PONTIANUS
230
PONTIFICAL
to Jerome (Epist. XXXII, iv) and Rufinus (Apol.
contra Hieron., II, xx), which concurred in the deci-
sions of the Alexandrian synod against Origen ; with-
out doubt this synod was held by Pontian (Hefele,
Konzihengeschichte, 2nd ed., I, 106 sq.)- In 235 in
the reign of jMaxiniinus the Thracian began a perse-
cution directed chiefly against the heads of the
Church. One of its first victims was Pontian, who
with Hippolytus was banished to the unhealthy island
of Sardinia. To make the election of a new pope
possible, Pontian resigned 28 Sept., 235, the Liberian
Catalogue says "discinetus est". Consequently
Anteros was elected in his stead. Shortly before this
or soon afterwards Hippolytus, who had been ban-
ished with Pontian, became reconciled to the Roman
Church, and with this the schism he had caused came
to an end. How much longer Pontian endured the
Bufferings of exile and harsh treatment in the Sardin-
ian mines is unknown. According to old and no
longer existing Acts of martyrs, used by the author
of the "Liber Pontificalis", he died in consequence of
the privations and inhuman treatment he had to bear.
Pope Fabian (236-50) had the remains of Pontian
and Hippolytus brought to Rome at a later date and
Pontian was buried on 13 August in the papal crypt
of the Catacomb of Calhstus. In 1909 the original
epitaph was found in the crypt of St. Cecilia, near the
papal crj-pt. The epitaph, agreeing with the other
known epitaphs of the papal crypt, reads : nONTIANOC.
EniCK. MAPTTP (Pontianus", Bishop, Martyr). The
word fidprvp was added later and is written in ligature
[cf. Wilpert, "Die Papstgriiber und die Caciliengruft
inder Katakombe deshl. Kahxtus" (Freiburg, 1909),
1 sq., 17 sq., Plate II ]. He is placed under 13 Aug. in
the list of the " Depositiones martyrum" in the chron-
ographia of 354. The Roman Martyrology gives his
feast on 19 Nov.
Liber Pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, I, Introd., xciv sq., 145 sq.; De Kossi, Roma sotterranea, II, 73 sqq.
J. P. KiRSCH.
Pontianus, Catacomb of. See Cemetery, sub-title, Early Roman Christian Cemeteries.
Pontifical Colleges. — In earlier times there existed in Eunipr iiutsidi' (if the city of Rome a large num- ber of ciilli'nt's, seminaries, and houses of the regu- lar orders which, in one form or other, were placed under the Holy See or under the Sacred Con- gregation de propaganda fide. Of these only a few remain. A list of these institutions is given, with emphasis on the fact that their object was to maintain the Faith in England, Ireland, and Scotland: The English College of St. Albans at Valladolid (1589); the English College, Lisbon (1622); the Scotch College, Valladohd (1627); the Irish College, Paris (1592); the English colleges at Douai (1568- 1795), Madrid-Seville (1592-1767), San Lucar (1517), Saint-Omer (1.594-1795), Esquerchin (1750- 93), Paris (1611); the Benedictine institutions at Douai (1605-1791), Saint-Malo (1611-61), Paris (1615-1793), Lambsprug (1643-1791); the house of the Discalced Carmelites at Tongres (1770- 93); the convent of the Carthusians at Nieuport (1559 at Bruges, 1626-1783 at Nieuport); the Dominican mona.steries at Bornheim (1658-1794) and at Louvain (1680-1794); the monastery of the Franciscan Recollets at Douai (1614-1793); the Jesuit houses at Saint-Omer (1583-1773), Watteu (1570, or perhaps 1600, to 1773), Liege (1616-1773), Ghent (1622-1773). Two of the Jesuit institutions, Saint-Omer and Liege, existed as secular colleges u|) to 1793. Mosf of the other monastic foundations emigrated later to England, where several still exist.
At the present time the matter is essentially dif- ferent. In speaking of pontifical colleges the dis- tinction must be made between those which have
explicitly received the honorary title Pontifical and
those which can be included in such only in a general
sense, because they are directly dependent upon a
central authority at Rome. It is a matter of in-
difference whether the institutions are called semina-
ries or colleges, as no material difference exists. There
are only three institutions with the title pontifical:
(1) The Pontifical Seminary of Kandy, Ceylon;
(2) The Pontifical Seminary of Scutari (Collegium Albaniense); (3) The Pontifical College Josephinum at Columbus, Ohio, V. S. A. The remaining sixteen colleges at present under consideration do not possess this designation, which is a merely honorary title. The clergy are trained for the regular cure of souls at: the American colleges at Columbus (Ohio) and Louvain; the English, Irish, and Scotch institu- tions at Lisbon, Valladolid, and Paris; the seminary at Athens; and the college at Scutari; the re- maining eleven institutions are employed in training missionaries. There are in Europe the Leonine Seminary of Athens; the Albanian College of Scutari; the English colleges at Valladolid and Lisbon; the Scotch College, Valladolid; the Irish College, Paris; the Seminary for Foreign ^lissions, Paris; the semi- nary at Lyons; All Hallows College, Dublin; St. Joseph's Seminary, Mill Hill, London; St. Joseph's Rozendaal, Holland; the American College at Louvain; St. Joseph's at Brixen, in the Tyrol; the missionary institute at Verona; the Seminary for Foreign Missions at Milan; and the Brignole-Sale College at Genoa. In America there is the Jose- phinum College at Columbus, Ohio, and in Asia the seminary at Kandy, Ceylon, and the General College at Pulo-Pinang. Formerly all these institutions were under the supreme direction of the Propaganda even when, by an agreement or by the terms of foundation, the appointment of the rectors of some institutions belonged to some other authority. Since the publication of the Constitution "Sapienti consilio" ( 29 June, 1908), which considerably limited the powers of the Propaganda, it still has under its charge, according to the letter of the under-secre- tary of the Propaganda of 11 January, 1911, ipso jure the institutions at Kandy, Athens, Genoa, and Pulo-Pinang; later decisions of the Consistorial Congregation have added to these the seminary for foreign missions at Paris, as well as the seminaries at Milan and Lyons. All other houses, seminaries, and colleges are, therefore, placed under the regular jurisdiction either of the bishops of the country, or of a committee of these bishops, or of the diplomatic representative of the Holy See in the respective country, when the cardinal secretary of state has not reserved to himself the immediate supervision of certain institutions. Some of the institutions men- tioned no longer belong, strictly speaking, in the present category; but it seems advisable not to exclude them, because the transfer is of recent date and they are generally regarded as papal institutions in a broader sense. Their former dependence upon the Propaganda is best shown by the detailed men- tion of them in the last handbook of this congrega- tion, "Missiones CatholicEe cura S. Congregationis de Propaganda Fide descripta; anno 1907" (Rome, 1907), pp. 831^9. This is also explicitly stated in the letter referred to above. Ten of these institu- tions are in charge of secular priests. The general seminary at Pulo-Pinang is under the care of a con- gregation of secular priests located at Paris, the Paris Society for Foreign Missions. Thf Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists) conduct the Irish College at Paris, All Hallows at Dublin, and the Brignole- Sale College at Genoa; the Society of St. Joseph has charge of the institutions at Mill Hill, Rozendaal, and Brixen; the Pontifical Seminary of Kandy anil the Pontifical College of Scutari were transferred to the Society of Jesus; the Veronese Institute is
