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our being here in Rome is neither accidental nor unimportant, it is not pure coincidence.” These words were said here in this College in 1970 by St. Paul VI, the 262nd successor of St. Peter. Addressing the seminarians and faculty in his homily, St. Paul VI reminded the seminarians and priests to dismiss as a falsity the thought that being here is merely coincidental or insignificant. “Your being here in Rome is neither accidental nor unimportant, it is not pure coincidence.”

Ten years to the day after this, on the evening of February 20, 1980, St. John Paul II, the 264th successor of St. Peter, visited this College to celebrate a Mass with the priests and seminarians. In his homily in the Immaculate Conception chapel, St. John Paul II repeated this emphasis of St. Paul VI: “Your being here in Rome, it is neither accidental nor unimportant. It is not pure coincidence…”

Then, St. John Paul II told the priests and seminarians the reason for which this is true, saying, “If you sometimes wonder why the American Bishops have built and maintained this College in Rome, or why the Catholic faithful of the United States … have given financial support and have sacrificed of themselves to provide for you … to prepare for the priesthood in Rome, the answer is found in the words of Peter at Caesarea Philippi; it is linked to the mystery of Peter’s mission in the universal Church.”

We happen to find ourselves here, right now, in Rome because Jesus commissioned Peter to come to Rome.

Our being here right now is neither accidental, nor unimportant, and is certainly not a coincidence. From all eternity, and in particular when Peter was commissioned to be the first pope, God foresaw every grace that would pour fourth into the faithful by his choosing Peter to come here. He foresaw all the effects of Peter coming to this city. And one of the many effects of Peter coming to Rome is the establishment of this College. God’s providence foresaw each man who would come to this College and be nourished by God’s own choice to establish Peter in Rome.

And so, no moment here at this College is accidental nor unimportant, but rather, every moment has been foreseen by the One who chose Peter. Whether it be in the Immaculate Conception chapel, on the Campo Sportivo, in a conversation with a friend in this refectory, wherever in this College God has made us more his own is the exact place in which he foresaw and chose us to be formed for the priesthood of His Son. While it’s true that God could have chosen these graces to be given anywhere, it is not unimportant nor accidental that they have been given here in this city and in this College, linked with the mystery of Peter’s mission in the universal Church.

And so, I ask you to join me in a toast to the Pontifical North American College, the founding of which is neither accidental nor unimportant. May God continue to be praised and glorified through his victorious works accomplished here in his sons, and may it please him to have this be true for many years to come. Ad Multos Annos. n