Travelling with Fr John Jegorow and Ballajura pilgrims, Record journalist Anthony Barich caught up with Perth seminarians studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
The ten Australian seminarians staying at the Pontifical North American College (PNAC) in Rome witnessed an estimated 8,000 of their countrymen descend on the Eternal City with something approaching a sense of wonder last month for St Mary MacKillop’s canonisation.
While Rome was filled with over 50,000 pilgrims from Spain, Italy, Australia, Poland and Canada for the canonisation of six beati from their respective countries, the major event was yet another fascinating day in a constant stream of events the seminarians get to witness while studying for the priesthood in the Eternal City.
On a clear day, when the Rome smog is penetrable by the eye, they watch pilgrims mill around on the balcony of the St Peter’s Basilica dome from their dormitory rooms. PNAC first-year Mark Baumgarten reckons he’s got the best view in the whole college, but Brennan Sia may beg to differ.
“It only hit me for the first time that I’m actually living in Rome when I woke up and looked out the window as I brushed my teeth and saw St Peter’s. It’s just surreal,” he told The Record which visited the young Perth men last week.
While he’s not complaining, Mark does have to shut his windows at night as St Peter’s bells toll every 15 minutes throughout the night. The college, up on a hill overlooking Rome, is less than 15 minutes walk from the Basilica.
Pilgrim groups in their dozens are taken through St Peter’s Basilica by PNAC students, one of whom is Brennan, an Aquinas College graduate from Perth, one of four seminarians from WA at the college.
Twenty PNAC students work as tour guides in the highly regarded Scavi [arachaeological excavations] Tour of St Peter’s, training for six months beforehand so that they know this key historical tour back to front.
The pay they receive is pooled and is donated to a variety of charitable causes. Recently, it helped victims of the devastation caused by the Haiti earthquake.
“Pope John Paul II’s tomb is a particularly popular part of the tour for some reason,” Brennan says. “People always want to stop at it and pray.”
Mark is not surprised. “A whole generation grew up with JPII,” he says. “He’s the only Pope I knew before Benedict XVI. I was in the womb when JPII was elected.”
Kneeling in the beautiful, reflective college chapel having one’s eyes irresistibly drawn to a large mosaic of Mary seemingly being assumed into heaven at the back of the sanctuary, the Perth men – Mark, Brennan, Mark Payton and Christian Irdi – are indistinguishable amidst a sea of black jackets and Roman collars – all 230 of them, immaculately dressed for voluntary adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction followed by Evening Prayer.
During a break in Evening Prayer, two new formation faculty members stride to the front of the sanctuary, place their hands on the Bible and make a Profession of Faith and a vow of fidelity to the Church including a solemn promise to believe and proclaim the truths of its teachings on faith and morals.
While they dress the same as their American confreres, the 10 Australians from Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Wagga Wagga at PNAC are almost always an object of interest to the Americans.
“The Americans seem to be particularly interested in us,” Brennan says as we walk the corridors lined with portrait paintings of US Nuncios, Cardinal Protectors of the college and icons of the Archangel Michael and Our Lady of Guadelupe.
“We’re unique; we come across to them as people from this far-flung country. We’re just a curiosity, I think.”
The Australians also get to teach the Americans how to play rugby, which Americans reckon is not unlike their gridiron, minus the padding. They practise in the field on the college’s sumptuous, green grounds, watched over by a large representation of the crucified Christ.
“It’s like an oasis from the madness of Rome,” Brennan said of the rolling, spacious college grounds.
From the college’s roof – a popular social spot – the full vista of Rome opens out before us.
On “the fifth floor” – also a roof area – there is a kitchen with tables where students can impress their visiting family and friends by cooking up a storm while they watch the sun set over the Eternal City.
“There are quite a few unique things about living in Rome. This is one of them,” Brennan says on the roof. “At night, with all the lights, the city takes on a different feel.”
The students are accustomed to strange faces walking their halls. The college recently commenced a sabbatical programme for priests from other countries, and family and friends often visit. “It’s good having those different priests around. They’ve invariably spent a few years in ministry already, and we can draw on their experiences and get to know them,” Brennan said.
Brennan’s mother is also in town at the same time as our visit and he can’t wait to show her what he’s been doing with himself for the past one and a half years. After the canonisation Mass, he took her out for dinner at one of his favourite haunts.
Students walk past us, sweating from the gym where Brennan had completed a session just before meeting The Record.
The canonisation came at an especially frenetic moment for the Australians. All had significant roles in the Thanksgiving Mass for the canonisation of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls the day after the ceremonies, right when it was ‘crunch’ time for study.
Brennan and Michael processed with candles and escorted Mark as he proclaimed the Gospel during the Mass, while Mark Baumgarten held Cardinal George Pell’s crosier, or pastoral staff.
While all this gives the Australians a busy time, Mark Baumgarten’s plate is especially full. He’s been given responsibility for organising the college’s annual variety show on Thanksgiving Day in late November – an American holiday.
He will command a crew of some 60 students to put on a grand show, and it’s a big distraction from study. After their studies are over, the Archdiocese of Perth will undoubtedly be enriched once these young men return to be ordained.