VATICAN - The "true jewels" at the College of St. Peter, where "one evangelizes by forming"

Wednesday, 5 May 2021 evangelization   congregation for the evangelization of peoples   pontifical mission societies  

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "Formation for a priest today, is integral. We are interested not only in intellectual formation, but also in human formation, spiritual formation and missionary and pastoral formation". This is what Fr. Carlos del Valle, of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), Rector of the Pontifical College of St. Peter, among the colleges belonging to the family of the Vatican dicastery of "Propaganda Fide", says to Fides.
The institute currently welcomes 104 priests from Africa, Asia, Oceania, Latin America, who carry out a cycle of theological studies in Rome. "My role as Rector here is: to form by evangelizing and also to evangelize by forming. The first objective is to create an atmosphere of fraternity in the institute. This college has the opportunity to offer a fraternal atmosphere in the universality of the Church, and in catholicity. Priests from 52 nations of the world are here with us: it is an experience of the Church that can enrich us a lot". "When they arrive here, from other continents, the priests usually arrive with a little fear. We immediately try to establish a climate of mutual trust. As Rector, I have faith in each of them. In this house we want the Gospel to be breathed, and that Gospel that you have breathed here, I tell them, you are called to live it and announce it in your Churches of origin". Fr. Carlos also explains that he was impressed by the priests who at first seemed shy and silent and who "after years of stay reveal themselves to be true jewels" in their human, spiritual, pastoral dimension and in their missionary spirit. The origins of the College of St. Peter go back to the foresight and vision of Cardinal Celso Costantini (1876-1958). As Apostolic Delegate in China, Costantini sensed the need for young Churches to have qualified leadership. Thus, as President of the "Pontifical Missionary Society of St. Peter the Apostle" (POSPA) he launched a project to found a College in Rome to welcome young priests from mission countries. Before, in fact, seminarians were only received in Rome (at the Urban College, founded in 1627). POSPA was founded as the "Society of St. Peter the Apostle for the Indigenous Clergy" (1889) and in 1920 it became a "Pontifical Society", part of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide.
On January 22, 1946, POSPA bought “Villa Casale” in Viale delle Mura Aurelie, in Rome, which became the seat of the College. The administration was entrusted from the beginning to the Society of the Divine Word (SVD). Father Franz Rosenbaum, a missionary in China, was the first Rector of the College (1946), while the Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament were in charge of the kitchen, the laundry and the sacristy. In autumn 1946 the first ten students arrived at the College and the canonical erection of the College by Propaganda Fide took place on January 18, 1947. Later the College was expanded with the construction of the "Old House" and the Chapel. The main altar of the chapel was consecrated on 3 October 1948 with the relics of the Apostles Giacomo Maggiore and Bartolomeo and the martyr Aurelio. Over the years, the family of the College of St. Peter has always grown. More than 2,700 priests have been admitted as students, and many of them have become bishops and cardinals. Pope Paul VI, on January 6, 1970, defined the spirit of the institute as follows: "What is this house? How to define this College? Perhaps it is not easy to say. It is not a hotel, where strangers enter, and where strangers leave; it is not a simple hostel, where one finds lodging for other purposes, which you cannot pursue; it is not simply a school, where the pupil listens and learns with other fellow pupils. It is something more intimate and more personal. It is a College, which wants to produce a collegiality, that is, a communion, a friendship, a fusion of spirits, started here and enjoyed in unity; and then to be remembered and revived, in future years, when you will be dispersed in the world, in catholicity". (MI-PA) (Agenzia Fides, 5/5/2021)


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