Pontifical French Seminary

The Pontifical French Seminary (La. Pontificium Seminarium Gallicum, Fr.: Séminaire Pontifical Français, It. Pontificio Seminario Francese) is a Roman College dedicated to training French speaking Roman Catholic priests.

The facade of Santa Chiara - the church of the French seminary

History

In 1853 the French bishops held the Council of La Rochelle, where they proposed a plan for a French Seminary in Rome to train priests strongly attached to the Holy See and able to counteract Gallican ideas. They successfully petitioned Pius IX to approve this idea. The seminary opened in 1853 with 12 students under the direction of Father Lamurien of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, an order which was in charge of the college until 2009. Its first site was the old Irish college near Trajan's Forum.[1]

In 1856 Pius IX assigned to the seminary the Church of Santa Chiara with what had been the adjoining Poor Clare convent, founded in 1560 by St. Charles Borromeo on the ruins of the baths of Agrippa. After the new Italian government evicted the College of Saint Thomas from the convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in 1873, the College was able to continue after the French seminary's Rector Tommaso Maria Zigliara offered refuge at the Pontifical French Seminary.[2][3]

Santa Chiara was rebuilt on the plan of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in Paris, in 1883 the monastery was entirely remodeled to suit its present purpose. Leo XIII declared it a pontifical seminary in 1902. As of the early 1900s there were between 100 and 120 seminarians.[4]

Father Henri Le Floch was the rector in the early 20th century until the late 1920s.[5] Le Floch's support of Action Française led to his removal at the request of the French government.[6] One of Le Floch's students was Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the founder of the traditionalist Roman Catholic Society of Saint Pius X, and he attributed his conservatism to the time he spent in the seminary.[7] The first priests belonging to the Society of Saint Pius X were from the French Seminary.[8]

In 2009, management of the seminary was transferred from the Spiritans to the Bishops' Conference of France.[9]

College life

Most of the studies are conducted at the Gregorian University. The students are made up both of seminarians and existing priests pursuing further study. The seminary is located in the Via di Santa Chiara.[10] Non-French students are also admitted.

Notable alumni

References
  1. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Roman Colleges" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  2. The Dominicans, Benedict M. Ashley, O. P., "Ashley/Dominicans: 8 the Age of Compromise 1800s". Archived from the original on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2013-02-01. Accessed 4-26-2011
  3. Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15759a.htm Accessed 5-24-2011
  4. Escheat, "Le séminaire français de Rome", Rome, 1903 quoted in Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Roman Colleges" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  5. The Society of Pius X Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, Douglas Laudenschlager, The Angelus, February 1979
  6. White, David Allen (2006). The Horn of the Unicorn. Arlington: Angelus Press. ISBN 978-1-892331-39-7.
  7. I have handed on what I have received Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine by John Vennari, published in The Angelus [August 2005]
  8. The Wanderer Interviews Fr. Aulagnier, SSPX Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Luc Gagnon, September 18, 2003
  9. "Address of Pope Benedict XVI to the Community of the French Seminary in Rome, June 6, 2009, Libreria Editrice Vaticana
  10. FSSPX.NEWS (August 2009). "The French Seminary in Rome Will no Longer be Directed by the Holy Ghost Fathers". fsspx.news.
  11. Miranda, Salvador. "BÉGIN, Louis-Nazaire (1840-1925)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Florida International University. OCLC 53276621.
  12. In a profoundly Catholic seminary of this sort Marcel Lefebvre received his preparation for the Holy Priesthood in the 1920s during the reign of Pope Pius XI — at the prestigious French seminary of Rome, then under the direction of the distinguished Father Henri Le Floch, of the Holy Ghost FathersThe Society of Pius X Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, Douglas Laudenschlager, The Angelus, February 1979
  13. Miranda, Salvador. "LEFÈBVRE, Joseph-Charles (1892-1973)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Florida International University. OCLC 53276621.
  14. Miranda, Salvador. "SUHARD, Emmanuel-Célestin (1874-1949)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Florida International University. OCLC 53276621.
  15. Miranda, Salvador. "DUVAL, Léon-Étienne (1903-1996)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Florida International University. OCLC 53276621.
  16. Miranda, Salvador. "GARRONE, Gabriel-Marie (1901-1994)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Florida International University. OCLC 53276621.
  17. Miranda, Salvador. "CHAROST, Alexis (1860-1930)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Florida International University. OCLC 53276621.
  18. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Paulin Martin" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Roman Colleges". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

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