Formed here. Sent everywhere.

Oana Maria Gotia is Romanian and Byzantine-Catholic. She first studied theology and English at her hometown university in Romania before learning about a scholarship competition to study at the ITI - which appealed to her because it combined both academic interests and focused on marriage and family studies.

She describes three qualities that make ITI distinctive: the quality of the instruction in theology and philosophy, rooted in faithfulness to the Magisterium, taught by professors whose own family lives modeled what they taught; the strong spiritual and liturgical life, expressed in both rites, which infuses the studies with depth and vitality; and the lasting friendships forged through international community life.

The ITI years prepared her for her STL and STD at the John Paul II Institute in Rome, where she went on to teach applied moral theology for ten years. She particularly treasured the clarity and integrity of the truth presented about sexuality and love, and says the intensive prayer life at ITI sustained her through nearly twenty years of demanding rhythms in Rome.

Today she teaches Theology of the Body as a visiting professor in Lyon and at ITI, and applied moral theology at the Seminary of Ars. Her conclusion: the ITI "should always treasure these aspects and never lose its precious identity."

After completing his doctorate at ITI in 2009, Fr. Tomas Labanic accepted a vicar position in Slovakia, believing parish ministry would be his lifelong calling. But years earlier he had experienced a conviction that something significant awaited him in icon writing.

During his ITI years, Fr. Juraj Terek had invited him to help create a Byzantine chapel in Gaming, which led to teaching icon workshops at the Institute. Back in Slovakia, he assumed those days were over - until Msgr. Larry Hogan, then ITI president, invited him back for an iconography workshop. Its success sparked regular engagements, then invitations from Franciscan University visitors, then teaching in the United States.

For him, iconography instruction transcends technique: "you don't really teach, instead you guide people towards God." Participants experience contemplative silence in God's presence through the sacred art.

When his bishop assigned him to Kojsov, a rural village with a historic iconostasis in need of restoration, the community raised 47,000 euros; the restored iconostasis was blessed in 2018, during the village's 650th anniversary. His conclusion: "you should be careful what you pray for. God is an attentive listener, and He gives in abundance to the one who asks sincerely."

Kyle Mills and his wife Amberly arrived in Austria in August 2005 to begin graduate studies. He describes the ITI experience as transformative and names two blessings above all.

First, the authentic Catholic community: "the anchor of it all was a shared communion with Jesus himself in the Holy Eucharist." As a recently received Catholic, this daily witness deepened his young faith. Second, the rigorous theological education: through the seminar method and primary sources he gained real confidence in understanding both Catholic doctrine and contemporary philosophy.

Today Kyle leads Annunciation Heights and its sister property Camp St. Malo - visited by Pope John Paul II in 1993 - in the Colorado Rockies. The camps aim to "reconnect parents to their children and children to their parents" and to make room for spiritual encounter: mountains plus faith-focused community, mirroring his Austrian years.

He credits his ITI formation with shaping this vocation and mission directly.

Jutta Graf studied at ITI in its early years, from 1998 to 2003. Though drawn to further theological studies, she felt called to work with children and youth. She returned to Linz, earned a teaching degree in theology and mathematics, and led a local pro-life group.

After years of teaching, dissertation research on St. John Henry Newman, and family life, she remained concerned about young people growing up without faith formation. Then she discovered Charlotte Mason's pedagogy - and recognized ITI in it: "deeply rooted in the Christian faith" and built on "reading original texts" that inspire minds and hearts.

With other families she founded Privatschule Die Lerche in 2018 with 23 students; within two years it grew to 50. The school, affiliated with Ambleside Schools International, feeds children on "the best thoughts of the best minds."

Graf attributes the school's success to God's providence, supportive families - and the formation she received at ITI.

Michel Therrien completed his STL at ITI in 2003 - attending with his family, including two young children; his third child was born in Scheibbs during his studies. A doctorate in Fundamental Moral Theology from Fribourg followed in 2007.

He taught at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania from 2005 to 2012, serving as Academic Dean from 2008, then at the Augustine Institute in Denver. Back in Pittsburgh he worked as Secretary for Evangelization and Catholic Education before being appointed in 2016 to build the Institute for Pastoral Leadership.

The Institute, launched in 2017, certifies lay ecclesial ministers across four areas of formation: intellectual, human, spiritual, and pastoral.

"The ITI taught me how to practice theology with the mind of the Church," he says - the seminar method, primary sources, one-on-one tutorials, and seminars on Thomistic thought, the Trinity, and classical languages built the intellectual habits that have carried his whole career.

Todd Aglialoro oversees all print, online, and audio publishing of Catholic Answers, the preeminent apologetics apostolate in the English-speaking world - including Catholic Answers Press and Catholic Answers Magazine, in print since 1987.

The apostolate carries on the Anglo apologetics tradition begun in 19th-century England: defending Catholic "distinctives" against Protestant attacks - and increasingly against secularism, indifferentism, moral relativism, and cultural attacks on chastity and human life.

It might seem that ITI - focused on marriage and family and devoted to placid contemplation of sacred truths - would not prepare one for the polemical world of apologetics. Todd disagrees: ITI's focus on original sources translates directly, because Scripture and the Fathers provide the most important data for reasoning with non-Catholic Christians; and the rigor of the seminar method is training in clear thinking and communication - "and yes, occasional disputation!"

His ITI formation also bore fruit in print: a booklet on marriage used in parish marriage preparation, and the scholarly volume Inseparable, edited in defense of Humanae Vitae for its 50th anniversary in 2018.

In 2011, while still ITI students, John Joy and Louis Bolin founded the Albertus Magnus Center for Scholastic Studies. Fellow alumni carried the work forward: Christopher Owens (STM 2015), Daniel Lendman (STL 2016), and Alan Fimister (STL 2014), who later became an ITI professor.

