Aggiornamento on the Hill of Janus: The American College in Rome, 1955–1979 by Stephen M. DiGiovanni (review)

Stephen DiGiovanni's history of the Pontifical North American College (NAC) from 1955 to 1979 is his second volume. The first was the Second Founder: Bishop Martin J. O'Connor and the Pontifical North American College (2013). That book covers the preceding period, including the building of a new seminary campus, which opened on the Janiculum Hill in 1953.

Seminaries at this time were semi-monastic with a disciplined daily schedule. Attire was the cassock, which was worn in and outside the college. The emphasis was on structure and obedience. There were bells to summon seminarians for each activity, and much of the training was provided by older seminarians who took on the rolls of mentors and enforcers of the all-important Seminary Rule. Summers would be at the NAC's summer villa on the outskirts of Rome, the Villa Santa Caterina in Castel Gandolfo. Summers included classes and a regular Mass and devotion schedule, although the pace was relaxed from the academic year (students rose at 6:00 a.m. vs 5:30 a.m. during the academic year).

As the new seminary opened there was one spiritual director for all the students. This soon became two, and although personal spiritual directors were not yet the norm, changes were leading that way. Confessors were available daily and students began to meet with the spiritual directors 2 to 3 times per semester.

Education was typical Roman style, large aulae (classrooms), classes in Latin five days a week (off Thursdays and Sundays). The college had a system of repetitors to assist students and give English language class synopses for study. The NAC had ample opportunities for activities, including a large sports field and a theater for showing films and performing shows. New seminary traditions grew up with these facilities, including the still-current annual "Spaghetti Bowl," a new-men versus upperclassmen football game held each Thanksgiving weekend.

Pope John XXIII announced in 1959 his intention to call a synod of the Diocese of Rome, and an Ecumenical Council, and to revise the Code of Canon Law. The Roman synod highlighted the challenges in Rome, which had experienced large growth in population and was in desperate need of new parishes to fulfill the needs of the diocese. The Roman synod was enthusiastically followed by the seminarians who witnessed poverty in Rome. Seminarians and student priests were men of their age and wanted to serve. The issue at stake was the conflict between the desire of the seminarians to engage quickly in ministry and the need to develop patterns of prayer, discipline, and study for their ministry. Impatience with waiting was a sign of the idealistic age and would characterize the struggles during these years.

In 1964 the eighteen-year term of the rector, Bishop O'Connor, ended and he was succeeded by Bishop Francis Reh. Those years (1964–1968) were turbulent. The liturgical reforms, including the interpretation of the spirit behind them, pitted the haste of many students in contrast to the slow approach the college preferred. The introduction of the vernacular at Mass was welcomed by seminarians, although many wanted the transition to be faster. Since the new liturgical books were years away, students began inserting unauthorized translations and musical settings into the Mass. Despite concelebrated Masses becoming more common, student priests frequently preferred to attend Mass rather than concelebrate. The theology of concelebration was not yet fleshed out and questions about participation in Mass, and the identity of a priest, were debated.

The seminarians were excited to be part of the new theology and closely followed the Council. The infamous "Black Week" of November, 1964 hammered home to the seminarians that authority figures might not be trusted.¹ Morale declined at the seminary and small acts of rebellion began to take place. During Reh's years the students grew more independent and self-reliant...