Posted on 03/18/2020 5:47:54 PM PDT by marshmallow
ROME (CNS) -- About half of the U.S. seminarians and priests living at the Pontifical North American College and the Casa Santa Maria in Rome have left the locked-down city, the rector said.
At the NAC, the seminary on the Janiculum Hill overlooking the Vatican, 92 seminarians remained as of March 16, Father Peter C. Harman, the rector, told Catholic News Service. The enrollment this year was 192, he said.
"Thanks be to God that our priests and seminarians remain in good health and spirits," the NAC posted on its Facebook page March 14. "About one-half of the residents of the Casa Santa Maria and the seminary campus have remained in Rome."
"Classes taken remotely through the internet, regular and added activities, and our common prayer together are keeping us focused," the post said. "We have the supplies and plans to get through this aggressive precautionary quarantine in Italy."
Some students began leaving soon after classes at all universities, including the pontifical universities in Rome, closed March 5 in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Contacted by CNS the next day, officials of the NAC declined to comment on the decision of students, their bishops and their vocations directors about returning to the United States or remaining in Rome.
Many of those who left did so March 11-12, Father Harman told CNS in an email March 16.
Italy began a nationwide lockdown March 10, although it allowed shops, coffee bars and restaurants to stay open until 6 p.m. Two days later, the government tightened the measures, allowing only grocery stores, pharmacies and newsstands to remain open. While taking steps to ensure people stayed home, the measures still allow Italians and foreigners to get on trains or planes to get home.
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Better quarantine them.
Wouldn’t that be panicademic?
The church under Francis actively avoids the sick and dying. He’s recrafted it into a very hedonistic and selfish organization.
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