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Pope to Pontifical Teutonic College: Preserve unity with the Pope and the faith
Addressing the community of the Pontifical Teutonic College of Santa Maria in Campo Santo on its 150th anniversary, Pope Leo XIV recalls the College’s long history and calls upon its community to preserve their closeness to the Successor of Peter and to bear credible witness to the faith.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
“This one Faith in Christ is the principle of unity among the faithful,” Pope Leo XIV said, recalling that the Lord prayed for His disciples to be united.
The Pope made these remarks on Saturday in the Vatican when he addressed the community of the Pontifical Teutonic College of Santa Maria in Campo Santo on the 150th anniversary of its foundation.
He encouraged its members to make Christ’s prayer for unity their own and to ensure that the College remains a place where such unity “can be concretely lived and made visible.”
Such unity, Pope Leo reaffirmed, “constitutes an essential element for the credibility of our witness.”
Rich history
The Holy Father began by expressing his joy at meeting the community and recalling the long history of the Campo Santo as a privileged point of reference for pilgrims travelling to Rome from the territories of the Holy Roman Empire, dating back to the eighth century.
In the nineteenth century, Pope Leo recalled, the site assumed particular importance for priests from those countries, at a time when the ministry of the clergy was severely impeded, if not rendered altogether impossible, as a result of the ecclesiastical policies of the Kulturkampf in the German Empire.
Through the hospitality extended by the Archconfraternity of the Campo Santo Teutonico, the Pope explained, the site became “a place of refuge and study” for priests from the German-speaking regions.
The Campo Santo subsequently developed, Pope Leo continued, “into an important centre for Christian archaeology, Church history, and research into Christian origins.”
The Pope told those gathered that they could look back with gratitude upon “the rich fruits of this history.”
An important role today
The Holy Father went on to highlight the College’s importance for the Church today.
“Even today, the College for priests seeks to be a secure place of formation,” Pope Leo said, so that the clerics who live there may deepen their “intellectual and spiritual journey.”
The Pope explained that this formation should enable them to respond to the questions of people in their homelands “in the face of the great challenges of our time” and to “give an account of the hope that is in us” (cf. 1 Pt 3:15).
Pope Leo also highlighted a distinctive characteristic of the College: its unique proximity to the tomb of Saint Peter the Apostle.
From the very beginnings of the institution, the Pope said, this closeness has gone hand in hand with “a faithful adherence to the Roman Pontiff.”
Pope Leo noted that this is reflected in the title “Pontifical College”, which Pope Benedict XVI conferred upon the institution in 2010.
Preserving closeness and unity with the Successor of Peter
“Such an honour,” Pope Leo said, “also entails a commitment: to preserve this closeness and unity with the Successor of Peter and with the Faith of the Apostles which he proclaims.”
The Pope then returned to the importance of Christian unity, urging the members of the College to make Jesus’ prayer their own.
“Make this heartfelt supplication of Jesus your own,” Pope Leo said, urging them to “ask for this gift,” so that the community of the College may be a place where unity “can be concretely lived and made visible.”
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