Most folks here in the Archdiocese of Portland are well aware of Mount Angel Seminary, owned and operated by the Benedictine monks of Mount Angel Abbey. The third Archbishop of Portland, The Most Rev. William Gross, asked the monks to establish a seminary for the formation of priests to serve here in the church of the great Northwest. The monks have been doing this work for more than 125 years and we are all most grateful. Twenty-two of our archdiocesan seminarians are enrolled at Mount Angel and the archdiocese also cosponsors two men from the St. John Society. But Mount Angel is not the only site where our future priests are training. Other institutions are also serving our seminarians.

Currently the archdiocese has three men studying theology at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif.; three at Sacred Heart School of Theology outside Milwaukee, Wis.; seven residing at All Saints House in Portland while studying English at Portland State University so they might be more effective bilingual ministers for our churches in the future; one theology student at the American College of Louvain and two theology students at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Father Kelly Vandehey, our vocations director, is frequently in touch with these men and their formators at the seminary. We are blessed to have such wonderful resources and such good men taking advantage of these educational opportunities with your support.

This academic year the American College in Rome has been celebrating its sesquicentennial and two years ago the American College of Louvain also marked 150 years of priestly formation ministry. I shall be visiting our seminarians and priests in Rome Feb. 4-8 and then our seminarian in Louvain, Brussels, on the subsequent two days. I myself was a student at the American College in Rome and I know the institution quite well. But this will be my first visit to Louvain and I am looking forward to it very much.

The American College of Louvain, also known as the American College of the Immaculate Conception, was founded back in 1857 by the bishops of the United States. Bishops Martin J. Spalding of Louisville and Peter Paul Lefevre of Detroit led the way. At the time the purpose of the institution was two-fold: to train young European men to serve as missionary priests here in North America and also to give American seminarians the opportunity to study at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, with which the American College has had a close relationship throughout its history. Our own second Archbishop, Charles John Seghers, was an alumnus.

The American Seminary in Rome, on the other hand, is one with which I am very familiar. Presently two of our seminarians, Jeff Eirven of St. Juan Diego Church in Portland and Matt Libra of St. Edward Church in Lebanon are enrolled in their third year as theology students. They hope to be ordained deacons next fall. I hope so, too.
It was actually a surprise for me to learn that the American College in Louvain predated the Roman seminary by two years. But the idea for the establishment of a national seminary in Rome for the formation of candidates from the United States was expressed by Pope Pius IX back in 1855. At the time he stressed the unique lessons that future priests could learn in Rome, namely, the unity and universality of the church, the traditions of our faith and the ministry of the successor of St. Peter.

Then on Dec. 8, 1859, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the patroness of our nation, Pope Pius IX formally inaugurated the Pontifical North American College on the old Via dell’ Umilta, Humility Street, a property which the Pope himself gave to the bishops for this seminary.

Twelve students began their studies that year and the buildings continue to serve our priests who are pursuing graduate studies in theology, scripture or Canon Law at the various pontifical universities in Rome.

The House on Humility Street, however, eventually was inadequate for the many seminarians who came to Rome for priestly formation. In 1926 a piece of property on the Janiculum Hill, near the Vatican, was purchased by the bishops so that a new and larger construction could be made available. The depression and the political unrest all over the world postponed construction for nearly three decades, but finally in 1948 groundbreaking ceremonies took place and the doors were opened to this new and beautiful campus in 1953.

It was a real blessing to be able to spend four years as a young man in the eternal city. The Holy Father of our day was Pope John XXIII and we loved him and were edified by his pastoral charity and personal affability. Studying with seminarians from all over the world certainly impressed upon me the wideness of God’s embrace in calling all people to be his disciples in mission. Visiting and praying at the many shrines of Rome, places where people gave their lives for the faith, made a deep and lasting impression on me.

Celebrating this Year of the Priest at the time the college is observing its sesquicentennial is a unique blessing and a reminder of what must be always at the heart of priestly formation.

Pope Benedict XVI stated that he called for a Year of the Priest in order to “deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world.” I would say that seminaries today are doing an excellent job of underscoring the importance of the spiritual formation necessary for any priest to give God’s people a shepherd’s care. Seminarians in Rome, of course, get an extra boost because they are surrounded by so many reminders of the spiritual heritage of our Catholic faith.

Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you who have generously responded to the needs of the church for good priests.

Many dioceses and archdioceses have their own seminaries for which they are responsible. We are fortunate to have Mount Angel right here in our own backyard under the leadership of the Benedictine monks and their colleagues. It’s the next best thing to our own archdiocesan seminary and in some ways, especially for your archbishop, it’s even better!

The other seminaries that prepare our future priests help us to appreciate and understand that ours is indeed a catholic church, a worldwide community of people entrusted through Baptism with carrying on the evangelizing mission of the Lord Jesus.