Seeing how his dreams of taking the charism of Opus Dei throughout the world were becoming a reality, Josemaría Escrivá felt the need, on the one hand, to properly prepare the members who would begin this apostolic work in a new country and, on the other, to adequately form the first vocations that were sprouting in each place.

[4] With this idea in mind, he established the Roman College of the Holy Cross on June 29, 1948, as an international formation center for male numeraries of Opus Dei.

But St. Josemaría soon began to look for possible locations to give the Roman College more autonomy, with larger facilities that would allow for a healthy formation for a large group of young people.

But as these and other efforts did not come to fruition, the headquarters of the Roman College remained in Villa Tevere until 1974, when it was finally moved to Cavabianca, the name given by St. Josemaría to a large complex of new buildings built in the area of Saxa Rubra, on the outskirts and at the northern end of the city of Rome.

Many of its students, after completing the necessary philosophical and theological studies and an appropriate and free vocational discernment, both on the part of the candidate and the training staff of the Roman College, also receive a specific preparation for the priesthood.