Collegium Josephinum Seminary
When four older boys expressed a desire to study for the priesthood, Jessing advertised in his paper that he would sponsor two boys who wished to become priests but who lacked the financial means to do so. Of the forty applicants, Jessing accepted twenty-three and the first academic classes began on September 1, 1888. In memory of the original St. Joseph's Orphanage, this seminary was called, in Latin, the Collegium Josephinum or Josephinum College.
As those first students progressed through the seminary program, the institution initially provided six years of primary education ("minor seminary," four years of high school and two years of college) and six years of secondary seminary education ("major seminary," another two years of college/pre-theology and four years of theology/ seminary).
To ensure that the Josephinum would continue after his death, Jessing asked that the fledgling institution be placed under the protection of the Holy See. Pope Leo XIII granted the request in 1892, thus making the Josephinum the first Pontifical University outside of Italy. From that time to the present, the institution has been under the direction of the Congregation for Seminaries, with the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States as its Chancellor. The Josephinum was incorporated under the laws of the State of Ohio in 1894. The seminary is financially independent from both the Holy See and the Diocese of Columbus.
In June 1896, Pope Leo named Jessing to the title of Domestic Prelate to honor him for his years of service to the Church and the community. Due to this, he was now referred to as Monsignor Jessing.
The first six seminarians to graduate the program were ordained to the priesthood in June 1899. Monsignor Jessing was able to witness this before his death a few months later, on November 2nd of that year.
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