Sacred Heart Pilgrimage

Sacred Heart Pilgrimage in France

Women are central to the University of San Diego. The first students studied liberal arts at the San Diego College for Women, which aimed to express “beauty, goodness, and truth,” in accordance with the educational vision of founder Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill, R.S.C.J. Her community of women religious in the Catholic Church - educators, scholars, advocates for justice, peace, and the integrity of creation - can inform and inspire our own sense of vocation.

Participants will learn about and explore the history and traditions of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, founded in the wake of the French Revolution in 1800. Today, RSCJ works around the world in 44 countries with their mission to “discover and reveal the love of God through the service of education.”

In Paris, we will consider the context of the French Revolution and the early RSCJ work. Participants will visit the Centre Sophie Barat in Joigny, and experience a contemplative retreat at her birthplace and family home. We will travel to Grenoble, where St. Rose Philippine Duchesne was born and entered religious life.

While in Paris, consider the medieval origins of the Western university - synonymous the Catholic University, and the extent to which our work is dialogue with these traditions and trajectories.