“It is no longer I who live” (Gal 2:20): Spiritual Retreats for Priests of the Roman Curia Begin

Vatican City, October 9, 2026 – The annual journey of Spiritual Retreats for Priests serving in the Roman Curia, promoted by the Secretariat of State and the Dicastery for the Clergy, will begin on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. The meetings, hosted in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, will be led by Msgr. Marco Frisina, of the Roman clergy, biblical scholar, composer, Director of the Choir of the Diocese of Rome, and Consultor to the Dicastery for the Clergy.

“It is no longer I who live” (Gal 2:20) is the Pauline reference text inspiring the themes of the journey, which is specifically aimed at Priests serving in the Roman Curia and offers five stages to rediscover priestly identity with enthusiasm. It is not intended to outline new ministerial tasks or suggest new pastoral strategies, but rather to offer a time for listening, prayer, and recollection in which to recover the joy and wonder of the grace received at Ordination: being progressively configured to Christ, the sole and eternal Priest.

These themes belong to the life of every priest and carry particular significance for those who collaborate in the mission of the Holy Father through their ministry in the Dicasteries and Bodies of the Roman Curia.

A service often hidden, made up of study, discernment, listening, and daily labor, whose ecclesial fruitfulness is not measured solely by visible results, but is nourished through union with Christ and the charity with which it is lived. Even amid documents, administrative procedures, and institutional responsibilities, the priest is called to safeguard the heart of his ministry: the self-giving gift of self to God and to his brothers and sisters. Service to the universal Church thus becomes a concrete setting in which to live one's vocation, supporting the Successor of Peter in his mission while remaining mindful of the individuals and communities toward whom the work of the Curia is directed.

The five meetings describe a single movement of grace: the vocation is received from the Father; the person is formed by the Son; the Holy Spirit accomplishes interior configuration to Christ; the Eucharist gives shape to the ministry; pastoral charity opens onto communion and mission. An itinerary inviting the various dimensions of priestly life back to their source, so that daily prayer and service may mutually illuminate and sustain each other.

The meetings will take place on Wednesday afternoons, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., according to the following schedule:

• October 14, 2026

• December 2, 2026

• January 13, 2027

• April 21, 2027

• May 19, 2027

Alongside the meditations, the retreats will include Eucharistic Adoration, the Celebration of Vespers, and the concluding Eucharistic Blessing. A confessor will also be available.

Intended primarily for priests serving in the Roman Curia, the retreats may also welcome other collaborators of the Dicasteries, subject to seat availability. The journey will offer an occasion for fraternity and spiritual renewal, united in the common desire to let Christ live and work in the service of each person, making even the most quiet work an expression of His love for the Church.