ROME — Nestled in the heart of Rome, the Venerable English College continues its centuries-old mission, forming future priests who carry on the legacy of the English martyrs, ready to face the challenges of spreading the Gospel in today’s world. 

“Our history here started in 1362 when we were an English community welcoming pilgrims,” Father Stephen Wang, rector of the English College in Rome, told the Register. 

In fact, Father Wang explained, “the college was founded because of the great jubilee in the year 1350.” Because of the large number of pilgrims journeying from England to Rome for the Jubilee, a place of welcome for English pilgrims, was established 12 years after the jubilee.  

 “Of course,” the rector added, “the most important thing for us is when we started as a seminary community in the late 16th century, in the time of the Reformation in England.” 

While the English Reformation began as more of a political affair than a theological dispute when Henry VIII requested an annulment of his marriage which the Church refused, its consequences deeply affected the practice of Christianity in Western and Central Europe. 

“The situation in England became grave for Catholics,” Father Christopher Warren, vice rector of the English College told the Register.  

“The Protestant Reformation, which we think of now very much as an historical fact, was a live one for them. It was impossible to be a Catholic in England, and particularly for priests and for those who would seek to aid them in their mission, it became a question of life and death.”  

Because of the dangers that came with being a priest in England and Wales, “preparation for priestly ministry had to take place on the continent,” Father Warren added.  

The Age of the Martyrs 

“The young men coming from England and Wales to study here were full of faith,” Father Wang explained. “Their hearts were on fire. But they knew the dangers and the risks. They knew that to be caught as a Catholic priest, they would have been probably tortured, tried and then executed.” 

Indeed, after their ordinations, the many young priests would return to England and Wales to lead a secretive existence, in constant danger of betrayal, arrest and execution — which was the fate of one of the Venerable English College’s first students, St. Ralph Sherwin, on Dec. 1, 1581. 

Originally from the north of England, St. Ralph Sherwin was an “establishment figure,” having studied at Eaton School and Oxford University before his conversion to Catholicism.  

“He was full of faith and longed to share that faith with others,” Father Wang explained. “He lived here for three years, as a newly ordained priest, and then went back on the first mission with a group of companions to try and share the Catholic faith back in England and Wales.  

“He was in London for a relatively short period of time before he was intercepted and arrested,” Father Warren added, “and his subsequent martyrdom happened very soon after that.” 

Over the next 100 years, 44 former students were martyred, most by being hanged, drawn and quartered, the brutal execution method of the day. Half a century later, their legacies live on in the college, where “their names are inscribed upon marble tablets on the walls.”

The sufferings and martyrdoms of the students and other English saints are also shown in graphic detail in a series of frescoes in the tribune of the Chapel of the Martyrs inside the college.  

“Whenever I bring groups around the church, they are always horrified, but also edified by the heroism of those martyrs,” Father Warren shared, “because through their brutal suffering, they remained faithful to Christ and the conviction of their hearts that their faith was the truth.” 

“This building is not just built upon the legacy of the martyrs,” Father Warren commented. “It is very much alive with their spirit and with the zeal that inspired them to give their lives in honor of the Lord Jesus in service of the Church and with a real desire to serve the people back home.” 

Spiritual Formation at the Heart 

Today, 24 seminarians and student priests are following the Lord’s call at the Venerable English College in Rome. They commit to seven years, “undertaking the canonical requirement set down by the Church of studying philosophy in preparation for a theological formation.” 

“The very heart of their week, however, is the spiritual formation,” Father Warren stressed, “and the coming to terms with their call.” 

“The seminary is a place of preparation and transformation, so that they may become more like Christ, in order to bring the Good News to a new generation of people, to feed them with the sacraments and to spend their lives as the martyrs did, in service of their brothers and sisters.” 

Chris Carling, 26, a first-year seminarian at the English College from the Diocese of Middlesbrough in England, emphasized the importance of the liturgical life in the formation. 

“I think it is the bedrock that goes behind everything that takes place here,” Carling told the Register. “We begin the day with morning prayer and end the day with evening prayer. It is a real opportunity to come together as a community to worship God and also an opportunity to spend time before the Lord individually to ask him what he is asking of us.” 

