Seminary

SEMINARY. - It is that college which, according to the ordinances of the Church, is destined for the spiritual and literary formation of aspirants to the ecclesiastical state. Such a task presented itself from the earliest times, when the organizing of communities required the contribution of capable and experienced persons for the exercise of the various ministries. It weighed directly on the bishops, to whom, especially in the more populous and civilized cities, it was important to create a well-prepared clerical body also for the benefit of the smaller communities; they provided for this in many places by gathering the clerics around themselves in common life or by having recourse to the monks, as soon as the monastic institution, during the 4th century, began to acquire credit and diffusion.

There is information on this matter for Vercelli under the bishop St. Eusebius, for Verona, for Aquileia in the 4th century, then for Milan, and in the 5th century for Hippo under St. Augustine. Special solicitude was taken up again during the Carolingian sovereigns, who concerned themselves in the capitularies with the regular functioning of the schools; until, with the progressive establishment of the Chapters at the episcopal sees, the organization of schools also proceeded apace under the direction of a scholasticus or magister, whose importance must have had particular prominence in the times and places where the common life was introduced or re-established. The lack of public institutions of instruction made such arrangements particularly necessary; the repeated conciliar decrees on the matter bear witness to this. The monasteries, particularly the greater ones, found themselves faced with the same necessity of establishing monastic schools for their monks; but everything was at the mercy of the greater or lesser zeal of the bishops and abbots and proceeded without definite programs, according to the particular inclinations and abilities of the teachers and disciples. The progress of intellectual activities led to the establishment of particular centers of study which had their greatest development in Paris for theology and philosophy and in Bologna for law. To Paris in particular ecclesiastics flocked from every part of Europe for their intellectual formation; but soon other cities arose to constitute "studia generalia" and the great Mendicant Orders opened schools in their convents for their friars and for the ecclesiastics who wished to profit from them. This was certainly to the detriment of the development of the capitular and monastic schools, and there remained open the problem of the formation of those clerics who could not gain access to the universities and would have exercised their ministry among the rural populations or the urban plebs.

For these there were only the lower schools, when these began to arise in the cities or the boroughs, or occasional teachers, clerics or laymen, from whom very little could be expected. The special provisions issued to provide for the instruction of the clergy by the Third (1179, can. 18) and Fourth (1215, can. 11; Hefele-Leclercq, V, pp. 1101 and 1343) Ecumenical Lateran Councils proved immediately insufficient, both because they were not rightly applied and because of the rapid development of the renewed civilization; while the university movement was not able to supply adequately the growing needs.

Provision had been made for the poverty of studious clerics at the universities with suitable scholarships or by instituting colleges, where they might lead a common life and also have teachers; this had been done in Paris and in particular at Cambridge and at Oxford; thus in Bologna Cardinal Albornoz did, and in Padua Cardinal Pileo di Prata for the students of their nations toward the end of the 16th century. Greater renown was gained by the College which Cardinal Domenico Capranica wished to be founded in his own houses in Rome in 1457 (v. COLLEGI ECCLESIASTICI); and Cardinal Stefano Nardini tried to emulate it, wishing another college to be instituted in 1480. From these institutes the Jesuits took their model, broadening their programs, in founding their colleges, destined to constitute communities of teachers (like the Collegio Romano) or communities of students (like the Collegio Germanico) or even both together, laying down as a foundation that instruction be free for all. These experiences were kept in mind in order to complete them according to the most recent needs, in the Council of Trent: in sess. XXIII, cap. 18 De Reform. of 15 July 1563 it was desired that in all dioceses a perpetuum Seminarium be founded in which the bishop might alere et religiose educare et in sacris disciplinis instituere a certain number of young men destined to attend to the ecclesiastical ministries. The poor were to be preferred without however excluding the well-to-do; all were to live together in the same house under a rector appointed by the bishop: two special commissions were to supervise its discipline and administration. To provide financially for the new foundations the Council imposed the contributions of all ecclesiastical bodies, even exempt ones, and granted the union of ecclesiastical benefices until the necessary revenues were reached. For the teachers recourse was to be had to those who already possessed benefices with annexed obligations of teaching; for the others the bishop was to provide. No thought was then given to the developments that seminaries would later undergo, whether as to the number of pupils or as to the organization of studies; in fact the first foundations were quite modest, both because the monetary contribution encountered many difficulties, nor could legacies of importance immediately be had, and because oppositions and conflicts could not be removed. The Pope, who had been earnestly urged to this by the Council, opened his seminary in Feb. 1565, entrusting it to the Jesuits; he was anticipated in Milan by his nephew St. Charles Borromeo (1564) and by some more modest foundations: Rieti, Larino, Camerino, Montepulciano. The rules drawn up for Rome and Milan were the first to govern life in the seminaries, which then arose everywhere the Tridentine reforms were applied. Those of Prague, Olmütz, Vienna, Graz were entrusted to the Jesuits. In France zealous bishops soon took an interest in the matter, but the wars of religion immediately created notable damages; moreover the opposition of the Sorbonne and of the Parliament of Paris made itself felt; instead, during the 17th century the zeal of private priests provided for the formation of the clergy. Among these must be remembered the deacon François de Chansiergues, founder of the Little Seminaries of Providence for poor students, a work begun in Paris in 1667 (cf. H. Trouillet, Le vén. François de Chansiergues, fondateur des Petits Séminaires [1634-91], extract from the Semaine religieuse du diocèse d'Avignon, Vaison 1924).

