It was Pope Urban VII who formally instituted Urban College belonging to Propaganda Fide on August 1, 1627 with the Immortalis Dei Filius Bull. How did this come about?
The college was opened by Spanish born Fr Juan Bautista Vives y Maria 1545-1632 with the help and support of other members of the missionary movement in the Catholic Church.
What actually happened?
The Bull says: "The missionary college of Propaganda Fide is to form secular missionaries ad gentes, lead separated Christians to the unity of the Catholic faith and gather and study information regarding the different languages, peoples and cultures of the world". A need was felt for church institutions which respond to these demands, which would fit the context of the time and missionary activity. The idea of founding a Roman Body for the evangelisation of people was not new. The first initiatives to set up a new body for the propagation of the faith dates to the time of Pius V (1566-1572) under the influence of St Francis Borja, General of the Jesuit Society. The same was true of successive pontificates up to Gregory XV who created Propaganda Fide College in 1622.
When did Urban College become the missionary college of Propaganda Fide?
On March 13 1640 with a special Brief Pope Urban VIII declared that the title Propaganda Fide was reserved only to institutions indicated by the Congregation of Cardinals de Propaganda Fide, and since then the Pontifical Missionary College had a history which coincided with that of the Propaganda Congregation and its missions.
Why was it necessary to create a de Propaganda for the formation of missionaries?
The role of the Pontifical Urban College from the outset was to recruit and form missionaries to diffuse the faith among the peoples of the world, gather news and studies on the different peoples and cultures, particularly in the Far East and to bring back to the unity of the Church the many separated Christians. Its first creator and founder was Juan Bautista Vives y Maria a Spanish priest resident in Rome who was to be one of the first members of the fledgling Congregation of Propaganda Fide in 1622. Vives thought of creating under the direction of the Teatini Fathers a college of secular missionary priests, from every country and race at the total dependence of the Pope to be sent anywhere in the world to preach the Gospel even with their blood.
When did it take the name Urban College?
After the foundation was approved in 1 August 1627 by Pope Urban VIII. The Pope created the college de Propaganda Fide as an Apostolic Pontifical College under the protection of the two princes of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul, giving it his own name "Urbanum"
Some names of the first teachers?
The list would be too long. Many were to become cardinals, bishops, theologians, but it is above all worth recalling that many of them sealed their preaching of the Gospel with martyrdom; one in particular, Saint Oliver Plunket, who became primate of Ireland and was martyred in July 1681.
And the students?
Among the first students there are many martyrs. We should recall John Henry Newman and his companion and friend St John and Blessed Columba Marmion.
What were the difficulties encountered by the College and how did they affect college life?
Relations with the Far East for the recruitment of candidates, the sending of missions, journeys, missionary work. Another problem was funding of the missions under Propaganda, Urban College itself and the seminars of Propaganda.
One prophetic proposal, which found response only in the 19th century was made by Belgian Father Nicolao Tirgault (1577-1628) a missionary in China in 1607, who proposed to the King of Spain and the Pope to institute a universal work to help the missions. The initiative was not successful; the time was not yet right!
A curiosity, how did candidates come from so far away?
For two centuries this was almost impossible. There were two ways, by sea with ships belonging to the Padroado and over land where this was possible. Seeing the difficulty at the beginning they were almost all Europeans or from the Middle East. In 1784 the first African student arrived, John Melchior from Madagascar, but he remained only a few months, unable to bear the Roman climate. We have to wait for Daniele Comboni, almost a century alter, who will send the first sub-Saharan students from Sudan: Daniel Deng Sorur (former slave purchased by Comboni at El Obeid, Sudan and later baptised by him) and Carlo Arturo Morsal.
The College was first of all in Piazza di Spagna. Today it is on the Gianicular Hill when was it move to its present day magnificent site?
The new site of the College was inaugurated in 1933. It was Pope John XXIII who instituted the University on 1 October 1962, with a motu proprio Fidei Propagandae.
And today?
Today there are 5 colleges of Propaganda Fide, born after the Pontifical Urban College. The first is Urban College whose students are mostly theology students from fifty different countries, mostly from Asia and Africa. Their presence in the college is a response to the missionary vocation of the college, at the disposal of the missionary Church and therefore of the Holy Father through the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples. At Urban College de Propaganda Fide, everything tends to be an expression of the Church's missionary spirit: nature, aim, life style, means, specific formation in various sectors. The other colleges, St Peter and St Paul are for various theological specialisations. Mater Ecclesiae at Castelgandolfo accommodates about 100 students, some religious but mostly lay Catholics from the young Churches for catechetical training. The Foyer Paul VI is an inter-congregational institution with about 100 students who study at the different faculties of Urban University. In a word, the Colleges of Propaganda in Rome form a missionary family of about 1000 members, men and women consecrated to Christ in his Church for Mission, all under the guardianship of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples whose Prefect is Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe. (Fides Service 28/11/2002)