New Opportunities at the Irish College
Posted on 12. Jun, 2020 by John Coughlan in Banner, Carousel
Archbishop Jorge Patron Wong – Secretary for Seminaries at the Congregation for the Clergy – First Visitor to the Irish College post COVID-19 lockdown, 10th June 2020. Included in the photo are the College Formation Team, from L-R: Fr John Coughlan, Vice-Rector; Fr Aidan Ryan, Spiritual Director; and Fr Paul Finnerty, Acting-Rector, as well as postgraduate priests in ongoing formation at the College.
New Opportunities in Formation Open up at the Irish College, Rome
“The Irish College is an almost four-hundred year old resource for the Church in Ireland that is ready to play a key role in the renewal and revitalisation of the Irish mission.” – Fr Paul Finnerty
Speaking at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome today, the Acting Rector, Fr Paul Finnerty, welcomed decisions taken by the Irish Bishops at their summer meeting this week.
He said, “The formation of priests for mission in Ireland is one of the keys to the renewal and revitalisation of the Irish Church. I believe that the decisions taken by the Trustees today have this goal in mind.”
As part of the overall renewal of priestly formation for the Irish mission, the Trustees of the Pontifical Irish College have decided that the College will not receive seminarians for the year 2020-21, and to review the question of initial formation for the priesthood in the future.
The Bishops also decided to continue their support for the ongoing formation programme for priests at the College. There have been over thirty priests in residence from across the globe, including Ireland, throughout this academic year. As in previous years, a sabbatical programme for Irish priests has been offered. It was also decided to continue supporting the very successful semester-abroad programme for American seminarians, hosted at the Irish College since 2016.
Fr Paul noted, “Of course, formation in the Christian life is not the preserve of the seminary, nor indeed of any house of formation. Rather, formation begins in the family, it is sustained in the community of faith, and our prayer is that Christian discipleship will be renewed and revitalised using all of the resources available. The Irish College is an almost four-hundred year old resource for the Church in Ireland that is ready to play a key role in the renewal and revitalisation of the Irish mission.”
The College also continues to provide a place of hospitality and welcome for Irish pilgrims to the eternal city, as well being a dynamic link between the Church in Ireland and the Universal Church, centred in Rome.
As the model of formation for priests in Ireland continues to be inspired by the Ratio for Seminary Formation, Fr Paul and his staff offer their prayerful support to the President, Rector and staff of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Collaboration in the formation of priests for the Irish mission has always been a hallmark of the relationship between the two Colleges. Fr Paul looks forward to enhancing and developing this collaboration into the future. He said of this, “For several years now, we have had a highly successful semester abroad programme for seminarians from the USA. We look forward to being able to provide similar formation experiences for the Irish Church.”
Over the last decades, throughout Ireland, new forms of ministry have emerged – the permanent diaconate, parish catechists, and parish pastoral workers, to name but a few. Fr Paul continued, “I look forward to supporting these new ministries by offering opportunities for nourishment in the faith-filled, historical, and cultural environment of the eternal city. The broad, global and universal viewpoint offered by a Roman experience has been enriching for many priests and people down through the centuries. This remains true today, and into the future, for leaders of the Church in Ireland.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
The Irish College in Rome was founded in 1628 by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi and a Franciscan priest from Waterford, Fr Luke Wadding. Since that time it has had five homes. The latest of these is on the Coelian hill near the Basilica of St John Lateran. In 1926, the then Rector, Msgr John Hagan, purchased the site and built a handsome building for the College which, for over 90 years now, has served the Church in Ireland as one of our two national seminaries.
Over its four-century history, hundreds of seminarians have discerned their vocations at the College as they prepared to answer God’s call to the priesthood. Among their number were St Oliver Plunkett, 1625-1681; Blessed Columba Marmion, 1858-1923; and, Venerable Ragheed Ganni, 1972-2007. Over the centuries successive Rectors and staff of the College have responded to the changing circumstances of the world around them.
Msgr Denis McDaid led the College through the very difficult years of World War II, when student numbers were reduced to single figures. The College hosted most of the Irish bishops during the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Since then, as seminarian numbers have gradually reduced in Ireland, the College became a home to an increasing number of postgraduate priests from all five continents. Since 2016, each semester, successive groups of seminarians from the USA have had the experience of formation in Rome at the Irish College.
The College has adapted in many ways to the recent crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The community undertook a twelve-week lockdown, successfully preserving all members from the virus. Postgraduate students continued to reside in the College, completing their studies online. Seminarians relocated to their home dioceses in Ireland, and continued their formation programme online, completing exams in recent weeks.
ADVISORY: Contacting the College
Posted on 13. Mar, 2020 by John Coughlan in Banner, Carousel
From today, Friday 13th March 2020, until further notice, the office at the College will be closed.
If you wish to contact the College, please do so by email to ufficio@irishcollege.org and we will endeavour to respond as soon as possible.
ADVISORY: Sunday Mass at the Irish College
Posted on 07. Mar, 2020 by John Coughlan in Banner, Carousel
© Pharexia / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COVID-19_Outbreak_World_Map.svg / CC-BY-SA-4.0
“The spiritual journey of Lent 2020 has taken on a new form due to the international health emergency linked to covid-19. The Church of Rome responds with faith, proposing the traditional means of spiritual struggle: prayer, fasting, charity. These guidelines want to give concrete form to the way of living these ordinary instruments of the Lenten journey in the current context…”
Monsignor Pierangelo Pedretti, prelate secretary of the Vicariate of the Diocese of Rome, 5 March 2020
As all are aware, the emergence of the coronavirus has resulted in various measures designed to mitigate the outbreak in the population generally.
As a result, the College has decided that there will not be a celebration of Sunday Eucharist which is open to the public. This is an interim measure, taking account both of civil legislation here in Italy as well as ecclesiastical norms issued by the Diocese of Rome.
For more information please click on the links below:
https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2020/03/04/20A01475/sg
Video on the College’s history and formation today
Posted on 15. Jun, 2016 by Fr Hugh in Banner
This video on the history of the Pontifical Irish College, Rome and the formation for the diocesan Priesthood, ongoing formation, and other ministries that happen here today, was produced for the College by iCatholic.
Producer: Fr Bill Kemmy, Camera work: Mr Ray Beggan.
Villa Irlanda Accommodation
Posted on 19. Nov, 2011 by Fr Hugh in Banner
Consult the Villa Irlanda website www.villairlandaroma.com For further information e mail villairlandaroma@villairlandaroma.com
