Scots College (Rome)
Type | Seminary |
---|---|
Established | 1600 |
Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
Rector | Mark Cassidy |
Location | Rome |
Nickname | The Scots College |
Affiliations | Jesuits (1615–1773) |
Website | scotscollege |
The Scots College (or The Pontifical Scots College) (Italian: Il Pontificio Collegio Scozzese) in Rome is the main seminary for the training of men for the priesthood from the dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.
History
The Scots College was established by Clement VIII on 5 December 1600, when it was assigned the revenue of the old Scots' hospice.[1] At first the college was sited in a little house in what is known today as Via del Tritone, opposite the church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli.[2] In 1604 it was transferred to Via Felice, now called Via delle Quattro Fontane, where a bust[citation needed] of the last of the Stuarts, Henry Cardinal Duke of York can be seen. The college remained there until 1962.[3]
From 1615 to 1773, the Rectors of the Scots College were drawn from the ranks of the Society of Jesus.[4] After the Jesuits were suppressed in 1773 by Clement XIV, by his brief Dominus ac Redemptor, the College was administered by a series of Italian clerics until 1800 and the arrival of Paul MacPherson, a Scot, who served as Rector for 38 years.[5] Since then the Rectors have all been drawn from the ranks of Scotland's secular clergy.
The other long-serving Rector of the College, who also served for 38 years was Rt Rev. Msgr William Canon Clapperton (1886-1969) who served as Rector from 1922-1960. After his retirement he remained in Rome as canon of St John Lateran and is buried in the college plot at the Campo Verano cemetery in Rome.
The College moved to its current location on the Via Cassia some 4 miles from the city centre in 1962. The new College was designed by Renato Costa and was officially opened by Pope Paul VI on 18 November 1964. Seminarians at the Pontifical Scots College in Rome spend their first two years studying Philosophy at the Angelicum. After completion of Philosophy, and depending on their fluency in Italian, they take up the study of theology either at the Pontifical Gregorian University or the Angelicum, where theology is also offered in English. Priests taking part in postgraduate theology courses continue to stay at the College.[3] The celebration of the Feast of St. Andrew is a high point of the Scots College year.[6]
The chapel of the college houses the original tombstone of James Francis Edward Stuart ("King James III and VIII").[citation needed]
On 14 April 2016, the community of the Scots College were granted a private audience with Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace to mark the 400th anniversary of its becoming a seminary.[7] In 2017, seminarians from the college were invited to serve at the Easter Vigil at St. Peter's Basilica.[8][9] After a 2020 review projected unaffordable upgrade costs for the Via Cassia seminary, the Scottish Bishops announced a plan to relocate to a more central location in Rome beginning in 2021.[10] A temporary moved was announced in May 2023 to the Beda College in September 2023, until a permanent location is found.[11]
Rectors
- Vincenzo Massa (1773-1773)
- Lorenzo Antonini (1773-1774)
- Alessandro Marzi (1774-1777)
- Ignazio Ceci (1777-1781)
- Francisco Marchioni (1781-1798)
- Paul MacPherson (1800-1826)
- Angus MacDonald (1826-1833)
- Paul MacPherson (1833-1846)
- Alexander Grant (1846-1878)
- James A. Campbell (1878-1897)
- Robert Fraser (1897-1913)
- Donald Mackintosh (1913-1922)
- William R. Clapperton (1922-1960)
- Philip Flanagan (1960-1967)
- Daniel P. Boyle (1967-1973)
- Sean O'Kelly (1973-1981)
- James Clancy (1981-1986)
- John Fitzsimmons (1986-1989)
- John McIntyre (1989-1995)
- Christopher J. McElroy (1995-2004)
- Philip Tartaglia (2004-2005)
- Paul Milarvie (2005-2009)
- John Hughes (2009-2015)
- Daniel Fitzpatrick (2015-2022)[12]
- Mark J. Cassidy (2022-present)[13]
Notable alumni
- Alexander Dunbar Winchester (1625–1708), Apostolic Prefect for Scotland