Thus there are the efforts to establish seminaries on the part of Pietro de Bérulle of the Oratory, of Adrien Bourdoise, of St. Vincent de Paul with his priests of the Mission, of St. John Eudes, of Olier with the Company of St. Sulpice and of still others. In Italy the seminaries, toward the end of the 17th century, had a broader development thanks to the care of the blessed Gregory Barbarigo, who made of his seminary of Prague a model widely imitated. There also arose seminaries or colleges with a special purpose, such as that of Propaganda Fide in Rome and that for the Foreign Missions in Paris, colleges for the Irish, the English, the Scots, in Rome itself, in Spain, in Flanders, after the likeness of the German College in Rome instituted by St. Ignatius as early as 1551. The importance assumed by the seminaries in the life of the Church did not escape the reforming sovereigns of the 18th century, who claimed the right to establish their program of studies and to regulate their disciplinary conduct.

For his States Joseph II claimed to subject the seminaries outright to the civil power, going so far as to establish four central seminaries at Vienna, Pest, Pavia and Louvain with five other subsidiary ones at Graz, Olomouc, Prague, Innsbruck and Luxembourg, suppressing the others after having confiscated their revenues and appointing the rectors and teachers. The project failed, though without the interference of the lay power ceasing, wherever it did not meet with the resistance of the bishops. After the French Revolution there was everywhere, and particularly in France, a revival in the development of seminaries. In the most important dioceses, alongside a major seminary for theological studies, one or more minor seminaries were established for the lower studies. Pius IX favored the erection in Rome of seminaries or colleges (v.) of a national character for the perfecting of the students of the various countries in the sacred sciences, an example imitated by his successors. Pius X set out to give particular impetus to the Italian seminaries, proposing new scholastic and disciplinary programs, and he established regional seminaries for the small Italian dioceses, where the seminary system could not be applied in a manner adequate to the needs of the times. The example was widely followed by Pius XI.

At present the general laws regarding seminaries are contained in the CIC cann. 1352-71; by can. 972 all those who aspire to the priesthood are obliged to reside in a seminary during the theological course.

Pio Paschini

POST-TRIDENTINE LEGISLATION

The pontifical documents subsequent to the Tridentine decree have always confirmed its provisions, suitably supplementing them according to the increased needs of the times. Moreover, in illustrating the various aspects of the life of the seminary, such documents form, taken together, a complete body of doctrine and discipline.

