The Scots College (Rome)

The Scots College (or The Pontifical Scots College) in Rome is the main seminary for the training of men for the priesthood from the dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.

The Scots College was established by Clement VIII on 5 December 1600, when it was assigned the revenue of the old Scots' hospice. At first the college was sited in a little house in what is known today as Via del Tritone, opposite the church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli. In 1604 it was transferred to Via Felice, now called Via delle Quattro Fontane, and there it remained until 1962.

From 1615 to 1773, the Rectors of the Scots College were drawn from the ranks of the Society of Jesus. After the Jesuits were suppressed in 1773 by Clement XIV, by his brief Dominus ac Redemptor, the College was administered by a series of Italian clerics until 1800 and the arrival of Paul MacPherson, a Scot, as Rector; he was to serve in that role for a total of 38 years. Since then the Rectors have all been drawn from the ranks of Scotland's secular clergy.

The other long serving Rector of the College, who also served for 38 years was Rt Rev. Mgr William Canon Clapperton (1886-1969) who served as Rector from 1922-1960. After his retirement he remained in Rome as canon of St John Lateran and is buried in the college plot at the Campo Verano cemetery in Rome.

The College was for many centuries located in the centre of Rome on the Via delle Quattro Fontane, where a bust of the last of the Stuarts, Henry Cardinal Duke of York can be seen.

The College moved to its current location on the Via Cassia some 4 miles from the city centre in 1962. The new College was officially opened by Pope Paul VI on 18 November 1964.

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