The Pontifical Beda College (Italian: Pontificio Collegio Beda) is a college in Rome. It is united to the English College in Rome and is intended for older men, often convert clergymen wishing to prepare for the Roman Catholic priesthood.
This College was founded in 1852 by Pius IX to to accommodate a number of clergymen from England who had joined the Roman Catholic Church from other Christian denominations and wished to prepare for the Catholic priesthood. They came only for four years, because they were seen to have significant experience already. The new College, first known as Collegio Ecclesiastico and later as Collegio Pio, also included lifelong Catholics, drawn to the priesthood fairly late in life. A third category comprised priests studying for post-graduate degrees in Rome.
Pope Leo XIII issued a new constitution in 1898 and placed the college under the patronage of the Venerable Bede, the eighth century Anglo-Saxon monk and scholar. Cardinal Howard bequeathed to the two colleges his valuable library.
In 1956 Pope Pius XII provided from extraterritorial property of the Holy See the land on which the present Beda stands, adjacent to the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. Pope John XXIII formally opened the new building on 20 October 1960.
The Beda remains the responsibility of the Bishops of England and Wales but now receives men from English-speaking countries worldwide. The country seat of the two colleges is at Monte Porzio Catone.