Scots College (Rome)

The Pontifical Scots College (Italian: Il Pontificio Collegio Scozzese) in Rome is the main seminary for the training of men for the priesthood from the dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. It was established by a bull of Pope Clement VIII on 5 December 1600.

In 1560, the Scottish reformation parliament introduced a Protestant confession of faith and abolished papal authority in Scotland. Priests who continued the old religion in Scotland slowly began to die out. Catholicism all but disappeared aside from in the north-east and south-west of the country, or in hubs where local noblemen held on to the old faith.^[1] At this time, exiled clergy attempted to recover and reform existing Scottish ecclesiastical institutions abroad, or establish new ones, in accordance with the counter-reformation ethos of the Council of Trent (1545–63), which recommended the training of diocesan priests within seminaries. Petitioning began for such a Scots institution to be established in the central location of Rome where there was already an existing medieval Scots Hospice.^[1]

The Scots College was established by Pope Clement VIII on 5 December 1600, when it was assigned the revenue of the old Scots' hospice.^[2] It was placed under the of a Cardinal protector, the first of whom was Camillo Borghese.^[1] At first the college was sited in a little house in what is known today as the Via del Tritone, opposite the church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli.^[3] The college opened in 1602 with only eleven students, but was not at first constituted solely for the training of priests to return to Scotland as missionaries.^[4] In 1604 it was transferred to Via Felice, now called Via delle Quattro Fontane.^[5] The first Rector was a papal official, Monsignor Paolini, who died in 1612. After petition by the students themselves, administration was handed over to the Jesuits in 1615.^[6] The martyrdom of Saint John Ogilvie in Glasgow compelled the students to take a mission oath whence the sole purpose of the College became the training of priests. The foundation of the Congregation De Propaganda Fide proved a significant turning point for missionary efforts in Scotland. At this time the College also became strongly linked with the powerful Barberini family. A church, Sant'Andrea degli Scozzesi, was constructed in the 1640s adjacent to the buildings of the college for the celebration of feasts and burial of the dead.^[7]

The College of the mid seventeenth century was at times embroiled in conflict between the secular clergy and Jesuits, the latter being accused of recruiting students for their own number. In 1645 Pope Innocent X ruled that the mission oath was a commitment of life-long service to the Scottish mission, even if a student decided to enter a religious order. A meeting of Scots seculars in Paris during the winter of 1649–50 decided that a mission of secular priests should formally be set up with a superior, and one of their own remaining in Rome as an agent to protect its interests. The first of these agents sent to Rome was William Leslie, who was to become a significant figure in the history of the College. He kept a watchful eye over its affairs. Disputes with the Jesuits continued, they argued that the oath deterred students and desired full control over the College, but Leslie was able to persuade the Propaganda to rule the oath perpetually binding in 1660.^[6]

In the latter half of the seventeenth century, the college became a centre for the promotion of the cult of Saint Margaret of Scotland, having been gifted some relics. William Leslie, along with his relative the Rector William Aloysius Leslie, petitioned for the Saint to be added to the universal calendar of the Church, accepted by Pope Clement X in 1673. A relic was obtained from the Scots College Douai, until then the main centre of devotion to the Saint, with the altar of St Margaret in Sant'Andrea degli Scozzese being provided with a painting. William Aloysius was able to have her patronage of the Scots Colleges, and of Scotland recognised by the Church.^[8] During the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the students remained loyal supporters of the Catholic King James. This was controversial in Rome due to the decision of the latter to seek refuge with Louis XIV of France, an enemy of the Pope.

