American College of Louvain

The American College of the Immaculate Conception, or the American College of Louvain, was a Roman Catholic seminary in Leuven, Belgium, which operated under the auspices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Founded in 1857, the American College closed as a seminary in June 2011.

The College was founded in 1857 by the bishops of the United States, under the leadership of Bishop Martin J. Spalding of Louisville and Bishop Peter Paul Lefevere of Detroit. Its founding purpose was twofold: to train young European men to serve as missionary priests in North America and to give American seminarians the opportunity to study at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

The College grew rapidly in its early years, most notably under the lengthy rectorship of John De Neve, its second rector. It is estimated that approximately eight hundred priests trained at the American College went on to serve in the American missions during the second half of the nineteenth century. They served in dioceses and vicariates all across the United States, and had a huge impact on the young American Church. Many served as bishops of newly formed dioceses, including the "Apostle of Alaska" Charles John Seghers; the second archbishop of San Francisco, Patrick Riordan; and the founding bishops of Boise and Helena, Alphonse Glorieux and John Baptist Brondel.

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