Pontifical English College

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Cardinal William Allen

The Venerable English College , also Papal English and Welsh College , ( Latin Pontificium Collegium Anglicanum , Italian Venerabile Collegio Inglese , English Venerable English College ) is a Pontifical College and seminary in Rome . It provides training and further education for priests from England and Wales . Founded in 1579 by the English Cardinal William Allen , it is the oldest English institution outside of England.

precursor

In 1565 the English priest and Canon of York William Allen had to leave his home country England and fled to Douai , which at that time did not belong to France , but to the Spanish Netherlands. Here in 1568 he founded the "Collège des Anglais Douai" . In 1578 the seminary was moved to Reims and could remain there until 1593. In addition to the training of priests, lay training was also promoted. The real goal of the seminary was the recatholization of England, which was led by Pope Gregory XIII. was supported. In the following period, further “English colleges” were founded in Rome , Valladolid , Seville and Lisbon . Well-known personalities of the Collège des Anglais Douai were: Edmund Campion , Antoine Legrand , Gregory Martin , Cuthbert Mayne , Robert Southwell and John Southworth .

founding

In 1576 William Allen came to Rome, with the assistance of Pope Gregory XIII. he succeeded in converting the old English guest house , which had offered accommodation to English pilgrims in Rome since the beginning of the 14th century , into a seminary. The first seminarians came from Douai, with them the teaching activity began. With a papal bull from 1579, the official founding year, Gregory XIII approved . the "Collegium Anglecanum" , the Pope took over the guarantee for the college, he gave it property and transferred the abbey church of San Savino in Piacenza to him . The first director was Maurice Clenock from Wales, his successor was the Jesuit Alfonso Agazzari (see also John Ballard ), who directed the fortunes of the institute until 1773.

Venerable college

Between 1581 and 1679, over 130 Catholic priests were imprisoned or expelled from England and Wales. Forty-four priests and lay people suffered martyrdom , of which forty-one persons were spoken to saints and blessed . They have come to be known as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales . In memory and in their honor of these people, some of whom were seminarians at the “Collège des Anglais Douai” , the English College in Rome has had the honorary title “Venerable” ( Latin : venerabilis ) since 1818 .

Construction and decline

Collegiate Church of San Tommaso di Canterbury : View into the central nave to the main altar, behind it a painting by Durante Alberti from 1580

In 1681 a new period began for the college. It got its own chapel , the well-known Jesuit and painter Andrea Pozzo designed the fresco of the " Assumption of Mary ". Between 1682 and 1694, parts of the college were renovated and expanded into a “ palazzo ”. This construction was under the auspices of Cardinal Philip Howard OP (known as the Cardinal of Norfolk). He was the son of Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel , his great-grandfather was Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel , one of the forty martyrs of England and Wales.

During the 18th century the college joined the Jacobites , this connection lasted until 1807, the college leadership was in the hands of the Jesuits. Pope Clement XIV had dissolved the Jesuit order in 1773 and transferred the leadership to Italian secular priests . The conquest of Rome and the expulsion of Pope Pius VI. by Napoleon I (1797/98) led to the temporary dissolution of the English College.

New beginning

During the Napoleonic rule, the building of the college could be preserved. Meetings and encounters were held in the rooms, the Cardinal Protector of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Cardinal Romoaldo Braschi-Onesti (a nephew of Pope Paul IV) held his protective hand over the English College. In 1818 the Englishman Robert Gradwell , who later became titular bishop of Lydda and coadjutor - apostolic vicar of London District , became the new rector and resumed teaching with a few students. One of the first candidates for priesthood was Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman , who became rector of the college in 1828 and later was Archbishop of Westminster . In 1866 Pope Pius IX. the foundation stone for a new building designed by the famous architect Virginio Vespignani . The new seminar house was completed in 1888.

present

With the two directors Arthur Hinsley (1917–1929) and William Godfrey (1929–1939), two outstanding personalities took over the management of the college. With his intervention , Hinsley managed to save the college from demolition. During the Second World War in 1940 the students had to leave the college and moved to England. They continued their studies at the then Jesuit School of Stonyhurst. The buildings of the college in Rome were used as a hospital between 1941 and 1944. The first seminarians returned to Rome in the autumn of 1946. The college served as accommodation for the English and Welsh bishops during the two Vatican Councils in 1869/70 and 1962–1965 . To mark the four hundredth anniversary celebrated Pope John Paul II. In 1979, the Holy Mass in the College Church.

Task and organization

Portal and south wall of the Church of San Tommaso di Canterbury

The main task of the English College is to prepare young prospective priests from England and Wales for their work. To this end, they provide the seminarians with a wide range of spiritual life, accommodation and priestly seminars . The college is headed by a body of English diocesan priests and consists of the rector, his deputy, the philosophy teacher, the theology teacher and the spiritual director. The work is supported by an administrator and two secretaries. The students are enrolled in the Pontifical Universities in Rome and complete their studies with a certificate after seven years.

The teaching buildings, accommodation and the collegiate church of San Tommaso di Canterbury are located on Via di Monserrato in Rome. The seat of the rectorate is the Villa Palazzola in Via dei Laghi in Rocca di Papa ( metropolitan city of Rome ).

Some personalities

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edwin Burton:  Maurice Clenock . In: Catholic Encyclopedia , Volume 4, Robert Appleton Company, New York 1908 (English).
  2. ^ Howard of Norfolk, OP, Philip Thomas. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website , English)
  3. ^ Braschi-Onesti, Romualdo. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website , English)
  4. ^ Stonyhurst College ( Memento October 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ^ Villa Palazzola
  6. ^ Norman St John-Stevas, Baron St. John of Fawsley Norman St John-Stevas, Baron St John of Fawsley

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 44.5 ″  N , 12 ° 28 ′ 12.1 ″  E