Gregory XIII (1572-85), a distinguished patron of the national colleges in Rome, gave them their own rules; Sixtus V (1585-1590) created a Sacred Congregation, later called of Studies, with the task of watching over the good conduct of the major university centers, and specified the requirements of ordinands, while Clement VIII (1592-1605) admonished them concerning the ideals of their vocation. Urban VIII (1623-44) perfected the rules for the colleges of Rome; Innocent XI (1676-89) inculcated the practice of the Spiritual Exercises, and sanctioned the rule for the seminaries directed by the religious of the ven. Bartholomew Holzhauser (v.). Innocent XIII (1721-24) clarified the jurisdiction of the bishop over the seminary entrusted to religious, and traced, with reference to the particular conditions of Spain, practical norms for the life of the said institutes. Benedict XIII created, with the apostolic constitution Crediture Nobis (9 May 1725), a special Congregation of Seminaries to promote the faithful and universal application of the Tridentine decree. Benedict XIV (1740-58) instituted the apostolic visitation of seminaries, and exempted the said institutes from the jurisdiction of the parish priest. Clement XIII (1758-69) further inculcated the study of the sacred languages, Hebrew, Greek and Latin, while Pius VI (1775-99) exhorted to the acquisition of a profound and vast learning. Pius VII (1800-23), in order to restore order to the nations upheaved by the French Revolution, stipulated a series of concordats with constant regard for seminaries. Gregory XVI (1831-46) prescribed seminaries in mission lands for the native clergy. Pius IX (1846-78) continued the series of concordats, and founded in Rome the "Seminario Pio" with the apostolic constitution Cum Romani Pontifices (28 June 1853), emphasizing in it, as he had already done in his first encyclical, the social importance of the pious and learned formation of the clergy.

With Leo XIII the solemn modern documents begin: the encyclical Aeterni Patris (4 Aug. 1879) on the teaching of Christian philosophy, the Providentissimus Deus (18 Nov. 1893) on biblical studies and the epistle Plane quidem (20 May 1885) for literary study. Fundamental are the epistles Depuis le jour to the French bishops (8 Sept. 1899) and Fin dal principio to the bishops of Italy (8 Dec. 1902) on the direction of seminaries, the importance and quality of studies; very interesting, then, are the encyclical epistles to the episcopate of various countries (Italy, 1882; Ireland, 1882; Prussia, 1886; Hungary, 1886 and 1893; Portugal, 1886; Bavaria, 1887;

Brazil, 1892, 1894 and 1899; Poland, 1894; Peru, 1894; Scotland, 1898; Philippine Islands, 1902; Island of Cuba, 1903). Pius X, the Pope of the interior restoration of the Church, fought for the orthodoxy of the faith and of ecclesiastical teaching and promoted a more intense spirituality in the life of the said institutes. He restored sacred chant (motu proprio Inter pastoralis, 22 Nov. 1903) and carried out the reform of the seminaries of Italy (cf. encyclical letter Pieni l'anima, 28 July 1906) giving, through the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, a General Program of Studies (10 May 1907; Acta Sanctae Sedis, 40 [1907], pp. 336-43) and the Norms for the educational and disciplinary ordering of seminaries (18 Jan. 1908: ibid., 41 [1908], pp. 212-43), and, following the results of the apostolic visitations, a series of new provisions through the Sacred Consistorial Congregation (circular letter 16 July 1912: AAS, 4 [1912], pp. 491-98). He laid down particular practical norms for the study of Sacred Scripture (apostolic letter Quoniam in re biblica, 27 March 1906) and founded in Rome the Biblical Institute. He issued disciplinary prescriptions for clerics and young priests who go to study in Rome (epistle La ristorazione, 5 May 1904), erected the new Roman Major Seminary in the distinguished Patriarchii veteris loco and founded the regional seminaries. Benedict XV instituted the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Universities of Studies (motu proprio Seminaria clericorum, 4 Nov. 1915), and issued, through the Sacred Congregation, the Ordinamento dei s. (26 Apr. 1920), in which the spirit of St. Charles lives again.

