Join Father John and your fellow television Mass viewers and WJMJ listeners on this 10 day/8 night pilgrimage to Italy in honor of Pope Francis. Visit Rome and The Vatican, and attend a General Audience with the new Holy Father in St. Peter's Square, subject to the Pope's schedule. Scheduled itinerary also includes visits to Assisi... home of Saint Francis, for whom the Holy Father chose his name; Florence, Siena and San Gimignano. Final cost is $3,578 per person (double occupancy) from JFK, New York. A deposit of $350 per person now, will guarantee you a spot on this pilgrimage, or book and pay in full by June 10, 2013 and receive a $150 per person discount!  Click here for complete details.

Northern Italian Gastronomic Tour - Spring 2014

Details are being finalized for this tour and will be posted soon.

Join Father John Gatzak and your fellow Office of Radio & Television supporters and WJMJ listeners on a 12 day/10 night tour to the beautiful islands of Sicily. and Malta.  In Sicily visit:  Palermo, Erice, the salt pans of Trapani, Agrigento, Taormina with its spectacular view of Mt. Etna, Europe's tallest active volcano, Siracusa, and more.   

Reservations are now being accepted, and your deposit of $100, fully refundable until October 31, 2013, will hold a seat for you.  Estimated cost, dates and further details to come.

Father John Gatzak led 25 Office of Radio & Television supporters and WJMJ listeners on a 10 day/8 night pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi for the canonizations of 7 blesseds, including two heroic American women... Blessed Marianne Cope and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha on Sunday, October 21, 2012. In Assisi they visited the Basilicas of St. Francis and St. Clare,  and explored this mystic medieval town and the surrounding Umbrian hill towns including Spello, Spoleto and Bevagna. 

Father John Gatzak led 23 Office of Radio & Television supporters and WJMJ listeners on a 12 day/10 night tour to the beautiful islands of Sicily and Malta from September 1 - September 12, 2012.  In Sicily the group visited:  Palermo, Erice, the salt pans of Trapani, Agrigento, Taormina with its spectacular view of Mt. Etna, Europe's tallest active volcano, Siracusa, and more.  On Malta... many historic sites some dating to prehistoric times were visited.

Father John Gatzak and your fellow Office of Radio & Television supporters and WJMJ listeners experienced a fantastic 14 day/12 night classic tour of Italy visiting Verona, Venice, Modena, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Assisi, the Eternal City... Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento and The Amalfi Coast. 

A 13 day/11 night classic pilgrimage to Italy with Father John Gatzak that included visits to Verona, Venice, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, San Gimignano, Siena, Assisi, Pompeii, Sorrento, The Amalfi Coast and the Eternal City... Rome. 

A 10 Day/8 Night Pilgrimage to Germany & Austria with Father John Gatzak that included the Oberammergau Passion Play performance on Thursday, July 22, 2010. 

Featuring:  Warsaw, Krakow, Zakopane, Shrine of  Divine Mercy and St. Faustina's tomb in Krakow, Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Auschwitz Memorial and Wieliczka Salt Mines.  10 Days - 8 Nights. 

Pilgrimage to Puglia... the Land of Padre Pio with Father John - October 22 - October 30, 2007

Father John and his fellow pilgrims experienced another wonderful 9 days and 7 nights in Rome and Southeastern Italy.  We visited Rome and the Vatican and participated in Pope Benedicts XVI's weekly audience.  In Puglia, we saw some of Italy’s most unspoiled scenery, most fascinating artistic and historical sites, and finest beaches.  We visited Pietrelcina... the birthplace of Saint “Padre” Pio and San Giovanni Rotondo… the Basilica where we celebrated Mass, the tomb of Saint Pio and the new Pilgrimage Church of Saint Pio.  In Monte Sant’Angelo we visited the grotto and Shrine of Saint Michael the Archangel.  We explored the Castel del Monte, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We visited Trani, Polignano a Mare and Locorotondo.  We explored the cone shaped Trulli of Alberobello.  And experienced agritourism up close, including visits to a winery and an olive oil factory, and culminating with an Italian cooking lesson.

