ECUMENICAL COLLEGES. – Institutes situated in Rome and established by the Roman Pontiffs, where young men of various nationalities, aspiring to the priesthood, are sent by their bishops to attend courses in philosophy and theology under the authority and protection of the Apostolic See, in order to return to their homelands and strengthen, together with the Catholic religion, union with the Papacy.
I. NORTH AMERICAN PONTIFICAL COLLEGE
Founded by Pius IX and formally opened on 8 December 1859, it is a seminary for students from the United States of America preparing for the priesthood. It can accommodate 150 students and was declared a Pontifical College by Leo XIII on 25 October 1884.The students attend the Gregorian University. About a thousand former students of the seminary are still living, mostly in the United States, among them the four American cardinals, Dougherty, Mooney, Stritch, and Spellman. Closed since June 1940, it was renovated and reopened on 14 September 1948. On 26 July 1948, the present Pontiff transferred the ownership rights of the college section, which is located in the Palazzo Orsini in Via dell’Umiltà, from the Congregation of Propaganda to the American bishops.