Loyola University Chicago Rome Center
| John Felice Rome Center | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | |
| Via Massimi, Monte Mario, Rome | |
| Information | |
| Type | Jesuit, Catholic |
| Established | 1962 |
| Founded | Casa Italiana Viaggi Internazionali Studenti |
| Enrollment | 400 |
| Affiliation | Loyola University Chicago |
| Website | LoyolaRome |
The John Felice Rome Center is a campus of Loyola University Chicago in Rome, Italy. The center was founded as CIVIS (Casa Italiana Viaggi Internazionali Studenti) in January 1962, hosted on premises built for the Olympic Village of the 1960 Summer Olympics, and leased from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1966 the school relocated to Monte Mario, an upscale area in northwest Rome which is the highest point in the city. After two intermediate relocations, it moved in 1978 to its present location, on Via Massimi, in a residential neighborhood on Monte Mario. In Spring 2009, Loyola University Chicago purchased the building and surrounding property, making Monte Mario the permanent home of the Rome Center.
The school and its program was founded by Rev. John P. Felice, a Maltese Jesuit who had become a U.S. citizen. Felice's dream and life's work centered on this school. Felice had been an intelligence officer in the British Eighth Army during World War II and served as a liaison officer under General George Patton in preparation for the invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland.
Entering the Jesuit order, Felice was ordained a Jesuit priest and assigned to teach theology at Loyola University of Chicago. His dream of a campus where American students could live and study abroad was realized with the founding of the Loyola University "Rome Center" in 1962. Felice was its founder and served as its director until 1973. Shortly thereafter he left the priesthood. However he remained continuously associated with the Rome Center throughout his life, first as a "consultant" and then returning in various administrative positions, finally returning as director in the late 1980s.
Felice was known for his vast Roman connections that stretched from the Vatican, to the carabinieri and the government of Italy. He was also a great leader and inspiration for the now thousands of young people who have attended the Rome Center. He never failed to have time for a student, Italian worker, family member or visiting alum.
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