Sister Nathalie and the Synodalists fail to excite French Seminary in Rome

Father Olivier de Rubercy, from the Diocese of Versailles, gave an interview at the end of his first year as rector of the French seminary in Rome. He dwells in particular on the declining numbers:

"This year we had 17 seminarians, 4 deacons and 13 student priests, making a community of 34, not counting the formators. This summer, we have around fifteen people leaving and ten arriving (seminarians and student priests). It would be good not to see a further drop in the following years to preserve the vitality and relevance of this house. In the 1990s, when I was a seminarian in Rome, the community numbered around 75-80 people. So the number of members has dropped considerably. They are following the decline in the number of seminarians in France".

So at the start of the new academic year there will be fewer than 30 seminarians and student priests - a drop that can still be corrected at the margin if the dioceses send more seminarians and student priests to Rome, but as they are really starting to run out themselves - several French dioceses have only one or two seminarians, or none at all.

In passing, he does a bit of advertising: "Here, twenty or so dioceses are represented: the Bordeaux region rubs shoulders with the seminarian from Arras, the Parisians with those from Luçon. There's also an international mix via the universities where they study. All the seminarians have a pastoral mission in the diocese of Rome. Most are in parishes, but others are involved in catechesis in schools or in charitable works, such as service to the poor with the Sant'Egidio community. Here they discover a different face of the local Church, which may prove useful to them in the future.

Rome also offers the opportunity to take part in papal celebrations and major Church events. The proximity of the Pope and the Curia is an asset. Finally, I believe that the proximity to the saints and martyrs present in Rome is a great asset in the formation of future priests".

Carrierists, abstain? "I'll say it: this is not a seminary for future bishops! I don't think it's healthy to present the seminary in this way, if only for the sake of the seminarians who live there. This kind of talk should not go to their heads. Many good priests from the field have passed through here. Some have become bishops". What's more, some French seminaries are veritable breeding grounds for bishops - like the one in Toulouse, where several teachers are now bishops in Lourdes, Auch, Tulle, etc.

As for the synod on synodality, it doesn't seem to be exciting the crowds, even at the French seminary in Rome: "I'm surprised to see that they don't talk about it much. Last year, Sister Nathalie Becquart, under-secretary in the secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, came to meet the community for a discussion. But generally speaking, they were not closely involved in the workshops and debates that took place in the parishes during the initial phase of the Synod.

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