History
It was founded in 1859 by Blessed Pope Pius IX and given as its home a former Dominican and Visitation Convent, the Casa Santa Maria, located in central Rome near the Trevi Fountain. It was granted pontifical status by Pope Leo XIII in 1884 and was incorporated in the United States by a Special Act of the Maryland Legislature in 1886 as a non-stock, that is, not-for-profit, corporation under the name "The American College of the Roman Catholic Church of the United States". This is its official name for the purposes of United States federal and state law, and for such things as contributions and bequests. The College enjoys tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code.
Until the outbreak of the Second World War, all the College's students resided at the Casa Santa Maria. During the War, the various national seminaries in Rome were temporarily closed by Pope Pius XII and non-Italian students returned to their home countries. When the war ended and the seminaries re-opened, the Roman Catholic Church in America had experienced such an increase in vocations to the priesthood that the Casa Santa Maria could no longer accommodate the many seminarians whom United States bishops wanted to send to Rome for their priestly formation and university studies. To respond to that situation, the Roman Catholic bishops of the United States authorized construction of a new Seminary complex on the Janiculum Hill overlooking the Vatican. The complex was built on the grounds of Villa Gabrielli al Gianicolo, land the bishops had purchased in 1926.
Pope Pius XII dedicated the newly-built Seminary on December 8, 1952, the annual Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The Casa Santa Maria then became a residence for ordained United States Catholic priests pursuing advanced studies in Rome. In 2009 and 2010, an historic eighteenth century residence on the Janiculum Hill Campus was renovated to provide a new home, the "Casa O'Toole", for the College's continuing formation program for priests ordained ten years or more; and a new convent was built for the religious Sisters who make up part of the College staff.
Read more about this topic: Pontifical North American College
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