Originally founded for seminarians returning to England and Wales, the College today welcomes students from Scandinavia, Australia, Croatia, and beyond. Despite their diverse origins, they share a common mission, a deep love for Christ, and a readiness to follow His call. 

“The liturgical life is really important because this is really where we learn how to do things properly,” Stuart McGovern, 51, a fifth-year seminarian from the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore in Ireland, told the Register. “To pray in community is also really encouraging and helps to keep us united in the mission.” 

Reflecting on his future as — God willing — a priest in Ireland, McGovern shared: “It’s going to be challenging to try and hold community, especially in parishes in Ireland where a lot of priests are on their own. So, it’s very beautiful to have it here and to be a part of it.” 

A Different Kind of Persecution 

The rector of the college noted that while much of the formation remains unchanged, there is now “extra emphasis on mission and communicating the faith in creative ways.” 

“That’s why there is a big part of time spent on pastoral experiences here,” he stressed. “Every week, our seminarians go off to different projects in Rome, to hospitals, schools, prisons, to learn the “skill” of relating to other people, and to grow in charity and love of the other.” 

Father Wang highlighted the profound inspiration the English martyrs offer to future priests in this matter, emphasizing their courageous decision to return home, even at great personal risk. 

“We need missionary priests today,” he emphasized. “The cultures back home are not always welcoming to the Gospel and to the Christian message. So, to be able to share your faith in a loving way, but also to have the courage and creativity to share that faith in new and difficult circumstances — the martyrs are such a model for that.” 

“England remains a country largely hostile to the message of the Church, of the Gospel,” Carling shared. “I wouldn't say it’s violent hostility, often it manifests itself in apathy, which to an extent I think is worse than the hostility the martyrs had, because at least people then knew that there was something powerful in the Church, something to persecute.” 

While he explained that he might not face the martyrdom that the English — and Irish — martyrs faced, McGovern emphasized the influence and inspiration of the martyrs. 

“Today things are different, but we are all going home to some kind of hostile environment,” he said, referencing anti-Church sentiment in Ireland. “So, to learn about the English martyrs, and to know that they were willing to do what they did, is really an inspiration.”  

Pointing to pressing moral debates that define the landscape they will return to, Father Warren pointed out that “this week, the British Parliament [voted in favor of] assisted suicide.” 

“The men training here today are preparing to minister in countries where issues that would have been unthinkable 50 or 60 years ago are now very much live debates. They are called to serve in these complex times, and there’s a real degree of self-sacrifice in that.” 

‘Today Rather Than Tomorrow’ 

Though generations apart, seminarians past and present share not only the same vocation and mission, but also a unique connection through the Liber Ruber — “the Red Book.” 

Since 1579, all students signed the Missionary Oath in the Liber Ruber, which to this day records the names and details of every student in the College. The first to sign was St. Ralph Sherwin, who swore to return to England hodie quam cras — “today rather than tomorrow.” 

“When they arrived,” the rector said, “they signed the book like a matriculation book. It was a way of promising to go back on the mission, whatever the cost, even at the cost of your life.” 

When signing the Liber Ruber, Father Warren added, “the new men quickly realize it is signed by someone just like them — often young men who came here not only with the certainty of faith and the strength and grace that brings, but also with their own questions, worries, and anxieties.” 

While the oath is not entirely the same today, Carling noted, “we make that same implicit promise when we sign the book that, if ordained, we will return to our home countries to be priests.” 

On St. George’s Day, the day when Ralph Sherwin signed the book in 1579, Carling will sign this book along with the other five new seminarians, “hopefully with that same zeal as the first martyrs, and that same desire to take the Gospel back to our own countries.” 

Another reminder of their mission is “the Martyrs’ Picture” in the chapel. Painted in 1580, it depicts the Holy Trinity with the blood of Jesus igniting the earth. Jesus’ words, the motto of the college, can be read underneath: “I have come to cast fire on the earth.” 

The two English martyrs and patrons of the college, St. Thomas of Canterbury and St. Edmund, King of East Anglia, can be seen on the left and the right, pointing towards a gate. 

“They point to the Flaminian Gate,” Father Wang explained, “which represents the road going north. It’s the road home. Our two saints remind you that your vocation is not to stay in Rome forever but that you are here for a purpose: It’s to go home. It’s to be on mission. It’s to share the Good News of Jesus back home to those who need to hear the Gospel.”