The American College of the Immaculate Conception

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The American College from the Naamsestraat.

The American College of the Immaculate Conception, or the American College at Louvain, is a Roman Catholic seminary in Leuven, Belgium. The seminary is sponsored and overseen by the Catholic bishops of the United States by way of the Committee for the American College of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The College was founded in 1857 by the bishops of the United States. Its founding purpose was twofold: to train young European men to serve as missionary priests in North America and to give American seminarians the opportunity to study at the Catholic University of Leuven.

The American College is located within the city of Leuven, and its residents take classes at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Catholic University of Louvain), especially its Faculty of Theology, Faculty of Canon Law and Institute of Philosophy. The College's current rector is Very Reverend Kevin Codd, a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane.

The primary mission of the American College remains the formation of priests with a missionary spirit. In the years since its founding, the College's alumni have gone forth to serve as many of the priests, professors, and missionaries of the Catholic Church in North America. To this day, the College continues to form and educate young men for the priesthood, primarily for dioceses in the United States. In addition to the classes offered by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the College seminary provides a comprehensive program of human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation for seminarians.

Shortly after the Second Vatican Council, the American College began a program for priests and religious seeking higher education. Since then, graduate students have been a part of the American College community as they continue their education in theology, philosophy, and canon law at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Additionally, the College offers sabbatical opportunities for priests, deacons, religious, and lay ministers, who come from many parts of the world.