William Leslie died in 1707, having seen in his lifetime the College become the focal point for the training of priests to return home to the Mission, and in the early eighteenth century the College enjoyed relative prosperity. In 1724, the administration was turned over to Italian Jesuits at the request of the Scottish clergy due to their discontent with the administration.^[9] The College was not untouched by the Jansenist crisis which embroiled the Scottish Church in the 1730s and 1740s.^[9] Happy years followed under the rector-ship of Lorenzo Alticozzi, who cleared debts and was able to refurbish and enlarge the college villa at Marino. Notable students of this era included George Hay, John Geddes and Charles Erskine. The students were educated in philosophy and theology by the Jesuits at the Roman College.^[9] However, the Alticozzi era came to a dramatic end in 1766 whereupon the death of the Old Pretender, the rectors of the British colleges in the city, with Cardinal York and others, chose to recognise Charles Edward Stuart as Charles III against the policy of the Pope. All the British Rectors, including Alticozzi, were removed from office and banished by Papal order.^[10][11] The Jesuit period of the college came to an end soon afterward when the society was suppressed in 1773 by Clement XIV, by his brief Dominus ac Redemptor, and the administration was passed to the Italian secular clergy.^[12] During this time the college suffered, the maintenance of discipline failing with some administrators viewing it as a mere sinecure. Following visitation by Bishop Hay, John Thomson was sent as Scottish agent and was eventually replaced by Paul MacPherson upon the latter's death in 1792. MacPherson worked towards the College being handed over to Scottish superiors, however these efforts were interrupted by the French invasion of Rome in February 1798. The College was occupied by the French and MacPherson fled with the students, including those from the English and Irish Colleges who had been abandoned by their own superiors. The group of twenty-two arrived in London in June 1798 and were presented to the Prince of Wales and government ministers.^[13]

MacPherson returned in the summer of 1800 that he could recover the College properties, and found them in a state of disrepair. He was thereafter made Rector, albeit without students, and remained in Rome throughout the quarrels between Pius VII and Napoleon, protecting the properties until he was expelled by the French in June 1811. He returned to Rome in 1812 where the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 relieved some pressure, and after much petitioning, students finally returned in 1820.^[14] MacPherson was eventually replaced as Rector in 1826 by Angus MacDonald, however the latter's death and subsequent crisis warranted his return in 1834. He died in 1846 and was succeeded by his Vice-Rector, Alexander Grant. Grant set about renovating the buildings, and began with the refurbishment of Sant'Andrea degli Scozzesi, reopened on Saint Andrew's Day 1847. John Henry Newman sang the High Mass of dedication.^[15] In 1861, funds given in compensation for the loss of the Scots Monastery in Ratisbon made possible an entire reconstruction of the College itself. Demolition of the buildings began in 1864, and the new building was completed in 1869 under the direction of Luigi Poletti. Busts of notable Scottish Catholics can still be seen on the façade of the building, including^{[citation needed]} the last of the Stuarts, Henry Cardinal Duke of York. The building was solemnly inaugurated on Saint Andrew's Day 1869.^[15]

The first half of the 20th century saw two Rectors appointed directly to the episcopate; Robert Fraser, who had seen the institution through its tercentenary celebrations, and Donald Mackintosh who oversaw the years during the First World War.^[16] MacKintosh was succeeded as Rector by his Vice-rector, Father William Clapperton, who was to become another long term Rector and significant figure in the College's history. In the early years of his rector-ship he saw to the reconstruction of the College villa at Marino as well as seeking the addition of a spiritual director to the staff, and saw the rise of Benito Mussolini in Italy - under whom the College building on the Via Quattro Fontane was threatened by radical plans for the city.^[17] When Italy entered the Second World War, Clapperton decided that staff and students should return home. Seminarians studying philosophy were sent to Blairs College while those in theology were transferred to St Peter's College, Bearsden. Clapperton was kept up to date with College affairs from his temporary posting in Banff was kept up to date with the College affairs which were managed by an administrator. Students and staff finally returned in 1946.^[17]

In 1959, the Scottish Bishops decided to build a new college on the outskirts of the city and a location was chosen on the Via Cassia some 4 miles from the city centre. Clapperton wished not to oversee the move, given his age and long tenure, and was released from his office in 1960. He was named a Canon of St John Lateran and remained in Rome until his death in 1969. In 1962, the old college was vacated and the seminarians spent the interim years at the college villa in Marino. The new college was designed by Renato Costa and was officially opened by Pope Paul VI on 16 November 1964.^[6]

The chapel of the new college was designed an in the shape of an irregular heptagon complete with high altar, an altar to Saint Andrew, Lady altar, choir stalls and pipe organ. Beneath the chapel there is a crypt, the main body of which was dedicated to Saint Margaret, with altarpiece by Arthur Fleischmann. In addition, there were altars of Saint Patrick, Saint Ninian and Saint Columba, each with their own mosaics. Fixed to the walls of the crypt were the original tombstones of James Francis Edward Stuart, Charles Edward Stuart and Henry Benedict Stuart. The stairways around the chapel and crypt were decorated with twenty stained glass windows created by Giovanni D'Aloisio depicting scenes from the history of the Church in Scotland. The subjects of these windows were suggested by Mgr David McRoberts while Mgr Charles Burns acted as historical adviser to the artists. The windows were accompanied by Latin inscriptions narrating the story of each scene.^[4][6] In 1984, Pope John Paul II visited the college and celebrated Mass in the chapel.

