News from the Benedictine world

On 11 July, the Abbot of Le Barroux established a new dependent priory at Bellefontaine Abbey. Bellefontaine was previously inhabited by a Trappist community that has now left the monastery and made it available to the Benedictines. In a message, Abbot Primate Jeremias Schröder thanked the Trappists for their generosity and emphasised the clear witness of the monks of Le Barroux, who live out their attachment to the traditional liturgy in clear fidelity and obedience to the Holy See.

On 8 July, the General Chapter of the English Benedictine Congregation elected Abbot Robert Igo of Ampleforth as the new Abbot President. He succeeds Abbot Emeritus Christopher Jamieson of Worth, who had held this office since 2018.

During the first week of July, Abbot Primate Jeremias, together with the abbots of Montecassino, Pannonhalma and Einsiedeln, the Abbess of Bastia Umbra and monks and nuns from Vienna, Berlin and Dumenza, visited several Russian Orthodox monasteries in the Moscow region. The visit follows the tradition of Benedictine ecumenical commitment and represents an effort to build a monastic bridge between the Churches during a difficult time.

On 30 June, the osbatlas website was taken offline. The site was the fruit of the work of Fr. Stefano Visintin OSB, former Rector of Sant’Anselmo and current Abbot of Praglia. For many years, it was the only internet platform where all the monasteries of our Order could be found. This role has now been taken over by the jubilee website jubilee.osb.org/monasteries, which already includes all monasteries for men and will soon incorporate monasteries for women as well.

On 29 June, Abbot Primate Jeremias Schröder signed a cooperation agreement with representatives of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. The museum's researchers are investigating the background to the persecution and rescue of Jews in Rome during the German occupation of the Eternal City. They discovered around 1,000 pages of documents on these subjects in the archives of Sant’Anselmo. The agreement regulates the access, digitisation and use of these materials.

On 28 June, Abbot Melvin Valvano of Newark passed away. He served as Abbot of the monastery for 47 years and was also Abbot President of the American-Cassinese Congregation from 1989 to 2001.

On 25 June, Sister Maura Zatonyi was appointed Pro-Coordinator of the Monastic Institute at Sant’Anselmo. Sr. Maura belongs to the community of Eibingen Abbey (Beuron Congregation) and is an expert on Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church.

24 June: The earthquake in Venezuela, which claimed the lives of several thousand people, also damaged the former Benedictine Abbey of San José in Caracas. The current monastery in Güigüe (Congregation of Saint Ottilien) was shaken, but sustained no damage. The collapse of another former Benedictine building near Caracas airport resulted in the deaths of 147 people who had recently been deported from the USA.

On 21 June, the General Chapter of the Swiss-American Congregation voted in favour of the provisional admission of Weston Priory (Vermont), which had previously been directly subject to the Abbot Primate.

On 11 June, new regulations for the officials of Sant’Anselmo came into force. The service of the confreres in our Roman house regularly ends upon reaching the age of 75.

On 29 May, Saint Mauritius Priory in Bakonybél (Hungarian Congregation) attained independence. On 1 June, Father Izsák Baán Zsolt OSB was elected as the first Conventual Prior. Prior Izsák also serves as a professor at Sant’Anselmo.

osb.org