New York Seminarians gathering for a meal after the election of Francis I at the North American Pontifical College. Matthew Vann / Religio.

ROME – Shortly after the election of Pope Francis in mid-March, three seminarians stood behind their chairs waiting for lunch to begin  at the North American College in Rome. They were joined by other seminarians rushing into the dining hall with stuffed black briefcases returning from morning classes at universities across the city. These men, however, were just a bit louder than the rest of their seminary colleagues—they’re New Yorkers.

Before taking their seats, the seminarians heard the day’s news from Msgr. James Checchio, the seminary’s rector, who told them that they’d receive front row tickets to the inauguration mass of the new pope. He then led the packed hall of seminarians in prayer. They bowed their heads, made the sign of the cross and said together: “Bless us oh lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Christ, our lord. Amen.”

Over lunch, the New York seminarians—Nicholas Colalella, Andrew Garnett and Matthew Prochilo—all of whom are in their 20’s, reflected on the circumstances that brought them to the seminary. Colalella is from the Diocese of Brooklyn, which includes the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, while Garnett and Prochilo are from the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island

Colalella, 22, of Middle Village, Queens said that he was inspired to become a priest by the example of former Pope Benedict.

He was sad, he said, to see the former pontiff step down.

“Pope Benedict’s style is something that I connected with,” Colalella said.

“He was like a personal hero. And I was almost formed by him indirectly.”

The three New Yorkers, like their colleagues from around the U.S. who come here to study, said that they are enjoying their time in Rome, but are eager to complete their studies and begin to serve their home dioceses as priests. Moved by what they consider to be a moral decline in the United States, American seminarians in Rome hope to energize Catholics in their dioceses to live out their faith.

A generation ago, the Diocese of Rockville Centre, which comprises Nassau and Suffolk counties in Long Island, the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Archdiocese of New York, each had its own seminary to train men for the priesthood. With the sharp decline in the number of men seeking ordination, the three seminaries were merged into the one, which is known as St. Joseph’s Seminary, located in the Westchester County area of Dundwoodie.

There were more than 8,000 men ordained to the priesthood each year in the late 1960s, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.  Now, there are 3,723 seminarians studying to become priests in dioceses across the United States. Only a handful of them study in Rome.

Colalella, along with all the other 252 seminarians at the North American College, are handpicked by the bishop of their dioceses to study in Rome.

“Typically the men chosen to study at the North American College have a strong academic record,” said Lisa Amore, an administrative assistant at the vocations office of the Diocese of Brooklyn. “They are willing to learn Italian, and are able to be away from home for their first two years of study.”

Though many make it into the North American College by virtue of their academic ability and the strength of their vocational discernment—the desire to become a priest—some American bishops also opt to send seminarians to Rome because they simply have no other choice. As many American bishops struggle to maintain their seminaries because of low enrollment, they are faced with the tough decision of sending their aspiring priests to U.S. seminaries outside of their dioceses and, in some cases, overseas.

But many seminarians find that being miles away from their parishes, which are already in need of all the help they can get, to be an even greater sacrifice.

“It was a difficulty having to move from New York to Rome,” Colalella said.  “Being away from family and not having contact with people back home. But all these sacrifices in the end you understand as a gift.”

Garnett, 29, is from the Diocese of Rockville Centre said that he first felt the call to priesthood when he was in high school.

There was one priest there in particular, Garnett said, who inspired him. The priest, he explained, “ set the example of what every priest should aim for. Someone who cares deeply.”

Vocations to the priesthood in the Catholic Church have fallen since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, which initiated a series of modern doctrines and practices.  And the clerical sex abuse crisis that rocked the church in the United States has made recruiting young capable men to the priesthood even more difficult.

But for the first time in many years, the North American College founded by Pope Pius IX in 1859, is at maximum capacity. The seminarians there know the hostility with which the priesthood is viewed, especially given the abuse scandal cover-up by many in the church hierarchy. Despite that, there is a sense of duty and desire to push on.

