“Highlights of Hope”
The website dedicated to the jubilee of Benedictine life publishes a monthly feature on a different monastery, showcasing how Benedictine life is lived in communities around the world: jubilee.osb.org
– Inkamana abbey, South Africa
We journey to Inkamana Abbey in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Founded as a Benedictine mission in 1922, Inkamana has grown into a monastic and educational centre, running a boarding school alongside workshops, farming, hospitality and retreat ministry. In a country where Christianity is widespread but Catholics remain a relatively small minority, the abbey has spent more than a century putting Benedictine prayer, work and service into practice.
By Fr Francis Kuutondokwa
When the Bell Rang: The 1500th Benedictine Jubilee Launch at Inkamana Abbey
It began with the sound of a bell.
On 11 July 2026, as we gathered in front of the Abbey Church to celebrate the Solemnity of our Holy Father Benedict, our largest bell suddenly rang out across the Abbey grounds. For thirty seconds, its deep, familiar sound filled the air. But on this occasion, the bell seemed to be saying something more: Wake up! Pay attention! Something new is beginning.
– Shantivanam, south India
What does the first year of the Jubilee look like in a Benedictine community embedded in one of the most religiously diverse cultures in the world?
In India, Christians are a small minority: 2.3% of the population in the latest published national census figures, compared with 79.8% Hindu and 14.2% Muslim. In Tamil Nadu, in the south of the country, Christians make up around 5.9%. And it’s here, on the banks of the River Kaveri around 200km southwest of Chennai, that we find Shantivanam (the “Forest of Peace”) home to Saccidananda Ashram, a Camaldolese Benedictine community.
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