The first solemn act of Pius XI is the programmatic letter Oficiorum omnium (19 Aug. 1922: to card. Gaetano Bisleti, prefect of the Sacred Congregation) on the importance of seminaries and the dignity of studies: he declares the Work of Vocations indispensable, Latin a "catholic language" connected with the cause of religion, the seminary reserved exclusively to aspirants to the priesthood ("Haec esto seminariorum omnium, nullo excepto, sanctissima lex") and the regional seminary as the major seminary proper to each of the respective dioceses. This document is matched by the analogous letter Unigenius to regular superiors (19 March 1924): the ratio studiorum of seminaries must be followed also in the houses of formation of religious destined for the priesthood. He proclaimed St. Thomas studiorum ducem (29 June 1923); he gave, with the apostolic constitution Deus scientiorum Dominus (v.), a new ordering to the higher studies of the clergy. He instituted the day pro Oriente christiano; he ordered the triennial report to the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and the scrutiny of ordinands (Instruction of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, 27 Dec. 1930); he gave provisions for the proper preservation of archives. In paternal remembrance of his priestly jubilee he gave to the Church the encyclical on the priesthood (Ad catholici Sacerdotii, 20 Dec. 1935), rich in precious norms for the formation of the clergy.

Finally the reigning pontiff Pius XII, following in the footsteps of his predecessors, has erected the Pontifical Work of Priestly Vocations (motu proprio Cum Nobis, 4 Nov. 1941: AAS, 33 [1941], p. 479) and sanctioned the relative statutory norms (8 Sept. 1943: AAS, 35 [1943], pp. 369-73); he has marked the paths of truth in scientific research, admonishing scholars in the face of the doctrinal deviations of our time (encyclical Humani generis, 12 Aug. 1950: AAS, 42 [1950], pp. 561-78), and has formulated the criteria for a sound modern ecclesiastical pedagogy with the apostolic exhortation Menti Nostrae (23 Sept. 1950; ibid., pp. 657-702), which sets the seal and crown upon the whole centuries-old legislation of the Church on seminaries.

Present ordering. — 1. For the development of seminaries the most important fact after the Council of Trent is the promulgation of the CIC. In book III the entire title XXI is consecrated to them (cann. 1352-71). Moreover many other canons concern ecclesiastical life and clerics to be ordained.

a) Asserting the "proper and exclusive" right of the Church in the education of its ministers (can. 1352), the CIC treats, first of all, of the constitution of the seminary (cann. 1353-1356), recalling the duty of priests, especially of the parish priest, to cultivate in children of good disposition the seed of the divine vocation and the obligation of bishops to endow the diocese with its own seminary, possibly divided into minor (for literary study) and major (for philosophical and theological studies). If the smallness or poverty of the diocese did not allow a seminary of its own, especially a major one, the students will be sent to another seminary, at the choice of the bishop, provided that the Holy See has not erected, for the relevant circumscription, an interdiocesan or regional seminary. Every seminary must have its own revenues, in default of which the bishop must provide for the relevant needs in various ways: with collections, the seminary tax (seminaristico [v.]), the assignment to the seminary of simple benefices.

b) The persons assigned to the functioning of the s. (cann. 1357-61) are: the rector (rector pro disciplina), the bursar, the professors, the spiritual father (director spiritus) and at least two ordinary confessors, to whom must be added, for the greater freedom of the students, other extraordinary confessors. It is a general criterion that there be a clear distinction between the internal and the external forum. The rector, called by St. Charles omnium primus, has responsibility for the entire conduct of the s., but must not be bursar, nor can he be confessor (cann. 1358 and 891); generally he is assisted by one or more vice-rectors (v. RETTORE).

c) For every s. there must be two deputati, priests chosen by the bishop after having heard the Chapter, who watch over discipline and administration respectively. Their office lasts six years, and they can be re-elected. Excluded from it, besides the rector and the bursar, are the vicar general, the bishop's relatives and the ordinary confessors. Their opinion has consultative value, which the bishop however is bound to seek in matters of greater importance (can. 1359).

d) The students must be legitimate sons and aspire to the priesthood (can. 1363), entering the s. from the beginning of secondary studies (cann. 972 and 1370). They must be educated in piety, in study, in the exercise of the Christian virtues; they must observe the rules of courtesy and hygiene, and ecclesiastical gravity (cann. 1367-69). The incorrigible, those who do not succeed in their studies, all those who have no inclination for sacred things, must be dismissed (can. 1371). Those dismissed from other s. or from religious institutes cannot be accepted without the proper documents (can. 1363 § 3) and today without the "nulla osta" of the S. Congregation of S.

