Rome: A Pilgrimage with Mary

Rome: A Pilgrimage with Mary is a lavishly illustrated coffee table book by Fr. Joseph Roesch, MIC.

Exquisitely captured in sumptuous photography, this book takes the reader on a pictorial "pilgrimage" led with Fr. Joe's observations and commentary through the major churches of Rome dedicated to Our Blessed Mother. Join him as he shares his love of Mary and of Rome, the city that has been his home for over a decade.

The Very Rev. Fr. Joseph Roesch, MIC, is the vicar general of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a fraternal community of consecrated life in the Roman Catholic Church. Founded in Poland in 1670 by St. Stanislaus Papczynski, the Marian Congregation today has nearly 500 priests and brothers who labor in 20 countries.

Father Joe grew up on Staten Island, New York, where his family often prayed the Rosary together. He has a BA in English, drama, and fine arts. Before becoming a priest, he worked as an actor. Then the prayers of his parents and a small book on the little children of Fatima and the sacrifices they made brought him back to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to a deeper practice of the faith. During a pilgrimage to Fatima, he first met the Marians and was led to surrender his heart to Jesus and Mary there.

With a B.A. in French at St. Mary's College of Notre Dame, Indiana and a Diplome from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, Joan Lewis taught French for 5 years in the U.S. She moved to Rome and began an extensive journalism career, specializing in the Vatican. She was invited in 1990 to work for the newly-created Vatican Information Service in the Holy See Press Office as the English language writer and editor.

While working for the Holy See, Joan was named a member of Holy See delegations to United Nations conferences: Cairo Population Conference, September 1994; Copenhagen Social Summit, March 1995; Beijing Conference on Women, September 1995; Istanbul Habitat Conference on Human Settlements, June 1996. SheI also attended two conferences in Doha, Qatar: May 2004, Christian Muslim Dialogue and November 2004: the Doha International Conference on the Family.