Roman Colleges
The Roman Colleges, also referred to as the Pontifical Colleges in Rome, are seminary institutions established and maintained in Rome for the education of future ecclesiastics of the Catholic Church. Many of the colleges have traditionally taken students from particular national or ethnic groups, those from particular regions in Italy, and those from the various Eastern Catholic churches. The colleges are halls of residence in which the students follow the usual seminary exercises of piety, study in private, and review the subjects treated in class.
In some colleges there are special courses of instruction but the regular courses in philosophy and theology are given in a few large central institutions, such as Pontifical Urbaniana University, the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Pontifical Lateran University, and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, known as the Angelicum.
Purpose
The Roman colleges, in addition to the obvious advantages for study which Rome offers, allow the students to have a different experience of university life from that of their respective countries. They also serve in a certain measure to maintain contact between the various countries and the Holy See. With this end in view, various popes have encouraged the founding of colleges in which young men of the same nationality might reside and at the same time profit from the opportunities that the city affords.The rector of the Kraków seminary, in bidding Karol Wojtyla farewell, said that theology can be learned elsewhere, but a priest in Rome must "learn Rome itself."
Each national college has as its head a rector designated by the episcopate of the country to which the college belongs and appointed by the pope. He is assisted by a vice-rector and a spiritual director.
Program of studies
Most colleges follow similar academic programs during the year, but variations will be found, and these are due chiefly to natural characteristics or to the special purpose for which the college was established.During the first three years of study, seminarians study for a Bachelor of Sacred Theology/S.T.B.) degree at either the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, or the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. In most of the courses the lecture system is followed. All the required courses of the S.T.B. program at the Gregorian and Santa Croce are taught in Italian. The Angelicum offers two separate tracks, one in English and one in Italian.
Inter-college activities
Not only do seminarians from the different colleges follow their studies in the same universities, they also take part in extra-curricular seminars and conferences as well as leisure activities such as the Clericus Cup, a football tournament created in 2007 that provides a venue for friendly athletic competition among the thousands of seminarians, representing nearly a hundred countries, who study in Rome.List of colleges
Almo Collegio Capranica
The Almo Collegio Capranica is the oldest Roman college, founded in 1417 by Cardinal Domenico Capranica in his own palace for 31 young clerics, who received an education suitable for the formation of good priests. Capranica himself drew up their rules and presented the college with his own library, the more valuable portion of which was later transferred to the Vatican. Students living at the Capranica pursued theological studies at the nearby Sapienza. As of 2016, the college had about fifty students, primarily from dioceses in Italy.Vocational Pontifical colleges
Pontificio Collegio Urbano
The Pontificio Collegio Urbano "De Propaganda Fide" was established in Rome in 1622 in order to train missionaries to be sent around the world. All students of the Urban College have a full scholarship, lodging, accommodation and academic fees. After completion of studies the newly ordained priests would return to their homeland. As of 2016 the Urban College had about 165 students, most from Asia and Africa.Besides students from the dioceses of different continents, there are also seminarians of various Churches sui iuris such as the Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara, Coptic and Chaldean churches. In April 2015, thirteen seminarians of the Syro-Malabar Church received minor orders: the subdiaconate and diaconate from Joseph Pallikaparampil, Bishop emeritus of Palai, India.
Originally, the college occupied a premises adjacent to the Spanish Steps. If there were not enough pupils from a particular country to constitute a national college, the students would be housed at the Urbana.
Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy
The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy is one of the Roman Colleges of the Roman Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic corps and the Secretariat of State of the Holy See.Regional Pontifical Colleges
Traditionally, most of the colleges were divided among the regions from which the seminarians came. Nowadays, most colleges have opened up to seminarians from other regions of the world with cultural or linguistic ties to their own.Italian colleges
Pontificio Seminario Romano Maggiore
The Roman Seminary is the major seminary of the diocese of Rome. The Council of Trent in its 23rd session decreed the establishment of diocesan seminaries. Its history can be traced to the Roman Seminary established by Pope Pius IV in 1565. In 1913, the Roman Seminary was merged with Pontificio Seminario Pio to form the Pontificio Seminario Romano Maggiore which was established in a new building at the Lateran. The patroness of the Major Seminary is the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Madonna della Fiducia.Pontificio Seminario Romano Minore
The Pontificio Seminario Romano Minore is the minor seminary for the diocese of Rome. It was founded in 1913 with the merger of the minor division of the "Roman Seminary" with the Vatican Seminary. It is located just outside the rear walls of Vatican City at Viale Vaticano, 42; and constitutes an extraterritorial zone of the Holy See. The present Rector is Father Roberto Zammerini. The patroness of the Minor Seminary is the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Madonna della Perseveranza.Pontificio Seminario Lombardo dei SS. Ambrogio e Carlo
The Seminario Lombardo dei SS. Ambrogio e Carlo, founded in 1863 chiefly through the generosity of Cardinal Edoardo Borromeo and Duke Scotti of Milan, was located in the palace of the confraternity of S. Carlo al Corso. The first community was made up of 12 students, some already priests and other clerics in holy orders, who attended the various institutions of higher education, in particular Apollinaris and the Gregorian. They offered their liturgical service also to the annexed Basilica of San Carlo al Corso. The Lombardo was merged temporarily with the Roman Seminary from 1913 to 1920, when it was re-established as a separate college.The PSL was relocated to its present location overlooking the square in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, in the Esquilino area, in 1965 and blessed by Paul VI. In 2006 the community was made up of more than 50 priests and deacons from every diocese in Lombardy.
