Pope starts weeklong retreat Admin Tuesday, March 11, 2014 Francis and the heads of Vatican offices traveled to Ariccia, in the hills south of Rome, where the Society of St. Paul is providing them with a retreat house for Lenten spiritual exercises through Friday. © 2023 The Catholic Thing. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, write to: [email protected] The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.