Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland ... Ciao Italia!

It's been a long time since I wrote any update about how my studies have been going. Whoops and sorry! So here's an overview of what I have been doing the last few months. By the way, when I say "overview", I mean mostly pictures!


Mid-July, after saying goodbye to everyone in Canada :'( I made my way to Koblenz, Germany. A requirement for my program is to have a decent knowledge of either German or French. In Koblenz, I studied German for about two months in the hopes of learning enough to satisfy this requirement. So I studied mucho .... I mean ... viel! I also had the chance to see some of the sights. Koblenz is a beautiful city relatively close to Frankfurt, situated where the Rhine and Mosel rivers meet. There are many vineyards and castles along the banks of the river.
(Maybe I should have studied graphic design...)
Where the Rhine and Mosel meet
They grow wine here
I couldn't fit in this house
Maybe my diet was the problem...
At the end of September I went to Berlin to take my German exam. It was a pretty intimidating experience as the exam lasted two days. The first day we were tested on our listening, reading and writing. I thought I did so badly on the first day that I didn't want to come back the second day for the speaking portion! But I did, and when I received my results (a full three weeks of stress later)! I was surprised to discover that all went well! Passing this exam means that one requirement for my program was met.
Ya! I passed my German exam
In early October I made my way down to Rome for the start of my studies in Sacred Scripture. I now live in the Canadian College with about 25 other priests from across Canada, all taking different programs of study (for example: Liturgy, Moral Theology, Canon Law, Dogma, Ecclesiastical Basketweaving etc.). Our house is just a ten minute walk from St. Peter's Basilica. This makes it easy on a Sunday to go to the Angelus with Pope Francis.


Find Pope Francis!
I have classes everyday excepts for Thursday and Sunday. Its a strange schedule but apparently it's what St. Ignatius of Loyola thought was best! The school I attend is called the Pontifical Biblical Institute, or Biblicum for short.

My school - old like the Bible
In total the Biblicum has around 250 students from all over the world. Currently I am in the "Propaedeutic Year" of the program, which is a technical term for the year in which they make us study Greek and Hebrew until we cry!

The library: where I cry surrounded by old books
In between studies it is great to see some of the sights in the city. Here's something that I see on my way to school:
Pantheon - older than my school
My program is challenging but I am really enjoying it so far. Though I miss parish life in Vancouver, I feel incredibly privileged and blessed to have this change to study in Rome. I am trying to make the most of it! Till my next update (which I hope to do more regularly!), I wish you all the best. God bless!