VATICAN - The College of Saint Paul celebrates 50 years of service to the formation of missionary priests

Wednesday, 3 June 2015

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - With a solemn Eucharistic celebration presided by Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, "St. Paul the Apostle" International Pontifical Missionary College in Via di Torre Rossa Rome celebrates its jubilee this afternoon: 50 years of service to the formation of seminarians and priests from mission countries who come to Rome to complete their formation at the Pontifical Universities. The solemn act of thanksgiving will be attended by the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which is taking place in Rome this week (see Fides 28/05/2015), who come from all continents.
The College of St. Paul the Apostle is home to about 200 priests from the territories entrusted to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, who are in Rome to obtain a specialization in the various faculties (Theology, Missiology, Canon Law, Church History ...) and then return to their countries. The College therefore has a large international community: the priests who live there represent about 50 countries from all continents. Their stay can last from two to four years, depending on the study undertaken, and during this period they share missionary experiences and values of different cultures.
In the sixties, since the Pontifical Urban College had become too small to accommodate the many seminarians who came from the missions for their formation, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples decided to build a new college reserved for philosophy student courses. Thus the "Philosophical Pontifical Urban College de Propaganda Fide" was established, current College of San Paolo, officially inaugurated on December 3, 1965 by Pope Paul VI. After the suspension of the activities from 1974 to 1977, the College was officially opened under the name of "International Missionary College of St. Paul the Apostle". On December 17, 1977 Paul VI conferred the title of "Pontifical". Starting from the following academic year the College hosted only priests. The first Rector was Fr Massimiliano Jezernik (1965-1972). Since July 2014 the Rector is Fr. Lisandro Alirio Rivas Duran, of the Consolata Missionaries (IMC), a native of Venezuela. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 03/06/2015)


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