NEWS
of the Benedictine Confederation
and the Cistercian Family

On 31 January 2026, under the chairmanship of the Abbot General and in the presence of the superiors of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception, the community of Lérins (France) elected Dom Jean-Marie Gervais as its new abbot. Dom Gervais thus becomes president of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception. Born in 1960, Father Jean-Marie entered the monastery of Lérins in 1981 and has held various positions of responsibility in the service of monastic life. In 1997

On behalf of the Benedictine Confederation, Abbot Primate Jeremias Schröder congratulates Bishop Manuel Nin Güell on his appointment as Exarch of the Territorial Abbey of Grottaferrata. Grottaferrata is the only monastery of the Order of Basilian Monks in Italy. It is a territorial abbey and an exarchical monastery—that is, the superior holds episcopal rank. The monks follow the Rule of Saint Basil the Great, who was greatly admired and quoted by Saint Benedict. Pope Leo XIII

On 12 and 13 January 2026, the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat in Manila (Philippines) celebrated the centenary of the consecration of its abbey church. The solemn Mass on Tuesday 13 January was presided over by the Abbot President, Father Ignaci M. Fossas. https://www.benedettinisublacensicassinesi.org/ https://montserratmanila.org/

The DIMMID Board met in Rome from 9-12 January for an in-person session. There have been few in-person meetings of the Board of Directors of DIMMID (Monastic Interreligious Dialogue) throughout our history, the last one being in the Netherlands in 2019. We do meet four times a year online, as is required of us by our corporate charter, but from the beginning of my term I had really wanted to gather as many of us as possible at Sant’Anselmo for an in-person meeting. My goal fo

On 26 January, 2026, during a solemn Mass celebrated by the diocesan bishop Most Reverend Stephen Lee, and in the presence of Dom Paul Kao, Abbot of our Lady of Joy, Lantao, Father Immediate, and of Mother Cornelia Ellis Lisnawaty, abbess of Gedono, the founding monastery, the foundation of Our Lady, Star of Hope, Macau was officially elevated to the rank of simple priory , according to the decision of the General Chapter 2025. On 27 January, 2026, Mother Caterina Mazzarelli

On January 25, 2026, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, Sister Agata Sidoti made solemn profession at the monastery of Vitorchiano (Italy). Sister Agata was born in 1993 in Rome (Italy); she entered Vitorchiano in 2017 and made first profession in 2021. ocso.org

On January 26, 2026, the Solemnity of our Founders, Brother Moses Jeon and
 Brother Peter Stefanski made solemn profession at Tarrawarra Abbey (Australia). Brother Moses was born in 1968 in South Korea; he entered Tarrawarra in 2019 and made first profession in 2022. Brother Peter was born in 1972 in Poland; he entered Tarrawarra in 2020 and made first profession in 2022. ocso.org

On 25 January 2026, following the resignation of Father Jean-Pierre Flachaire, the community of Midelt (Archdiocese of Rabat, Morocco) elected Dom Mikaël Ziolo as prior for a six-year term. Dom Mikaël was born in 1961 in Tarnobrzeg (Poland). He entered the Tibhirine annex house in Fez (Morocco) in 1996, completed his monastic formation at Aiguebelle, the mothernouse, where he made his solemn profession in 2000. Then he returned to Midelt in 2022 where he transferred his stabi

ocso.org

On 15 January 2026, the community of Mepkin (Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, USA) elected Dom Gerard Jonas Palmares as abbot for a six-year term. Dom Gerard was born in 1964 in Lipa City (Philippines). He was was ordained a priest in the Philippines in 1991 before entered Mepkin in 2010, where he made his solemn profession in 2017. ocso.org