Pius X Pontifical College

Pius X Pontifical College ( St.Pius X Pontifical College / Pontifical College St. Pius X ) is a Catholic seminary located in Dalat City, Vietnam. The college was created by request of the congregation of Vietnamese Catholic Bishops. The college’s seminarians were sourced from the Southern provinces such as Long Xuyen, Can Tho, Saigon to the Central provinces such as Danang and Hue. The origin of the college was Father Ferdinand Lacretelle who, in 1957 has founded a missionary centre in the capital of Vietnam. To further his work, Father Lacretelle continued his ministry in Dalat. At the same time, the congregation of Vietnamese Catholic Bishops felt the need of a special training institute that follows the model of a Pontifical College of Rome. The college was open on the 13 of September 1958. During its life time from 1958 to 1975, the college has produced many teachers for seminaries all over South Vietnam. It also produced many bishops for the Church. A notable teacher at the College was Bishop Enrique San Pedro, S.J ( see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_San_Pedro).

The curriculum consists of a 3 years course in philosophy, followed by one year of mission work in the parishes, then a 4 years course in theology. During the undergraduate years, seminarians learned ancient languages such as Latin and Greek, Sanskrit or Chinese. Other subjects may included, as taken from the prospectus of 1973-1974-1975 :

Introduction to Ancient Philosophy ( Plato, Aristotle)- Scholastic philosophy - Thomas Aquinas - Modern Philosophy ( Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza)- Modern Philosophy ( Locke, Berkeley, Hume)- German Idealism - Kant,Hegel)- Introduction to Logic – Aristotlean Syllogism - History of Salvation - Introduction to Psychology - Psychoanalysis - Chinese Philosophy – Hinduism – Islam - Buddhism ( advanced studies ) - Continental Philosophy – Atheism/Theism - Structuralism - Existentialism - Theories of Ethics - Introduction to Moral Theology - Cosmology - Introduction to Biblical Studies - Revelation.

After a year working in the parish, seminarians returned to begin the first of 4 years in theology. They must complete course work in systematic theology, biblical theology – Ancient Testament, New Testament theology, patristics, homiletics and ministry practice. The end of year requires a thesis. The College also invited guest lecturers from outside academia and other denominations such as Buddhist academia. In summary, the 3 years of philosophy consists of systematic philosophy (philosophia systematica ) ethics,cosmology, theodicy and history of philosophies from East to West. The 4 years in theology culminates in a special field ( sectio specialis) in which the candidates would prepare a supervised thesis (Statuta Facultatis Theologiae, art. 43-46). The teaching staff came from various language backgrounds and they read or write fluently in French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese or Japanese. Some wrote in Latin, but the seminarians normally prepare and defend their thesis in French.

Further to the academic formation, seminarians participated in one of the most important activity of their training which is the Spiritual Month. The Spiritual Exercises consist of a guided compilation of meditations, prayers, and contemplative practices developed by St. Ignatius Loyola to transform and to enrich spiritual life. This is one of the most crucial stage of seminarians training.

A total of more than 60 Jesuit teachers have taught at the College. The names of the five Rectors were: Fernandus Lacretelle (1958-1960), Franciscus Burkhardt (1960-1962), Paulus W.O’Brien (1962-1965), Josephus Raviolo (1965-1972), Josephus Ramon de Diego (1972-1975). The teaching staff included : Paul Deslierres, Aloisius Bobbio, Albertus Palacios, Joseph A. Ruiz, Joseph Ch’en, Matthias Ch’en, Joseph Krahl, Henricus San Pedro, Antonius Drexel, Joannes Motte, Hervaeus Coathalem, Franciscus Xavier Urrutia, Aloisius Leahy, Gildo Dominici, Philippus Gomez, Nilus Guillemette, Paulus Lachance, Andre Lamothe, Josephus DeFinance.

On 28 August 1975, all Jesuit priests and other foreigners were asked by the authority to leave the country within 48 hours. Expelled, they behind Father Michel Martin S.J in Hue, Ramón Cavanna S.J in Saigon, Jean Motte S.J and Anton Drexel S.J in Dalat. Father Anton Drexel has specifically requested, before his death, that he should rest eternally in the country he loved so much to live for.

Like a seed, buried in the soil of Dalat, Anton Drexel continues the College's tradition, as many of his students in 2013 continue to teach in universities around the world, from Sweden,France,Germany, USA to Asia and Australia.