The summer of 1962 was very eventful, more so than planned or expected!
My sister was going to marry, and she wanted her brother the priest to officiate at the ceremony. It was scheduled for August 11th in Schenectady, New York, near to where she was living then with our parents.
I was visiting with them, a few days before the wedding. Out of the blue, I received a life-changing phone call. The caller was Archbishop John Maguire, the coadjutor and right-hand man of Cardinal Francis Spellman, the Archbishop of New York
“We need a priest,” he said, “who can speak Spanish and who has pastoral experience in the Spanish-speaking community to work in the Chancery Office of the Archdiocese.
“The Cardinal has selected you, and, since the position requires a doctorate in Canon Law, you will first go to Rome for three years of study. See me about the details when you’re back in Manhattan.”
Just like that! In those days, the priest’s assignment was like the military. Decisions were made by superiors, orders were given, and you reported for your next duty assignment.
In September I joined a large group of American seminarians sailing from the port of New York for Rome on the Leonardo Da Vinci. We arrived in Rome, from the port of Naples, the beginning of October.
My new home was the Casa Santa Maria, the residence for student priests of the North American College. It was in the heart of downtown Rome, just a short walk downhill from the Quirinale palace, the residence of the president of Italy, and just a short block from the Trevi fountain.
Rome was all astir. Pope John XXIII was leaving for Assisi on the fourth of October, the feast of St. Francis, to pray at his tomb for the success of the Vatican ecumenical council about to begin one week later.
This was no small event. Breaking with the tradition of the “Prisoner of the Vatican”, the pope was taking a train from the Vatican City station, the first time it ever was used!
I went to Assisi, too, during the pope’s visit, and I was fortunate to be in St. Peter’s Basilica for the opening Mass of the council one week later! What an arrival in Rome!
I was enrolled in the doctoral program in Canon Law at the Pontifical Lateran University: two years of classes, and a third for researching, writing, and defending a doctoral dissertation.
Classes were lectures in Latin! The lecture hall was filled with priests from all over the world many struggling to understand the mother tongue of the romance languages. The professor I understood best was a Spaniard, since I knew his language—his Latin seemed like he was speaking Spanish with an odd pronunciation!
It was curious. Here we were, busily studying the existing Canon Law, while over in St. Peter’s the bishops, united around the pope, were trail-blazing new approaches to evangelization, theology, and law.
To be candid, much of my Canon Law classes were repetitive—I had had an excellent Canon Law training in the archdiocesan seminary in my years there.
At the Casa, we had a fantastic guest lecture series. Every week the council was in session we had distinguished visiting speakers: hierarchs, professors, authors.
Their evenings were free, so they were delighted to talk to us—and we were delighted to spend time with them!
The Law was the chore! The Vatican council sessions every fall were a wonderful burst of the Spirit in the life of the Church!
4 March 2021