Other Colleges
Pontificio Collegio Armeno
The Armenian College in Rome was founded in 1883 by Pope Leo XIII. Before then, Armenian students were housed at the Urbana. The college was granted the Church of S. Nicola da Tolentino in the Trevi district. The Pontifical Armenian College and the Armenian Church of St. Nicholas of Tolentino are an important center for the Armenian community of Rome. Three Armenian Catholic patriarchs were students of the college. The colleges has hosted five synods of the Armenia Catholic hierarchy.Pontificio Collegio Belga
The Belgian College in Rome is the national seminary for Belgian seminarians. It was established in 1844 through the initiative of Aerts, who was aided by the papal nuncio in Belgium, Gioacchino Pecci, and the Belgian bishops. At first it was located in the home of Aerts, rector of the Belgian national Church of S. Guiliano. In 1845 the ancient monastery of Saints Gioacchino e Anna at the Quattro Fontane was purchased. When Karol Wojtyla came to Rome in 1946, he lived at the Belgian College on the Via del Quirinale while pursuing studies at the Angelicum. The college has since re-located to the Via Giambattista. The Belgian episcopate supports the seminarians and proposes the seminary's rector.Collegio Croato Di San Girolamo
The Croatian College in Rome was established in 1863 by Pope Pius IX to prepare priests for Dalmatia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Slavonia, and was located in the Illyrian hospice near the Church of S. Girolamo degli Schiavoni; but after a few years no more students were received. In 1900, Leo XIII reorganized the Illyrian hospice and decided to form a college of priests of the above-mentioned provinces, who would attend to the services in the church and at the same time pursue ecclesiastical studies.Collegio Etiopico
The Pontifical Ethiopian College dates to the arrival in Rome of Ethiopian pilgrims in the 15th century. In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV granted those pilgrims, most of whom were monks, Santo Stefano degli Abissini with the outlying building just behind the apse of St. Peter's Basilica. Under Pope Leo X both the Church and the house were turned to a monastery for Ethiopian monks. The monastery of St. Stephen became an important center of Ethiopian studies and culture. For the first time printing in Ge’ez characters took place there with the publication of the Psalms in 1513 and later the New Testament in 1548–9. Many Ethio-Eritrean scholars attained their knowledge and necessary information from the members of that community; some of them were very learned men. They owned several pergameneous Codices, which are now in the Vatican Library. Pope Benedict XV, having instituted the Congregation for the Eastern Churches in 1917, decided to found also Oriental Colleges in Rome.Accordingly, in 1919, on the suggestion of Beccari, he established the Ethiopian College in the old Monastery of St. Stephen of the Abyssinians. Camillo Carrara, the Apostolic Vicar of Eritrea, sent the first group of students, who were from Eritrea and the Apostolic Prefecture of Tigray. Because of the small number of students it could lodge and partly because the site was very damp and unhealthy, Pope Pius XI decided to build a new and larger house for them. He chose the location in the middle of the Vatican garden, indicating the spot where he ordered the construction of the new college, and on 31 May 1929 in the presence of 12 cardinals and several prelates the laying of the foundation stone took place. The Ethiopian clergy were represented by Abba Kidanemariam Kassa, Apostolic pro-Vicar of Eritrea, who later was consecrated bishop in the chapel of the newly built College. On 30 October 1929, the pope granted citizenship of the Vatican City to all members of the college. Eight students who died during their schooling are buried in the Church of St. Ann.
Pope Benedict XVI participated and gave his benediction on the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the college in 2005 in the presence of all bishops from Ethiopia and Eritrea. The college was also the meeting place of the Episcopal Conference of the Bishops of Ethiopia and Eritrea. At present, as from its beginning, there are priests from both Ethiopia and Eritrea for their higher learning in the college. The patron of the college is Saint Giustino de Jacobis.