Pope surrounded by Seminole fans

By Bob Rackleff

Special to the Florida State Times

The scene was familiar: FSU fans gathered around the television set to watch the Seminoles trounce Florida, 23-17, in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day...

Except that the refreshments were mostly Italian wines and beers, pizzete (small sandwiches) and panini (small pizzas)...

The game wasn't live, either, but on a videocassette that had arrived several days after the game.

And, well, they convened in Vatican City, where a group of some 20 FSU fans, most of them Roman Catholic priests and seminarians, comprise what may be the most unusual, if not divinely inspired, Seminole Booster Club in our alumni diaspora.

Founder and president of the Vatican City chapter is the Rev. Terrence Morgan, 46, serving as director of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education, a sabbatical program for priests.

Morgan taught religion at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, his hometown, for 14 years before moving to the Vatican. He acquired his Seminole spirit as a youngster in Jacksonville. "I just enjoy being a fan," he said.

Although he did not attend FSU -- Morgan got theology degrees from Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome -- his brother, Tim, graduated from FSU in 1977.

Off-duty, Father Morgan wears garnet-and-gold colors that get him noticed partly because the colors match those of the hometown soccer team, Roma.

"When I walk into the local trattoria wearing those colors," he said, "the coffee's usually on the house."

Most of the members of his Seminole Booster chapter are from Florida and appreciate the touch of home that viewing the football games provides, "although two of them are hopeless Gators."

When his assignment is up at the Vatican in 1999, Morgan plans to return to duty as a parish priest in the Diocese of St. Augustine.

In the meantime, he will spend part of this summer in Florida, helping to spread the Seminole gospel. He is slated to speak at the June 9 meeting of the FSU Alumni Association board of directors, the Greater Orlando Seminole Boosters Club on June 13 and the Polk County Seminole Boosters Club on June 14.

Said friend Pete Corrigan of Jacksonville, "Fans don't come any bigger."