Tagle appeals for aid to restore Pinoy priests Home in Rome

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle appealed for financial support for the restoration of the Pontifico Collegio Filippino, the seminary where Filipino priests stay while pursuing further studies in Rome.

In a press statement issued Sunday on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website, Tagle encouraged the faithful to support a global fundraising campaign for the restoration of the four-storey structure at Via Aurelia in Rome.

The restoration of the Collegio will help preserve the environment of excellence it has established through the years a quality that will redound to the entire Catholic community, Tagle said of Collegio Filipino, which the CBCP calls Filipino priests' Home in Rome.

In the same statement, Collegios rector Fr. Gregory Ramon Gaston said the building was in bad shape and needed major repairs.

He particularly identified the building's pipelines and heating system as needing upgrades, and the dilapidated walls and cracked floors as needing renovation or replacement.

Gaston said that aside from the higher construction costs in Europe, the subsidy that the Collegio is currently receiving from the occupants' lodging fees and the donations it receives from guests are just enough to finance its daily operations.

Inaugurated in 1959, Collegio Filippino, officially known as Pontifical College Seminary of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, has produced more than 500 alumni.

Gaston said many of these alumni are bishops, archbishops, and papal nuncios who have gone on to become professors and members of the Diocesan Curia, and serve in specialized ministries such as communications and school systems.

It takes two to four years for Filipino priests to obtain their ecclesiastical degrees, and after completing their formation, they return to their home dioceses to work with the bishops and to train future priests in seminaries, Gaston said. Elizabeth Marcelo/BM, GMA News

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Tagle appeals for aid to restore Pinoy priests Home in Rome