NEWS
of the Benedictine Confederation
and the Cistercian Family

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

On 3 October 2025, Father Mauritius Wilde has been appointed by the Holy See as the new Abbot of Maria Laach. We congratulate the new abbot and also the community of Maria Laach. From 2016 to 2025, Fr. Mauritius served as prior of our house community of more than 100 monks, students, and professors. Abbot Mauritius is 59 years old. He comes from Münsterschwarzach Abbey in Franconia, which belongs to the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien. Before his ser

For the first time since 2011, the International Commission on Benedictine Education (ICBE) held a youth congress at Sant’Anselmo in Rome, 20–25 September. More than 30 students took part, representing Chile, Brazil, South Africa, the Philippines, Australia, Austria, Germany and the United States. The gathering brought students together for prayer, shared experiences of Benedictine education across cultures, and visits to places significant for Benedictine history, as well as

On 7 Oktober 2025,  Mother Pascale Fourmentin  completed her six-year term as Abbess of Arnhem (Diocese of Utraiectensis, in The Netherlands). On the same day, she was re-elected Abbess of the Community for an indefinite term. ocso.org https://abdijkoningsoord.org/

On October 7, 2025, at a meeting at Wilhering Abbey, Abbot Dr. Pius Maurer of Lilienfeld Abbey was elected as the new Abbot-President of the Austrian Cistercian Congregation. It was also decided that Abbot Dr. Reinhold Dessl of Wilhering Abbey would remain First Assistant, and Fr. Dr. Meinrad Tomann of Heiligenkreuz Abbey would remain Second Assistant. Abbot Pius Maurer (born 1971) comes from the parish of Unterdürnbach in the municipality of Maissau (Weinviertel). After gra