e) The studies comprise the humanistic or literary course, which generally corresponds to that of the state schools, with particular pre-eminence given to the classical letters, Latin and Greek; the two-year philosophical course and the four-year theological course. The principal subjects, in the major s., are scholastic philosophy, dogmatic and moral theology, Holy Scripture, ecclesiastical history, canon law, liturgy, patrology. There are then numerous secondary disciplines: archaeology, ascetics and mysticism, eloquence, pastoral theology, sacred music, etc. The professors must preferably be graduates. They are obliged to teach philosophy and theology according to the method, the doctrine and the principles of St. Thomas (cann. 1364-66).

f) By virtue of its own proper juridical personality, the s., while remaining subject to the authority of the bishop, is exempt from parochial jurisdiction: the rector himself acts as parish priest (can. 1368).

It is for the bishop to ensure the good conduct of the s., and it is his duty to render an account of it personally (can. 1357). He therefore has the high supervision of it, while the juridical representation, which jurisprudence, according to the criteria of the Council of Trent, already recognized in the bishop, belongs to the rector, who, in case of absence or impediment, is replaced by the bishop.

2. The practical implementation of these norms varies somewhat in different countries. In Italy the two-year philosophical course is merged with the three-year lyceum course: the practice has by now become established, however, of adding to this course a fourth year, particularly devoted to the study of philosophy. In the North and in Sicily there is mostly the full s. (minor and major united); in the other regions there are the diocesan one for the gymnasium and the regional one for the lyceum-philosophical course and theology.

3. The regional s. of Italy owe their institution to Pius X, who drafted for them, with the apostolic constitution Susceptum inde of 25 March 1914, the constitutional charter (AAS, 6 [1914], pp. 213-18), with the aim of meeting the needs of the numerous small dioceses, in order to give them a properly formed clergy. They depend directly on the S. Congregation of S. and of University Studies, which appoints their personnel and provides for their finances. The bishops of the respective dioceses exercise their high direction over them by means of a commission of three members, chosen from among themselves, every three years, in the episcopal conference. One of the three commissioners, preferably the Ordinary of the place where the regional s. is located, is in charge of discipline; another of studies, the third of finances. Each regional s. receives the students of the dioceses situated in a conciliar region, and they are the following: ANAGNI, Pont. Regional S. Leoniano (major S. for lower Lazio) founded by Leo XIII in 1897, entrusted to the Jesuits; ASSISI, Pont. Regional S. Umbro "Pius XI" (major S. for Umbria) erected in 1912, transferred to its present seat in 1924, entrusted to the secular clergy; BENEVENTO, Pont. Regional S. Beneventano "Pius XI" (major S. for the Benevento area) opened in 1932, entrusted to the secular clergy; BOLOGNA, Pont. Regional S. Flaminio "Benedict XV" (major S. for Romagna), built by Benedict XV, opened in 1919, entrusted to the secular clergy; CHIETI, Pont. Regional S. Aprutino "Pius X" (major S. for the Abruzzi), inaugurated in 1932, entrusted to the secular clergy; CUGLIERI, Pont. Regional S. Sardo of the "Sacred Heart of Jesus" (major S. for Sardinia), inaugurated in 1927, entrusted to the Jesuits; FANO, Pont. Regional S. Marchigiano "Pius XI" (major S. for the Marches), inaugurated in 1924, entrusted to the secular clergy; MOLFETTA, Pont. Regional S. Apulo "Pius XI" (major S. for Apulia) established by Pius X at Lecce and moved to its present seat in 1925, entrusted to the secular clergy; NAPLES, Pont. S. Campano (for the students of Campania and the other southern regions, of the theological Faculty S. Luigi), established in 1911 and enlarged in 1924-26, entrusted to the Jesuits; POTENZA, Pont. Regional S. Lucano (minor S. for Lucania), inaugurated in 1927, entrusted to the secular clergy; REGGIO CALABRIA, Pont. Regional S. Calabro "Pius XI" (major S. for the Calabrias) inaugurated in 1933, entrusted to the Jesuits; SALERNO, Pont. Regional S. Salernitano-Lucano "Pius XI" (major S. for the Salerno area and Lucania) inaugurated in 1933, entrusted to the secular clergy; VITERBO, Pont. Regional S. "S. Maria della Quercia" (major S. for upper Lazio), inaugurated in 1933, entrusted to the secular clergy.