The center is dedicated to studying sacred theology according to the mind and method of the great scholastics - above all, studying St. Thomas Aquinas the way St. Thomas himself would have studied. Hence its dedication to his teacher, St. Albert the Great.

Its summer theology programs emulate the three tasks of the medieval master of Sacred Scripture: to read (legere), to dispute (disputare), and to preach (praedicare). Since 2011 the center has read St. Thomas's commentaries on St. Paul and other theological works.

The programs have traditionally been held in Norcia, Italy, in cooperation with the Benedictine monks; in 2019 the program came to the USA for the first time, in Wausau, Wisconsin. An ITI seminar that never ended.

Fr. Niccolo Florencio serves in the Diocese of Maasin in southern Leyte, Philippines - near Limasawa island, traditionally recognized as the site of the first Mass on Philippine soil, celebrated on Easter Sunday 1521. He works in campus ministry, teaches theology, humanities, and social science at Saint Joseph College, directs seminarians spiritually, leads outreach to Filipino seafarers and migrants, and is his diocese's appointed exorcist - following in the footsteps of his ITI mentor, Msgr. Larry Hogan.

He credits the ITI Formation Program with nurturing his vocation: the "idiorhythmic" monastic approach to formation combined with synodal community living made a mature priestly development possible.

"The rigors of the academic life were like the lifting force needed for an ascent of the heart, mind, and soul to the Truth" - contemplation that now carries his very active ministry. Ordained before finishing, he served as guest chaplain in Austrian parishes while completing his thesis on Joseph Ratzinger's doctrine of conscience, a work he still preaches and teaches from.

He remembers Fr. Juraj Terek's words on his arrival in Trumau: "It is good for you to be here!" He says they proved true.

Anne Mette Frey left a research chemistry career in the Netherlands in 2013 to study at ITI - a decision she calls difficult but spiritually motivated: "It was a difficult decision to leave my good friends, a nice parish, a town where I felt at home, and an exciting job while not knowing the impact it would have."

Her scientific background let her take advanced courses beyond the beginner level; she appreciated ITI's flexibility and the professors' genuine care. Spiritually, the daily access to Divine Liturgy and Byzantine spirituality became particularly meaningful to her.

The principle that transformed her was learning to "study theology on one's knees" - integrating contemplative prayer with intellectual work. It still shapes her leadership of the parish council in Denmark's largest Catholic parish.

She sees her scientific work as part of the same calling: her chemistry expertise lets her impact the sustainable, green future of our world through research and policy - Christian stewardship in practice.

Katherine Gardner spent three years at ITI earning her STM (2009), then a PhD in Theology from Ave Maria University, and now teaches at Thomas Aquinas College in California. The academic formation was essential - but "the ways that it prepared me for my work in Catholic higher education go well beyond the covers of the books we read."

She came looking for a strongly Thomistic graduate program, faithful to the Magisterium, built on discussion and original texts. She found it - and found herself at the heart of the Church, in a community of Catholics of different rites, in various states of life, all with a living faith.

"Diversity" is much-touted these days, she notes - but at ITI the diverse community was unified in the Faith in a way that produced genuine complementarity, not relativism. In her Catholic Social Teaching class sat students born under communist regimes, EU citizens, and Americans; in her class on marriage and priesthood, Eastern-rite and Western-rite students, religious and married.

The community pilgrimages - to Lourdes and Lisieux, to Ars, to Czestochowa and the birthplace of John Paul II - brought the truths studied in the classroom into contact with profound holiness. "An experience of the Church in her universality that was not superficial or fleeting, because it was based in real friendships, faithful instruction, and lived faith."

Elizabeth Schick came from Michigan with a degree in German Literature, Language, and Culture. A year in Germany studying theology at St. Georgen in Frankfurt, then work as research assistant on Romano Guardini - helping edit an English translation of his Liturgische Bildung - solidified her desire for serious theological study.

A friend told her about ITI: a place to live in a German-speaking area while studying in an English-speaking Catholic community. She enrolled in the STM program and calls it "the most challenging and rewarding academic program" she has experienced: "I could never have imagined just how much there is to learn!"

Her master's thesis became the pinnacle - original work, deeply rooted in the Catholic tradition. She presented it at an international conference on Aquinas the Biblical Theologian at Ave Maria University, met scholars like Scott Hahn and Brant Pitre, and received a publishing offer and encouragement toward doctoral programs.

Now pursuing her STL in Trumau, she balances Scripture research with translation work and music - violin, cantoring, and Gregorian chant on campus and in her parish - and plans to apply to doctoral programs in the United States.

Nothing surpasses the pursuit of truth, particularly when shared with friends. Aristotle's virtue-friendship - beholding the good with another, and beholding each other beholding the good - is the ideal the Bifferts live by.

After 30 years seeking truth within Protestantism, Kenton and Rebecca sold their house, their van, and most of their possessions in Canada and moved to Austria. Through God's grace they found their way into the Catholic Church, and spent four years immersed in ITI's liturgical life, friendships, and late-night philosophical discussions before Kenton completed his STM in 2016.

As Dean of Students at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College he builds environments where virtue-friendship can flourish: residence life, spiritual formation, pilgrimages, documentary discussions, whiskey-fueled Aquinas study, snowboarding and snowshoeing. He also published The Chronicles of Sir Benedict, a novel of redemptive suffering and moral integrity for young readers.

The Bifferts pursue truth first through family life with seven children - homeschooling classically, canoeing, skiing, hiking - while Kenton completes a doctorate in Theology to teach and form future truth-seekers.