Seminarians at the Pontifical Scots College in Rome spend their first two years studying Philosophy at the Angelicum. After completion of Philosophy, and depending on their fluency in Italian, they take up the study of theology either at the Pontifical Gregorian University or the Angelicum, where theology is also offered in English. Priests taking part in postgraduate theology courses continue to stay at the College.^[5] The celebration of the Feast of St Andrew is a high point of the Scots College year.^[18]

On 14 April 2016, the community of the Scots College were granted a private audience with Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace to mark the 400th anniversary of its becoming a seminary.^[19] In 2017, seminarians from the college were invited to serve at the Easter Vigil at St. Peter's Basilica.^[20][21] After a 2020 review projected unaffordable upgrade costs for the Via Cassia seminary, the Scottish Bishops announced a plan to relocate to a more central location in Rome beginning in 2021.^[22] A temporary move was announced in May 2023 to the Beda College in September 2023, until a permanent location is found.^[23]

The careers of some of the early students at the college demonstrate the opportunities available to educated Scottish Catholics on the continent in the 17th century. Former students Robert Phillip, later joined the French Oratory, and William Thomson, later a Franciscan, were confessors to Henrietta Maria of France. Another George Strachan of the Mearns became a Humanist scholar, Orientalist and traveller.^[26] Daniel Colville became a notable linguist and librarian at El Escorial. George Conn, who arrived in 1619 and left in the same year, later became a Franciscan, canon of San Lorenzo in Damaso, secretary to Cardinal Francesco Barberini and honorary chamberlain of Pope Urban VIII. Conn also acted as papal agent at the court of Queen Henrietta Maria. Thomas Chalmers, a student from 1630 to 1637, was almoner to Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin.^[6][27]

William Ballantine, a student from 1641 to 1646, was named the first Prefect of the Scottish Mission in 1653 and was imprisoned in London for two years by order of Oliver Cromwell. Ballantine was later succeeded by another former student of the college, Alexander Dunbar Winchester. During the fabricated Popish Plot, which gripped the kingdoms of England and Scotland, Alexander Lumsden, a former student of the college and Dominican Friar, was condemned to death in London. He was later acquitted on the grounds of his nationality and could not be said to have "acted as a priest in England" within the meaning of the Jesuits, etc. Act 1584.^[27] John Paul Jameson (c. 1659–1700) was a priest and antiquarian who studied at the college in the latter half of the seventeenth century.

Charles Erskine was educated at the college under the protection of Henry Benedict Stuart from 1748 until 1753. Erskine became a papal diplomat and was named Cardinal in 1801. Walter Lovi (1796–1878) was a priest and architect active in the mid-nineteenth century who studied at the college from 1823 until 1825.^[27]

In the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries there were several notable students. Frederick Rolfe (1860–1913), better known as Baron Corvo; a writer, artist, photographer and eccentric, was expelled from the college without receiving ordination.^[28] Canon John Gray (1866–1934), English poet and founding parish priest of St Peter's Morningside Edinburgh, studied at the college from 1898 until 1901. Adrian Fortescue (1874–1923), priest and polymath, studied at the college from 1891 until 1894.^[29] George Thompson (1928–2016) entered the college in the 1950s and left without completing his studies. He later became a teacher and then a Scottish National Party politician and Member of Parliament. Later he resumed studies for the priesthood at St John's Seminary, Wonersh and was ordained in 1989. Paul Laverty (born 1957), a screenwriter and lawyer, studied for priesthood but did not continue to ordination and obtained a degree in philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University.^[30]

• Abbe Paul Macpherson, History of the Scots College, Rome, 1600-1792, John S. Burns, 1961

• Official website
• Seminaries associated with the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference of Scotland
• Address of Pope Francis to the Staff and Students of the Pontifical Scots College, 14 April 2016

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