Collegia Pontificia

Collegia Pontificia (papal colleges), institutions for training Romish missionaries for service among "heretical" and pagan nations. The first was the German college at Rome, founded by Loyola in 1552. Greek, English, Hungarian, Maronite, and Thraco-Illyrian colleges were established by Gregory XIII. Scottish and Irish colleges followed; and the institution of the Congregation de propaganda fide was succeeded by the erection of the college which bears the same title. More recently, an "American college" (1854) and a South American college have been established. SEE PROPAGANDA.