At the encouragement of his Franciscan community, Associate Chaplain for Catholic Life Father Peter Tremblay began to consider pursuing an advanced degree.

“They said I loved learning, reading, and constantly expanding my mind,” Tremblay said.

His fellow friars recognized preaching as one of Tremblay’s gifts and talents, which led him to the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching (DMin) program at the Aquinas Institute of Theology located in Saint Louis, Missouri.  The program’s integrative principles would allow him to hone his skill in preaching to the students at ������Ƶ as well as teaching homiletics to seminarians and other priests.

The process was not easy for Tremblay. In addition to still serving the students and university community at ������Ƶ full-time, he had to reframe his mindset to take on a full academic workload.

“I had planned to do three hours of reading, writing or studying each evening. I spent almost all of my free time working towards this degree,” he said. On weekends or days off, he would spend even more time studying.

In addition to the normal academic semesters, he took two summers to research and prepare for his thesis.

When it became time to choose a topic for his thesis, Tremblay decided to research Catholic Social Teaching. Throughout his years at ������Ƶ, he has mentored many students through conversations about meaning, purpose and human dignity. This has affected his overall approach to ministry and leadership and led him to deepen his knowledge of Catholic Social Teaching.

His thesis project was the creation of a conversational podcast with Gen Z students. He asked current ������Ƶ students Amelia Totaro ’27 and Nick Brillo ’28 to participate as partners on the podcast, allowing them to share their own thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics, including a preferential option for the poor and care of creation. Titled Peace and Good, Tremblay’s hope for listeners of the podcast was to engage and be informed on how their personal decisions can affect the common good.

“I’m most proud of the dozens of hours that my students volunteered in helping me create the podcast. They did a lot of work and that means so much. Even my thesis advisors were amazed to read about how many hours my students put in to help me accomplish the podcast,” Tremblay shared.

After Tremblay’s successful defense of his thesis and graduation, he is more confident than ever in his preaching and ministerial abilities, whereas he felt previously that he relied just on experience and intuition. After overcoming all of his hurdles, Tremblay shared his best advice for anyone facing a new challenge: “Take things one day at a time. Do at least something every day towards your goal. Great achievement is built on consistency and not talent. Be sure that you know why you are doing this, but be open to your reason changing.”

The pilgrimage was organized by ������Ƶ’s Catholic Life in partnership with Vocatio Travel and was led by Father Peter Tremblay, associate chaplain for Catholic Life, and Kiara Cronin, student ministry coordinator for Catholic Life. The journey took the participants to and from Rome and then to Franciscan sites in the towns of La Verna, Assisi, Gubbio and Greccio.

The group first started in Rome, which included a visit to Vatican City. There, they received the opportunity to attend Pope Leo XIV’s papal audience, generally given on Wednesdays when the pope is in Rome. The audience included pilgrims and visitors from around the world.  Angela DeFlorio ‘28 shared her experience seeing Pope Leo,

“It was a once in a lifetime experience! I loved getting to watch him bless all the babies there, and the atmosphere was amazing. I found it really interesting that he did his best to address everyone in their native language, and it made his address feel very welcoming and personal,” said Angela DeFloria ’28.

After the audience, the group also toured St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. The group then traveled north to visit the medieval city of Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis. One of the most well-known and beloved Catholic figures, he is often referred to as the “poor little man” and is the patron saint of animals, ecology and the environment. St. Francis died in 1226, making this jubilee year the 800th anniversary of his death.

Among the sites that the group visited were the Basilica of St. Francis, the Basilica of St. Clare, the nearby town of Gubbio where St. Francis tamed a wolf, and the nearby town of Greccio where St. Francis set up the very first nativity scene. In the crypt of the Basilica of St. Francis rests the saint’s tomb, and there the group attended a private Mass celebrated by Tremblay.

“I could feel the presence of God there as well as the spirit of St. Francis,” said Tremblay of visiting the tomb of St. Francis.

Many within the group appreciated the opportunity to learn about St. Francis more deeply.

“Being on the journey with Fr. Peter really added to this learning as he shared his knowledge of St. Francis’s life, order, and spirituality,” said Ben Carraher ’28 “Hearing from friars and priests that dedicated their lives to God through the Franciscan way of life was the absolute best way to visit and learn about Francis and the Franciscan movement.”

“I learned so much about St. Francis and feel a deeper connection with him, embracing lessons of simplicity and humility that I want to carry throughout my life,” said Anahy Felipe de Cruz ’26

The pilgrimage brought the group back to Rome for their last few days. They visited the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, where Tremblay explained that there were 500,000 graves of the early Christians, and the many people buried here are considered martyrs by the Catholic church.

“These people willingly died for their faith. The thought of all these graves opening and a huge crowd of people walking out of the catacombs, at the second coming of Christ, to greet Jesus was very emotional to me,” Tremblay shared, referring to the Christian belief that Jesus will return physically to Earth at the end of time.  He celebrated another private Mass with the pilgrimage group inside the catacombs.

Beyond their experience meeting the pope, visiting St. Francis’s birthplace and tomb, and touring the catacombs, the group also spent their last day learning to make pasta.

“I really liked the pasta-making class, and I actually learned a few tips and tricks from Chef Alberto that I took home and used to make my own pasta! I, of course, really loved the gelato, and I had a ton of fun trying some new dishes I never would have gotten to try otherwise,” DeFlorio said.

The group hopes to take their experience and knowledge back onto ������Ƶ’s campus and share with others.