Newly arrived American seminarians meet Pope Francis after quarantine

American seminarians met with Pope Francis this week after completing a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon their arrival in Rome.

For the 155 seminarians living on the campus of the Pontifical North American College (NAC) this year, the fall semester will be unlike any other in recent history due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Thank God they all arrived safe and sound”, p. David Schunk, vice president of the college, told CNA on September 9.

"Our protocol has been to test people before they leave the United States and then take a college test when they arrive."

In addition to returning students, the seminary also welcomed 33 new seminarians to Rome, who were able to attend mass in St. Peter's Basilica and visit Assisi for two days after the quarantine ended last week.

The new seminarians also had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis in the Clementine Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Palace before the Pope's Angelus speech on 6 September.

Fr Peter Harman, rector of the seminary, assured the pope of their continuous prayers during the meeting, adding: "We have just returned from the pilgrimage to Assisi, and there we begged the intercession of St. Francis for Pope Francis".

"Please pray for us that this new year will be one of grace, health and growth always in the will of God," the rector asked the pope.

American seminarians will soon begin theology courses in person at the pontifical universities in Rome. After concluding the 2019-2020 academic year with online classes during the Italian block, Vatican-accredited schools were invited in June to prepare to teach in person with additional health and safety measures.

Due to the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States, Americans are currently banned from entering Italy except for business travel, study, or visiting relatives of Italian citizens. All travelers from the United States arriving in Italy for these purposes are required by law to self-isolate for 14 days.

"Pending the start of university lectures, we are holding our annual pastoral training seminars on topics such as preaching / homiletics, pastoral counseling, marriage and sacramental preparation, and for New Men, Italian language studies," said Schunk.

“Normally we have external speakers, in addition to the training faculty, for some conferences and language studies. But this year with travel restrictions, some of the courses are to be a hybrid of pre-recorded presentations and even live video presentations. Although not ideal, things have been going well so far and seminarians are grateful for the material "