The formation of the Argentine clergy in the Pio Latin American College. The students of the diocese of Córdoba (Argentina) and the consolidation of a Roman ecclesial model (1877-1927)

Abstract

The Colegio Pio Latino Americano, founded in Rome in 1858, was a milestone in the Romanization process of the Argentine clergy. The paper seeks to analyze the impact of this "Roman group" in the construction of a clergy formation matrix, given that a significant number of former students held teaching positions in the local seminary. To do this, we identify the students sent to Rome by the diocese of Córdoba between 1877 and 1927, we analyze the composition of the group, the training they received in their years of instruction and we reconstruct the personal trajectories upon their return. The hypothesis that we propose is that the formation of the clergy in the Colegio Pio Latino was not promoted, in the Cordovan case, by the diocesan bishops. Sending students was, fundamentally, an interest of the wealthy families of Córdoba, who sent their children to study in Rome and supported them financially. Upon their return, they held positions of government and ecclesiastical administration. The promotion and diffusion of the college in the diocese responded, almost exclusively, to the initiative of the former students, at least until 1927, when Monsignor Emilio Laffite, a former student of the Pio Latino, was appointed diocesan bishop. Of the analyzed group, five reached the episcopal miter and were assigned to other Argentine dioceses and three of them were archbishops. Is it possible to propose the construction of a Roman matrix for the government of particular dioceses or Churches? This, without a doubt, is the subject of another work.