Sedes Sapientiae: An international seminary in Rome

The city of Rome, the heart of the Catholic Church, might be the perfect place for a priest to complete his formation.

Jino June
Seminarian, India
"Be a priest. A holy priest, and orderly priest. One hundred percent a priest. Not just, like, 50 percent proest and other 50 just as human. No. Being priest. One hundred percent priest."

Students from all over the world completing their formation at the Sedes Sapientiae seminary in Rome, agree that this particular seminary is different because of its proximity to the Vatican.

Eduardo Obispo
Seminarian
First of all, being here is a wonderful opportunity. Because Rome is at the heart of the Church. You get to see the universal element of the Church.

Eduardo Obispo, a fourth year student from Venezuela, says the structure of the seminary plays a big role in the formation of his vocation.

Eduardo Obispo
Seminarian
They help us discern our vocation. So, we have someone who is in charge of doing that, as well as a spiritual director. They are the two people in charge of each one of us and they help us in developing our vocation.

Alex Diaz
Seminarian, Spain
The classes we have in the seminary focus around spiritual direction, confession, that type of thing. And the last year, everything fuses together with the pastoral formation of the sacrament of confession and celebrating mass.

This particular seminary also fosters a sense of globalization because there are students from all corners of the world studying here.

Monsignor Juan Carlos Domínguez
Rector, Sedes Sapientiae Seminary
More or less one quarter of them are from Europe. Another quarter is from Latin America, from Africa and from Asia. So, we guarantee a certain diversity in our seminary.

Eduardo Obispo
Seminarian
The first thing that surprised me was that. Seeing Africans, Asians and my Latin American brothers all here together, studying and preparing for this calling that God has made to each one of us.

But leaving home to embark on a calling like the one these men have received involves sacrifice.

Víctor García
Seminarian, El Salvador
My mother is very happy that Im here. But also she is sad because Im not in my country. So I cant see them every day, much less every month. Maybe in two years, God willing.

Sedes Sapientae is product of a 1990 initiative led by John Paul II who during a meeting of a synod of Bishops, stressed the idea of a strong intellectual and spiritual formation of future priests.


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