2013 Annual Report - Jesus College - University of Cambridge

JESUAN IN ROME I Jesus College Annual Report 2013 139
Hospice and installed the Archbishop of York
to be its Warden and his Ambassador to the
Holy See.
When Elizabeth I would no longer allow
Catholic priests to train in her realm, the
Hospice’s use was changed, in 1579, for it to
become a seminary to ordain men to return
to England and minister – albeit secretly –
to the continuing Catholic community there.
To do so was considered a treasonable
offence, punishable by imprisonment,
torture and, in many cases, death – death by
hanging, drawing and quartering. In the first
century of the College’s existence, forty-four
of its alumni were martyred in this way; and it
was named by papal decree The Venerable
English College in recognition of their heroism.
Rooted as it is in the Counter-Reformation,
the College is nevertheless strikingly
ecumenical. The Archbishop of Canterbury
and his wife always stay there when visiting
the Pope. When I was Rector, Archbishop
Rowan Williams stayed with his wife some
eight times; and we were delighted that
Archbishop Welby should choose to stay with
us too when he met Pope Francis.
Since Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor was
Rector in the 1970s, the College has aimed
every year to welcome one or two Anglican
ordinands to live and study for a semester
alongside the seminarians. These ordinands
have hailed from all places between
Chichester and Durham. But the clear
majority have been students of Westcott
House opposite the College in Jesus Lane;
and it was a particular joy for me welcome to
the Venerabile recently the Reverend Canon
Martin Seeley, Principal of Westcott and
himself a Jesuan, along with his wife, the
Reverend Jutta Brueck.
Three Pontificates in eight years brought a
great number of people to Rome – from
royals to simple pilgrims; and the College
was proud to continue its tradition for
hospitality by welcoming them all as
generously as it possibly could – especially
since we were celebrating in 2012 the 650th
anniversary of the foundation of Hospice. On
the celebration of our sesquicentenar, we were
honoured when Queen Elizabeth II sent as
her representative the Duke of Gloucester,
who delivered a most touching message. Two
days later, Pope Benedict XVI received in
private audience the whole College.
Contemplating a picture we brought him of
the College’s first students,
he told us, “you are their successors”.
His Pontificate also saw the visit of Tony
Blair, the third visit of a serving British Prime
Minister after William Gladstone and
Macmillan.
Rather like life at Jesus, so at the Venerabile,
it is the everyday that forms and shapes the
student more than the historic and
momentous. Seminarians are with us these
days for seven years. They begin with two
years’ Philosophy at the University of St
Thomas, where their teachers are Dominicans.
This is followed by three years’ Theology at
the Jesuit Gregorian University. Most find this
to be an enriching experience, with teaching
by both men and women, lay and ordained,
from every Continent – alongside a similarly
varied group of students: lay men and
women, religious sisters and predominantly,
of course, seminarians from across the globe.
Very popular are visiting professors from
other universities: I remember being
particularly impressed by a course with
Professor Owen Chadwick on the Anglican
Divines (he was rather impressed to find
several graduates of Oxford and Cambridge
taking his course!); and Professor Eamon
Duffy has also contributed in recent years.
Seminarians end their studies with a Licence
specialisation – anything from Canon Law to
Church History to Scripture. I often told
students that I found the Licence in
Fundamental Theology at the Gregorian
the most stimulating of all my university
studies.
We tend to speak of Seminary Formation
as four-fold in its structure: Intellectual,
Spiritual, Pastoral and Human. Even if studies
occupy most of the hours in a day, a student
will also be encouraged to make significant
time for these three other foci of his training.
For instance, a student is expected to make
good time each day for meditation. Most
achieve this before the 6.45 a.m. Mass and
Lauds. After breakfast, the mornings are
filled with lectures at the universities.
Afternoons are usually for seminars, study,
essay-writing, spiritual reading, exercise