“Western culture is not receptive to the idea of becoming a priest,” said Prochilo a graduate of Fordham University in the Bronx. “The task is daunting.”

As a seminarian at the North American College, Prochilo had the opportunity to serve as a commentator for radio stations broadcasting in the U.S. on the papal conclave that elected Pope Francis.

Raised Catholic, Prochilo, 24, knew early on that the life as a parish priest is what he wanted for himself. He recently left the Jesuit order to become a priest serving solely in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.  Prochilo says that diocesean priests have more of an opportunity to devote themselves fully to the church since they live a life of complete service on the local level.

“I see myself more free than most of my peers,” he said. “No one’s expecting us to come home at the end of the day.”

A protester shows her anger at the Catholic Church’s response to sexual abuse by priests. AP

ROME- Not everyone in Rome was celebrating the installation of Pope Francis on Tuesday. As world leaders and interfaith clergy gathered to congratulate the new pope, members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), wanted to be sure that their voices were heard as well.

“Obviously the new pope is a brilliant man, a likeable and approachable man, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee reform,” David Clohessy, the executive director of the group, said in an interview Monday night. “We hope he can prove us wrong but we don’t see a lot of evidence that he can be that tough disciplinarian.”

In the weeks following Pope Benedict XVI’s surprise resignation in late February, SNAP has held briefings with victims to ensure that sex abuse is high on the agenda for the next pope. Clohessy, a community organizer from Missouri, was in Rome to introduce abuse victims to members of the press.

Abuse advocacy groups worldwide aren’t happy with what they are seeing, so far. They note that, despite repeated requests, the new pope has not met with victims of abuse, although he has met with one Cardinal who is closely associated with the sex abuse scandal in the United States.

Soon after being named Pope on March 13^th, Francis met with Cardinal Bernard Law, the former archbishop of Boston. Law retired in disgrace in 2002 for his role in concealing child sex crime cases by more than 100 priests.

The meeting angered many advocacy groups who believe that the new pontiff’s reaching out to Cardinal Law doesn’t send the right message.

“The pontiff is an extremely smart man,” said Clohessy. “He must have known the hurt that he would cause to already wounded victims and still disillusioned Catholics by this insensitive act.”

Peter Iseley, SNAP’s Midwest director based in Chicago, believes this is an important reason for why the new pope should meet with victims sooner rather than later.

“Surely if the new pope can meet with Cardinal Law from Boston who symbolizes everything that’s wrong with the Catholic Church and the cover up, surely he can meet with victims of priest sexual abuse,” said Iseley at a news conference shortly after the meeting.

Skepticism of Francis’s ability to handle sex abuse has grown since an article published in the Washington Post on Monday reported that he was quiet on abuse cases as archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Francis’s association with the Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuit religious order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola, is also a cause for concern with SNAP. They believe that orders like the Jesuits are even more secretive when it comes to concealing child sex crimes than bishops.

“Many religious orders specifically focus on children, on schools and universities like the Jesuits do,” said Clohessy. “So they’re more secretive on issues of sex abuse and sex crimes simply because they can be.”

Unlike diocesan priests who report to a bishop, Jesuit priests also report to their superiors in the religious order who have the authority to move them to and from dioceses and even out of a country—if necessary.

One hundred and forty-six Jesuit priests in the United States currently stand accused of sex crimes, according to the watchdog group BishopAccountability.org.

SNAP routinely urges those with knowledge or suspicions of child molestation to contact secular authorities, not church figures, who they believe are inclined to protect the clergy before abuse victims.

Several advocacy groups, including SNAP, have written to the pope in hope of having a meeting to discuss how to stop and prevent future cases of sex crimes.

Clohessy says his group must at least try though it isn’t hopeful for any substantive change.

“We’re not interested in a meeting that’s depicted as a PR stunt or about healing,” said Clohessy referring to Benedict’s carefully choreographed meetings with abuse victims. “We want to meet with him to talk specifically and concretely about what we can do right now to better protect kids across the globe from child molesting clerics.”