- George Hay (1729–1811), served as Vicar Apostolic of the Lowland District in Scotland from 1778 until 1805
- John Paul Jameson (d. 1700), entered the college in 1677, ordained priest in 1685
- Wilhelm von Leslie (1657–1727), Prince Bishop of Laibach, entered the College in 1675, ordained priest in 1681
- Charles Erskine (1739-1811), Cardinal and Vatican diplomat
- Aeneas Chisholm (1836-1918), Bishop of Aberdeen from 1899 until 1918
- Frederick Rolfe (1860–1913), better known as Baron Corvo, writer[15]
- Canon John Gray (1866-1934), priest and poet, founding parish priest of St Peter's Morningside Edinburgh
- Adrian Fortescue (1874–1923)[16]
- Thomas Winning (1925–2001), Cardinal, Archbishop of Glasgow from 1974 until 2001
- Maurice Taylor (born 5 May 1926), Bishop of the Diocese of Galloway from 1981 until 2004
- Father George Thompson (1928-2016), priest, teacher and MP, studied at the Scots College in the early 1950s
- Mario Conti (1934-2022), Archbishop of Glasgow from 2002 until 2012
- Joseph Devine (1937-2019), Bishop of Motherwell from 1983 until 2013
- John Cunningham (1938-2021), Bishop of Galloway from 2004 until 2014
- Philip Tartaglia (1951-2021), Archbishop of Glasgow from 2012 until 2021
- Stephen Robson (born 1 April 1951), Bishop of Dunkeld since 2013
- William Nolan (born 26 January 1954), Archbishop of Glasgow since 2022
- Paul Laverty (born 1957), screenwriter and lawyer, studied for priesthood but did not continue to ordination, obtained a degree in philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome[17]
- Leo Cushley (born 18 June 1961), Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh since 2013
- John Keenan (born 19 December 1964), Bishop of the Diocese of Paisley
Other seminaries
- Scotus College, then founded in 1985 as Chesters College, located at Bearsden (Greater Glasgow), closed in 2009[18]
- Royal Scots College, located at Salamanca (Spain) since 1988 (formerly at Madrid and Valladolid)
- St Andrew's College, founded in 1953 at Drygrange (Melrose) in the Scottish Borders, closed in 1986
- Scots College, University of Paris, located at Paris from 1333 until 1793
See also
References
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- ^ S. Maria di Costantinopoli
- ^ a b Scots College Rome. "History". Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
- ^ McCluskey, Raymond (2000). The Scots College Rome 1600-2000. Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd. ISBN 0-85976-524-5.
- ^ McCluskey, p. 169.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Daniel. "Celebrating St. Andrew, Scotland in Rome", Foreign and commonwealth Office
- ^ "Pope Francis to Scots College: be courageous, merciful priests". Vatican Radio. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
- ^ "Scots College Seminarians to Serve at Papal Easter Vigil", Diocese of Dunkeld, April 3, 2017
- ^ Black, Ryan. "A Scotsman in Rome", 5 June 2017
- ^ "Changes are planned at Scots College, Rome", Diocese of Dunkeld, December 5, 2020
- ^ Meade, Matthew (2023-05-12). "Scots College to close as city centre location sought". Archdiocese of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
- ^ "Former trainee surgeon appointed rector at Pontifical Scots College". Catholic Herald. 2015-07-16. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
- ^ Mitchell, Andrew (2022-07-09). "Fr Cassidy is appointed Rector at Scots College Rome". DIOCESE of DUNKELD. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
- ^ McCluskey, Raymond (2000). The Scots College Rome 1600-2000. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers Ltd. pp. 169–170. ISBN 0-85976-524-5.
- ^ Canon MacWilliam, Alexander (1970). "Fr. Rolfe and the Scots College, Rome". Innes Review. 21 (2): 124–139. doi:10.3366/inr.1970.21.2.124.
- ^ Nichols, Aidan. The Latin Clerk: The Life, Work, and Travels of Adrian Fortescue, Casemate Publishers, 2011, ISBN 9780718892746
- ^ "Tambien la Lluvia"
- ^ Press Statement by the Scottish Catholic Media Office retrieved 28 February 2015
Further reading
- Abbe Paul Macpherson, History of the Scots College, Rome, 1600-1792, John S. Burns, 1961