Pontificium, 15 (1935), pp. 287-97; 16 (1936), pp. 69-77; G. M. Sailer, Sacerdoti del Signore, 2nd ed., Milan 1944; L. Pirelli, In sortem Domini vocatis, ibid. 1946; id., Multa la messa, pochi gli operai, ibid. 1947; J. Géraud, Contre-indications médicales à l'orientation vers le clergé, 3rd ed., Lyon 1947; R. Biot-B. Galimard, Guide médical des vocations sacerdotales et religieuses, Paris 1947 (Italian trans., Milan 1949); A. Angioni, Il direttore spirituale dei candidati al sacerdozio, Milan 1949; D. Tomassini, Itinerario al sacerdozio, ibid. 1950; A. Misani, Santifica eos: norme pratiche per gli educatori del clero, 2nd ed., ibid. 1951.

Igino Cecchetti

SEMINARY IN THE MISSIONS

The need to form an indigenous clergy (v.) also in the missions, capable of filling all the offices of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, brings with it the duty of opening seminaries everywhere, which according to the norm of the CIC can be erected for a single diocese or quasi-diocese or for groups of the same.

In the annual and quinquennial reports that the Ordinaries of missions must send to Propaganda, information concerning the seminaries is never omitted. It is asked whether there is a preparatory college for the seminary, whether the seminary is divided into minor and major and how many students are educated in each of them. It is asked, further, whether the conditions of the territory are such as to permit only the erection of the minor seminary. In that case the seminarians are sent to the regional seminary for philosophical and theological studies. The existence at least of the minor seminary is often required in order to elevate a territory from a prefecture to an apostolic vicariate.

In the missions more than elsewhere it is often necessary to send young men called to the priesthood to study in seminaries outside their own territory, where for many reasons it has not been possible to erect one. Thus there are seminaries in which young men from several territories are educated and which are called interdiocesan, intervicarial, metropolitan, provincial. The various designations almost always presuppose no special juridical form and only indicate a de facto condition. In these cases the seminary depends solely on the Ordinary of the place. Special norms have been given by Propaganda for the regional seminaries, erected by the Holy See for a determined ecclesiastical or civil region. The ownership of the building must belong to the missions and the regulations must be approved by Propaganda, which in this last thirty years, with the help of the Pontifical Work of St. Peter the Apostle (v.), has built many regional seminaries. The direction of these may be entrusted either to a religious institute or to the secular clergy. For both cases there are precise norms. In the first case Propaganda reserves to itself only the high direction and leaves to the Institute the discipline of the seminary and of the schools, as well as its ordinary administration. The Institute must submit to the S. Congregation the rules and the program of studies. The appointment of the rector belongs to Propaganda following the presentation of the candidate by the Superior general, who will appoint the other Superiors and the professors, sending their names afterward to Rome. Every year the Ordinaries, gathered in assembly, will discuss the various problems concerning the discipline, the studies, the economic administration of the seminary and will examine the rector's report on the matter. Annually a report will be sent to Rome according to a determined form (Sylloge P. F., n. 183, pp. 456-59). On these prescriptions the norms for the regional seminaries entrusted to the secular clergy have been modeled (cf. A. Cracco, De seminarorum Sinensium institutione, Shanghai 1946, pp. 221-22).

The growing development of the indigenous clergy is due to the beautiful flourishing of seminaries in all the mission territories. It is almost impossible to give the list of the minor seminaries, which too often are housed in makeshift premises. According to the Missioni cattoliche, Rome 1950, pp. 531-35, the students of philosophy and theology were 4,291, educated in 89 major seminaries, of which 2 in America (excluding non-missionary territories), 30 in Africa, 11 in India, 8 in Indo-China, 26 in China, 1 in Korea, 2 in Japan, 1 in Indonesia, 4 in Australia, 1 in New Zealand and 3 in Oceania.

To the major seminarians must also be added the young men educated in the ranks of the religious clergy, who according to the Missioni cattoliche of 1950 were 522. - See plate XVIII.

Saverio Paventi