Annual Study Visit of the Bossey Ecumenical Institute to Rome and the Vatican

From 19 to 26 January 2026, a group of 34 students, faculty members, and staff of the Bossey Ecumenical Institute took part in their annual study visit to Rome and the Vatican. The participants represented more than twenty Christian traditions, including Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and a wide range of historic and emerging Protestant communities, and came from diverse cultural and geographical contexts across the world.

The programme offered an in-depth introduction to the life and mission of the Catholic Church. It included visits to several offices of the Roman Curia, encounters with representatives of religious orders, meetings with Catholic lay movements, and visits to theological faculties. The group also participated in guided tours of Rome’s most significant Christian historical sites, enriching their understanding of the city’s central place in the history of Christianity.

A particularly meaningful moment of the visit was participation in the Pope’s General Audience on Wednesday, during which the group had the opportunity to greet the Holy Father. On Sunday, 25 January, the students attended Vespers presided over by Pope Leo XIV at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, on the occasion of the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

During their stay in Rome, the group also visited the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, where they met with the Prefect, Cardinal Kurt Koch, together with members of the Dicastery’s staff. The encounter provided an opportunity to reflect on the ecumenical commitment of the Holy See and on current dialogues and initiatives aimed at fostering Christian unity.

This annual study visit, organised and supported by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, offers Bossey students a unique occasion to deepen their knowledge of the Catholic Church and to engage directly with its ecumenical mission.

Founded in 1946, the Bossey Ecumenical Institute is an academic centre of the World Council of Churches and serves as an international place of encounter, dialogue, and formation. Each year, it brings together students from different Christian traditions for study, shared life, and ecumenical learning.