of college/pre-theology) and six years of secondary seminary education ("major seminary," another two years of college/pre-theology and four years of theology/seminary). Father Jessing lived to see the first six seminarians ordained to the priesthood in June 1899 but he died less than six months later.
=== Pontifical status ===
To make sure that the fledgling institution would continue after his death, Jessing asked that it be placed under the protection of the Holy See. Pope Leo XIII granted the request in 1892, thus making the new institution, now called the Pontifical College Josephinum, the only pontifical seminary outside of Italy. Like the much older Collegio Urbano, the Pontifical Collegium Josephinum was initially connected to Rome by the Congregation for the Propaganda of the Faith, as is evidenced in it charter from Leo XIII below. From the granting of pontifical status to the present, the institution has been under the direction of the Dicastery for Catholic Education, with the Apostolic Nuncio …
