Vatican Report Critical of Culture and Ethos of Irish College in Rome

Irish Times ^ | 6/15/12 | Patsy McGarry

[marshmallow]

A REPORT carried out by the Archbishop of New York for Pope Benedict XVI, which expressed concern about “the atmosphere, structure, staffing and guiding philosophy” of the Irish College in Rome, contained “significant errors of fact”, Ireland’s four Catholic archbishops have said.

Pope Benedict announced an apostolic visitation of some dioceses, as well as seminaries and religious congregations in 2010. The visitation to the Irish College in Rome last year was led by then Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who has since become a cardinal.

A copy of the unpublished visitation report, which was presented to the Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome, has been seen by The Irish Times.

It has called for “substantial reform” at the college.

The four archbishops, who were the college’s trustees, were criticised in the report as seeming to be “disengaged from college governance, with meetings, minutes, agenda and direct supervision irregular . . . The general rule of governance is ‘Let’s keep doing what we have been for the last 35 years’,” it said.

The Irish archbishops say they “made a detailed and considered response to the Holy See”.

Cardinal Dolan was assisted in the visitation report by the then Archbishop of Baltimore in the US and now Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, Msgr Francis Kelly of the Northern American College in Rome and others.

The college, which was founded in 1628, educates students for the priesthood and is a popular wedding venue for Irish couples who wish to get married in Rome.

The visitation report said “a disturbingly significant number of seminarians gave a negative assessment of the atmosphere of the house”.

[marshmallow]

Inquisition update..... :-)

[bboop]

This Pope is wonderful.

[SumProVita]

Indeed he is!!! ;-)

Keep him in your prayers daily....and ask God to continue to remove those who are not anointed and appointed by God to be members of his staff.

[Tax-chick]

Staff, [the report] added, were “critical about any emphasis on Rome, tradition, the magisterium, piety or assertive orthodoxy, while the students are enthusiastic about these features”.

This seems to be a typical pattern. It sounds like the "staff" need to get jobs at the Irish Times instead of their present positions.

[RobbyS]

The fish rots from the head., the fish in this case being the Irish Church.

[Tax-chick]

Excellent point. The archbishops in charge either don’t know the seminary is staffed by unbelievers, in which case they’re incompetent, or they don’t care, in which case (so to speak) “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You!”