Pontifical Greek College of St. Athanasius
The Pontifical Greek College of Saint Athanasius ( Italian Pontificio Collegio Greco di Sant'Atanasio , Greek Ποντιφίκιο Ελληνικό Κολλέγιο Αγίου Αθανασίου ) was in 1577 as a Roman Colleges and seminary for seminarians from Greece , the Middle East and the Greek-speaking regions of southern Italy founded. The patron saint of the college is St. Athanasius the Great , one of the four Greek Fathers of the Church .
founding
The founding idea goes back to Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santorio . As the protector of the Basilians , he headed the Reform Congregation for the Greeks in 1573 and developed the foundation of a college for Greek candidates for priesthood . On January 13, 1577, Pope Gregory XIII approved . (1572–1585) with a bull the Pontificio Collegio Greco di Sant'Athanasio , which had already opened its doors in 1576.
aims
The aim of the college at that time was the training of priests who were to be active in local parishes in Greece in order to be able to counter “the conquest of the territories of the Byzantine Empire by the Turks ”. At the same time, analogous to the universities of Northern Europe , they were supposed to prevent the “advance of the Protestant Reformation ”, and the third priority was to promote the “restoration of the communion of the Eastern Churches with Rome ” with the establishment of a Greek college . From 1576 to 1577 the institute enjoyed hospitality in several houses in Rome and in 1577 found its final place in today's Via del Babuino in the Roman old town. The alumni studying at the Greek College come from Greece, the Italo-Albanian Church in Italy , the Arab dioceses of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church , Romania , Bulgaria , Hungary , the Ukraine and Belarus .
developments
The management of the college passed into other hands several times in the following decades. During the great time of the reorganization of the Roman Curia by Pope Sixtus V (1585–1590), the latter placed the leadership in the hands of the Curia. From 1591 to 1602 Jesuits took over the leadership, until 1621 some Dominicans then directed the college, then again the Jesuits and from 1773 the congregation De Propaganda Fide . From 1803 to 1845 there was no teaching at the college, the seminarians switched to the college of Propaganda Fide, today's Pontifical Urban University . Pope Leo XIII. (1878–1903) placed the seminary in 1886 under the direction of the Resurrectionists , in 1890 it switched back to the Jesuits and in 1897 to the Benedictines . The college has been run by the Belgian Benedictine Congregation since 1919, and by Chevetogne Abbey since 1956 . The current rector is Archimandrite Manuel Nin, the spiritual father is Giorgio Mifsud OSB from the Melkite diocese of Akka in Israel .
rite
For many years, the Greek seminarians defended the sole use of the Byzantine rite and partially rejected the Latin rite . This fact led to constant disagreements with the students of the Latin rite. Pope Leo XIII. ended these disagreements; He referred to the observance of the orders from the 1755 by Pope Benedict XIV. (1740-1758) bull Allatae sunt and repeated their validity. He also pointed out that there were four Latin altars in the church of Sant'Atanasio dei Greci and that both liturgical rites could be practiced equally. The Church of Sant'Atanasio was built by Cardinal Santoni, it is a titular church , the main liturgical church of the college and the Greek community in Rome.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Collegio Greco
- ↑ vicariatusurbis.org: Entry on Rector Prof. Manuel Nin , but now without information, since Nin was appointed Apostolic Exarch for Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in Greece in February 2016 .
- ↑ vicariatusurbis.org: Entry on Don Giorgio Mifsud (Diocese of Rome)
Coordinates: 41 ° 54 ′ 29.1 ″ N , 12 ° 28 ′ 46 ″ E