ROME—Born and raised in a rural Iowa community, Msgr. Kevin McCoy had no Catholic schools in his area. He did, however, have a strong parish life and was surrounded by many families. His parents took his religious education very seriously.

Now, as rector of North American College in Rome—which just celebrated the 50th anniversary of its seminary building—he takes seriously the religious education of some 165 seminarians. He spoke with Legion of Christ Brother Raymond Cleaveland about the college and the future of the Church.

How many seminarians are currently at the North American College?

The North American College is comprised of three programs: the seminary department, the continuing education program — both housed on the Janiculum Hill—and the graduate program in the “moth-erhouse,” the original seminary building called Casa Santa Maria.

We have 165 seminarians in the house this year representing 74 U.S., one Canadian and two Puerto Rican dioceses. We have 70 priests at the graduate house. Every year we also have two priestly sabbatical sessions of about 38 priests each.

You are in your second year as rector of the North American College. What other pastoral ministries have you had?

When I was ordained, I was an associate pastor at our cathedral parish. In addition to my involvement in the parish, I was doing some work in medical ethics and moral issues for the local Catholic hospital in Sioux City, Iowa. In 1983 I returned to Rome to do my doctorate in moral theology. From 1987 to 1997 I was appointed chancellor and finance officer of the Diocese of Sioux City. I came here to Rome in 1998.

In the last few years we have seen an upswing in vocations compared with 20 or 30 years ago. What is your outlook on the future for the American Church with regard to priestly vocations?

‘The Lord is not going to abandon the Church. He is not going to abandon his flock.’

I think that there has been an upswing. Certainly the number of diocesan vocations has increased. I think that goes to show the great hope we have. The Lord is not going to abandon the Church. He is not going to abandon his flock.

I think there is a direct relationship between the upswing and the fact that there are more people involved. Not only is it the vocation director out there promoting the priesthood, but there are more people being supportive of vocations and saying to young men, “Hey, have you thought of the priest-hood?”

Encouraging daily prayer for vocations is also important. In my diocese of Sioux City they set up a monthly day of eucharistic adoration for vocations—it makes a difference!

These men who are here will tell you that another thing that has most influenced them in their vocational decision is the Holy Father and his witness. The title of George Weigel's book, Witness to Hope, is very apt. I think that's exactly what the Pope has done in terms of his own personal witness: He has given a lot of young people reason to hope. He has shown them where that reason to hope lies: It is in Jesus Christ.

What advice do you give to your seminarians about the importance of prayer life?

When you are in the house of formation, with a schedule to follow, it is very easy to stay on track. But I have to get them ready for real life, where there is no one setting their schedules. So I stress that they ask themselves one key question: “Do I know myself?” Some guys know that if they are going to get their holy hour in, it has to be first thing in the morning. If that means I have to get up at 5 a.m. so I can be in the chapel by 5:30 a.m., that's what I am going to do.

But the parish experience reveals that there is not always an hour that you can commit to without interruptions. So as a friend of mine said, “The greatest thing I learned is that the holy hour sometimes has to be 15 minutes at a time. I use to get down on myself but then I realized that the Lord is there, ready for me whenever I come to pray.”

You have to make those kinds of adjustments. They learn that here in some respects, but it is really when they get out into the parishes that they truly learn. And they all come back knowing the real need for prayer, because without prayer, you're running on empty.

In forming future priests, how much does the example of the rector or spiritual director come into play, for example, in the area of prayer life, fraternity or as a father figure? What do you try to be first and foremost for these young men?

Here in the seminary they have key relationships with their spiritual directors and their formation advisers. And I meet with the first-year men individually to let them know that those are their key relationships that they will build in their discernment process. But what I tell them is the following: “I am here for you also.” It was interesting because one of the new men who had just come from another seminary experience came up to me the other day and said, “Wow, monsignor, you're just ‘around’! I see you a lot!”

To me that is very important. How am I around? If the guys are playing cribbage, I'll sit down and play with them. Or if they are watching the Super Bowl, I want to see it, too. These are what you might call “common human interests.” Now there are also the common “spiritual interests” that we share: morning Mass, for example. We're here for one another.

I think that if you ask the men they would say that I am probably pretty “paternalistic.” I don't mean that in the bad sense, but the fact is that when you live closely with 165 men, seeing their struggles in daily life, you develop a great love for them. I said to the deacons who were ordained [last] October: “You know, when we processed out of the ordination ceremony in St. Peter's, there was no one prouder than I was. I felt just like a very proud father.” I told Ambassador Jim Nicholson [U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican] and his wife that I think I have a bit of a sense of what parenthood is like, but I don't thing that any parent has ever had some 160 25-year-old sons!

Legionary of Christ Brother Raymond Cleaveland writes from Rome.