to recharge and generate new energy and creativity for pastoral work. Learn More about Year of the Priesthood Program.
Resources for Effective Ministry
The local presbyterate provides invaluable leadership in the diocese. As responsibilities increase, priests need well-designed opportunities for learning, growth, community and recreation. It is one thing to offer seminars focused on immediate crises; it is another to offer opportunities to explore new insights into church history, interfaith relations, religious art, and other areas of scholarship in settings that are enriching and inspiring.
Building Community
One of the hallmarks of the Catholic priesthood has been its vibrant fraternity. Opportunities for community and socializing have become fewer and increase the risk that priests feel isolated. Creating opportunities for community and recreation in inspiring settings builds bonds of understanding and support that carry over into ministry and leadership.
Fostering Creativity
Like all professionals, clergy need to get out of their familiar environment in order to gain new perspective on their work. As they experience new lands, peoples, culture, art, and history, their imagination and creativity are awakened, creating renewed excitement for work and ministry. These kinds of experiences translate into new energy and programs at the parochial level, enliving the local church.
Venues
Illume designs unique seminars and retreats in venues conducive to learning, spiritual growth and renewal. These include Rome and Italy - particularly programs focusing on early Christian Rome and on the historical development of Christian art, architecture and liturgical space. The Holy Land is an ideal venue for continuing education seminars and retreats, visiting places where important historical events and visionary men and women of faith inspire change and transformation in participants. Other venues include Turkey and Greece (tracing the journeys of Paul, visiting cities addressed in the Book of Revelation or the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch), Spain (exploring the history of Christianity and the interaction of Islam, Judaism and Christianity in places such as Toledo, Granada, Cordoba and Sevilla), France (visiting places associated with visionary leaders such as Vincent de Paul, Louise De Marillac, and John Vianney), and Ireland, Scotland and England (exploring the heritage of Celtic Christianity).