Classic Italy in the Fall with Father John - September 24 to October 7, 2006

Father John Gatzak led another group of pilgrims on this 14 day, 12 night classic tour of Italy.  We were blessed by beautiful weather as we visited Venice for 3 days including the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello,  Next we stopped in Modena for an education in traditional Balsamic Vinegar then onto Florence and Michelangelo's David.  From Florence we visited a vineyard and winery in the Chianti region; Siena - home of Saint Catherine - where we had a special visit with one of the local Contrada.  Next up was beautiful Assisi and visits to the Basilicas of Saint Frances and Saint Clare, Patron Saint of the television Mass. From Assisi we toured to Sorrento and drove the breath taking and winding Amalfi drive to Amalfi.  Then it was on to Rome, but first we stopped in Pompeii and visited this Roman city buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.  In Rome, we attended a papal audience with our Holy Father Benedict XVI, and the diaconate ordination of American seminarians attending the Pontifical North American College at Saint Peter's Basilica, including Michael Carlson of Prospect, CT, a seminarian from the Archdiocese of Hartford.

This Lenten Pilgrimage to Rome and Lourdes with Father John Gatzak, Executive Director of the Office of Radio & Television of the Archdiocese of Hartford, began with 4 days in Rome where we participated in the events commemorating the 1st anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II, including a candlelit recitation of the Rosary and the Memorial Mass in honor of John Paul II presided by Pope Benedict XVI.  Our stay in Rome concluded with a Papal audience.  Next we visited Pisa and its famous Leaning Tower, and yes everyone tried to hold it up... then on to Avignon, France and the Palace of the Popes.  Our Lenten pilgrimage concluded in Lourdes... the sanctuary and grotto, where the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Bernadette. It was truly a very moving and spiritual experience for all as we prayed at the grotto, participated in the Palm Sunday liturgies and culminated with a candlelit Marian procession.

Fr. John Gatzak, Executive Director of the Office of Radio & Television, Archdiocese of Hartford conducted another unforgettable pilgrimage, this time, in celebration of his 30th anniversary of priestly ordination on June 29, 2005.  This pilgrimage began with 8 days exploring the ancient ruins on the beautiful Island of Sicily visiting Taormina, an optional trek to Mt. Etna no eruptions this trip, Siracusa including a boat ride around the harbor... the very waters that St. Paul sailed, Solarino... where Father John celebrated Mass with his cousins, the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Erice, Saline, Monreale and Palermo.  We concluded the pilgrimage with 3 days in the Eternal City, Rome, the highlights being the Papal Mass and Imposition of the Pallium with our new Holy Father, Benedict XVI in the Basilica of St. Peter; visiting and praying at the tomb of Pope John Paul II and celebrating Father John's Anniversary Mass in the Basilica at the Catacombs of Priscilla.

Father John planned this pilgrimage to celebrate the Archdiocese of Hartford's new Archbishop, Henry J. Mansell, on the occasion of his receiving the pallium from our Holy Father John Paul II on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, 2004.  This pilgrimage began with 2 days in Assisi where we enjoyed the local Festa delle Campanelle, then we spent 4 days in Rome, the highlight being the Pallium Ceremony and a General Audience with the Holy Father.  From Rome we journeyed south for 5 glorious, sun-filled days in and around Sorrento, including visits to Naples, Amalfi, an optional excursion to Capri, Ravello, Paestum and a Buffalo Mozzarella farm factory.

This pilgrimage was in celebration of the Office of Radio & Television's Golden Jubilee with an added bonus.  It included Lake Como, Florence, Assisi, Rome for the Beatification of Mother Teresa (now Blessed Teresa of Calcutta) by our Holy Father John Paul II on October 19, 2003, and San Giovanni Rotondo to visit the Basilica and birthplace of Saint "Padre" Pio of Pietrelcina.

This pilgrimage included the beautiful island of Sicily with visits to Palermo, Agrigento, Siracusa, and Taormina with its view of the erupting Mt. Etna, and Rome and an audience with our Holy Father John Paul II.

This pilgrimage was almost another casualty of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.  However, from an initial group size of 35, Father John led 20 brave and hearty pilgrims, including a first-time flyer, to Italy where they prayed and remembered the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the Eternal City of Rome, Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii, Assisi, Venice and Milan.

Bella Italia 2011 - September 5-18, 2011