NEWS
of the Benedictine Confederation
and the Cistercian Family

October 27, 2025 During the Audience granted to His Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the Supreme Pontiff authorized the same Dicastery to promulgate the Decrees regarding, among others, the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Maria Evangelista Quintero Malfaz (born Maria), a professed nun of the Cistercian Order, born on 6 January 1591 in Cigales (Spain) and died on 27 November 1648 in Casarrubios del Monte (Spain). ocis

Dom Joseph Wittstock (abbot of Berryville), who has been monastic commissary of New Melleray since December 2024, offered his resignation as monastic commissary of New Melleray. The Abbot General, with the consent of his Council, accepted the resignation, which became effective on 21st October 2025. On the same date, the Abbot General with the consent of his Council appointed Fr Jerome Machar , monk of Genesee, as monastic commissary of New Melleray. Dom Jerome was born in Cl

On November 01, 2025, Solemnity of All Saints, Father Basilio Masashi Goto made solemn profession at the monastery of Phare (Japan). Father Basilio was born in 1954 in Hokkaido (Japan). He was a diocesan priest, entered Phare in 2020 and made his first profession in 2022. ocso.org https://www.trappist.or.jp/home/index-English.html

After more than two centuries of Cistercian presence, the community of monks at Port du Salut (diocese of Laval, Mayenne, France) has decided, after much prayer and discernment, to leave the abbey. Due to a lack of new vocations, the brothers felt that it was becoming difficult to maintain a sustainable monastic life at this site. On Sunday, 19 October 2025, the monks of the Abbey of Notre-Dame-du-Port-du-Salut handed over responsibility for their abbey to a team of volunteer

On 1 November 2025, All Saints' Day, During the celebration presided over by Bishop Dom Celso Antônio Marchiori at 10 a.m., the community of Benedictine nuns at the monastery of Encontro (Mandirituba, Brazil) will have the joy of celebrating the 60th anniversary of the monastery's foundation and the golden jubilee of Mother Teresa Paula Dias Perdigão's monastic profession. The Encontro community is part of the Benedictine congregation ‘Queen of Apostles’. It was founded in 19

Great joy for the Sisters of the Servants of the Poor in Brive-la-Gaillarde (France): On 16 September 2025, Bishop Eric Bidot of Tulle came to bless the first stone of the chapel! After three years in Brive-la-Gaillarde, this blessing further roots the Servants of the Poor in this beautiful diocese of Tulle. They give thanks to God and pray with great gratitude for the benefactors who made the construction of this chapel possible. In addition to the members of the clergy who

Benedictines from across East Asia and Oceania gathered this October at Thien Binh Monastery near Ho Chi Minh City for their biennial meeting. The event brought together leaders and delegates from monasteries in Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam—representing a thousand monks, nuns and sisters from across the region. The Benedictine presence in this part of the world stretches back nearly two centuries. It began

For several years, the Cistercian community of Bellefontaine (France) has been questioning its future. Initially, it sought to adapt its community premises to accommodate a smaller number of brothers, but over time it realised that the brothers could not continue to live alone on this 19th-century property covering 120 hectares, which had become too large for a small group of monks whose average age had reached 80. So it explored the possibility of partnering with association

Attention: An email is in circulation, purporting to come from a bishop in Ireland; it names the Abbot General and members of his Council and seeks money for sisters in Tanzania. This is a scam; please do not respond to it. ocso.org

The Synod of Abbot Presidents met in Montserrat, 15–19 September, uniting Benedictine leaders in prayer, fraternity and dialogue. Highlights included collaboration with the CIB and preparations for the Benedictine Jubilee of 2029. The Synod of the Abbot Presidents convened at Montserrat, 15-19 September, gathering the leaders of the Benedictine Confederation for days of deliberation, fraternity and shared prayer. Two new members were present: Abbot Javier Aparicio of the Otti