Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - It gives us great joy to see many priests, seminarians, religious and lay faithful from various mission countries engaged in studies in Rome. These young people have chosen “the good portion” (Lk 10, 42) for their formation. Rome, the eternal city, the heart of Christianity, the eternal school of the universal Church is indeed the ideal place for Christian formation.
They might study well in their own countries, but here in Rome they can go deper and have the opportunity to study in famous academic institutes. In addition to the high level theological and scientific studies these students pursue at the pontifical universities and athenaeums, they can also cultivate a sense of nearness to the See of Peter and his successors.
In fact residing in the Church of Rome itself must help them to strengthen fidelity to her, “in which the primacy of the apostolic see has always been in force” (St Augustine, Ep. 43.7) and which is a “permanent and visible source and foundation of unity of faith and communion” (Lumen Gentium 18). Being physically near to the Supreme Pontiff able to see him and listen to him certainly strengthens fidelity to him.
Moreover in Rome they can really have a more universal vision of the Church: they can see, know and live many experiences. While meeting their counterparts from others parts of the world, students can benefit from contact with different ecclesial realities and they will thus discover new horizons for the evangelisation to pursue in their own counries with firm adherence to the Magisterium of the Pope.
In Rome students can experience the legacy of the primitive evangelisation that the apostles Peter and Paul and many martyrs handed over through the early centuries of the Church. Apart from formation in the classroom they can also learn from the remains of the Christian roots that are still alive and visible in many places in the Eternal City. Here the early Christians and their descendents showed their fidelity to Christ, proclaiming the Good News merely with the force of turth and the witness of their life amidst an environment of hostility and persecution.
In Rome students can also experience the footsteps many other Saints left in the history of Christianity through the centuries. They can also benefit from the encouter with so many creative works of art inspired by the Christian values.
All in all Rome is the most suitable place where young people can foster their missionary spirit to better respond to the call to work as “co-workers of the Truth (Cooperatores Veritatis” without being afraid. We need to encoruage them. We need to support them in every possible way, especially by our prayers so that they may attain spiritual enrichment during this precious and irreversible time of their studies in Rome, thereby making themselves “all things to all peoples” (1 Cor 9: 22) for the sake of evangelisation in their own countries. We badly need well-trained workers in the Lord’s vast vineyard which is in mission countries.
They are a reason for hope because they represent a privileged sign of the Lord’s love for his beloved Church in mission countries. (+ Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk) (Agenzia Fides 27/7/2005, righe 40, parole 532)
