Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum

The Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum, or simply Collegium Germanicum, is a German-speaking seminary for Catholic priests in Rome, founded in 1552. Since 1580 its full name has been Pontificium Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum de Urbe. It is located on the Via di San Nicola da Tolentino.

History

It was apparent to the Roman Curia that the advance of the Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire would not be addressed by a reform of the clergy in the empire itself. The Collegium Germanicum was established on 31 August 1552 by Pope Julius III with the bull Dum sollicita.

The initiative towards its foundation was taken by Cardinal Giovanni Morone and Ignatius Loyola. Pope Julius III approved of the idea and promised his aid, but for a long time the college had to struggle against financial difficulties. Ignatius formally opened it on 28 October and the direction of the college was given to the order he founded 12 years earlier - the Society of Jesus ("Jesuits"). After the Almo Collegio Capranica, this is the oldest college in Rome. It opened in October 1552.

The administration was confided to a committee of six Cardinal Protectors, who decided that the collegians should wear a red cassock, in consequence of which they have since been popularly known as the "boiled shrimps".

During the first year the higher courses were given in the college itself; but in the autumn of 1553 St. Ignatius succeeded in establishing the schools of philosophy and theology in the Collegio Romano of his Society. He also drew up the first rules for the college, which served as models for similar institutions. During the pontificate of Pope Paul IV the financial conditions became such that the students had to be distributed among the various colleges of the Society in Italy. To place the institution on a firmer basis it was decided to admit paying boarders regardless their nationality, and without the obligation of embracing the ecclesiastical state; German clerics to the number of 20 or more were received free and formed a separate body. In a short time 200 boarding students, all belonging to the flower of European nobility, were received. Pope Pius V placed 20 of his nephews in the college.

Pope Gregory XIII, however, may be considered the real founder of the college. He transferred the secular department to the Seminario Romano, and in 1573 endowed the college with the Abbey of S. Saba all' Aventino and all its possessions, both on the Via Portuense and on Lake Bracciano; moreover he incorporated with it the Abbeys of Fonte Avellana in the Marches, S. Cristina, and Lodiveccio in Lombardy. This allowed the practice of free education to be maintained. The new rector P. Lauretano, drew up another set of regulations.

The college had already changed its location five times. In 1574 Pope Gregory XIII assigned it the Palazzi di S. Apollinare (the current seats of the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross), and in 1575 gave it charge of the services in the adjoining church. The splendour and majesty of the functions as well as the music executed by the students under the Spaniard Tomás Luis de Victoria, and his successor Annibale Stabile and other celebrated masters (Annibale Orgas, Lorenzo Ratti, Giacomo Carissimi, Ottavio Pittoni, and others) constantly drew large crowds to the church. Too much attention indeed was given to music under P. Lauretano, so that regulations had to be made at various times to prevent the academic work of the students from suffering. The courses were still given in the Collegio Romano; but when Bellarmine terminated his lectures on controversy, a chair for this important branch of learning was established in the Collegio Germanico and somewhat later a chair of canon law. As a special mark of his favour, Gregory XIII ordered that each year on the Feast of All Saints a student of the college should deliver a panegyric in presence of the pope.

Present day

The Hotel Costanzi was torn down in 1939 to make way for road construction. The present college was built in 1944.

The leadership of the Germanicum and Hungaricum collegiums is entrusted to the Jesuit order, with the rector and three other priests belonging to the Jesuit community. Two Croatian nuns are also part of the household.

The college receives students from Scandinavia, from the old German Empire and from the old Hungarian kingdom; places are free, but there are some students who pay. They study at the Pontifical Gregorian University (for bachelors’ degrees) and at various pontifical universities in Rome for their licentiate and doctorate. The “official” language of the College is German and all of them study Italian, to be able to follow the courses conducted in Italian. After receiving their bachelor’s degree, they return to their diocese for to a "pastoral year".

It is customary for college community to make the pilgrimage to the Seven Churches on a Sunday in Lent.

Teaching

At its foundation the defence against the Reformation, improvement of theological training and the education of priests loyal to Rome were the principal aims. "From the territories, endangered in faith, of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation" were to be trained "fearless warriors for the faith" (quotations from the founding bull). After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 it was possible to restore the original internationalism of the college.

Saints and Blesseds

The college commemorates some saints and blessed who have a special relationship with the college or were alumni.

• Rodolfo Acquaviva, missionary
• Peter Canisius
• Ignatius of Loyola
• Robert Johnson
• Marko Krizin
• Primus and Felician
• Theodore Romzha, bishop and martyr
• Aloysius Stepinac, cardinal
• Saint Stephen

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)