Press Release Conception Abbey Communications Department On Saturday, 11 July 2026, the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey, in Conception, Missouri, elected Fr Paul Sheller OSB, as their new abbot. He becomes the 11th abbot in Conception Abbey’s 153-year history, succeeding Abbot Benedict Neenan OSB, who has retired after 10 years of abbatial service. The election of Abbot Paul took place within a private meeting of the monks of Conception Abbey on Saturday, 11 July. Befor

On the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, a significant step forward was taken in building our global network for the Jubilee via a shared Zoom call. For the first time, Regional Promoters (monks and nuns leading the process) and Coordinators (monks, nuns, or laypeople in support roles) gathered to align on their shared mission: “To animate, connect and support regional contribution to the Benedictine Jubilee 2029, helping monasteries, congregations and Benedictine-inspired comm

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 H

The lockdowns and most of the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic were over, but Benedictine monasteries across the United States were left with a new problem. They could gather in groups inside their monasteries again, but travel and gathering in larger groups with sisters from other monasteries was still not safe, so they needed to hold hybrid meetings, where some participants were face-to-face and others joined by video conferencing. The pandemic made almost all of us

A few months ago, in response to the Jubilee theme "Places of Hope Since 529", I received an email from confreres asking me to write about "hope without hope". They were hoping for a word for those communities whose history is foreseeably coming to an end. And indeed, there are quite a few of them in our Order. The decline of monastic communities is part of history. We know this, of course, but we sometimes push it aside. Recently, I was leafing through the Monasticon Italiae

At the beginning of July 2026 a Benedictine delegation visited several Russian Orthodox monasteries in the greater Moscow area. The programme was organised in cooperation with the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. The journey followed the tradition of Benedictine relations with the Eastern Churches, a mandate given to the oldest monastic order of the Catholic Church by Popes Leo XIII and Pius XI. The emergence of Benedictine monasticism befo

On July 11, 2026, at the end of his third term as Abbot, Dom Elias Dietz was re-elected Abbot of Gethsemani (USA) for a new six-year term. ocso.org

On July 11, 2026, The Solemnity of Saint Benedict, Sister Beatrice Brady made solemn profession at St Mary’s Abbey of Glencairn (Ireland). Sister Beatrice was born in Cavan (Ireland) in 1995. She entered Glencairn in 2018 and made first profession in 2021. ocso.org

Weston Priory Enters the Swiss-American Congregation. Among the more unconventional monasteries of our Order is Weston Priory in the state of Vermont, located in the part of the USA known as New England. It was founded in 1952 as a dependent house of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem. The visionary founder Abbot Leo von Rudloff OSB, originally a monk of Gerleve (Beuron Congregation), divided his time between the Holy Land and Vermont and eventually settled in America. Weston P

On Saturday 11 July 2026, on the Solemnity of Saint Benedict, monks from Le Barroux will take up residence at Bellefontaine Abbey. • 10.00 am: Solemn Mass celebrated by Dom Louis-Marie de Geyer d’Orth, Abbot of Le Barroux, in the presence of Bishop Emmanuel Delmas of Angers; • around 12.30 pm: buffet open to all; • from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm: open house for a tour of the cloister; • 4.30 pm: Vespers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The Trappist monks, who have been here

On July 11, 2026, The Solemnity of Saint Benedict, Brother Dominic Quan made solemn profession at the Our Lady of Joy Abbey (Hong Kong). Brother Dominic was born in Qing Hai, China in 1963. He entered Lantao in 2019 and made first profession in 2020. ocso.org

On 29 June 2026, the Primatial Abbey of Sant'Anselmo and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington, D.C., signed a cooperation agreement to preserve and make accessible archival sources relating to the Second World War and the Holocaust. The agreement was signed at Sant'Anselmo by Abbot Primate Jeremias Schröder OSB and Mr Zachary Levine, Director of Archival and Curatorial Affairs of the David M. Rubenstein National Institute for Holocaust Documentati

Since 28 June, the President of the Subiaco-Montecassino Congregation, Father Ignaci M. Fossas, has been in Togo, where he will remain until 9 July 2026. This trip provides an opportunity to travel to Dzogbégan to visit the monks of the Abbey of the Ascension, which is part of the Subiaco-Montecassino Congregation, as well as the nuns of the Abbey of the Assumption, belonging to the Federation of Our Lady of the Encounter. See more photos on the Congregation’s website:...

Some new projects training: https://www.aimintl.org/en/our-projects/category-formation construction: https://www.aimintl.org/en/our-projects/category-constructions development: https://www.aimintl.org/en/our-projects/category-d%C3%A9veloppement livelihood: https://www.aimintl.org/en/our-projects/category-gagne-pain meetings: https://www.aimintl.org/en/our-projects/category-meetings-et-assembl%C3%A9es supported financially by AIM are featured on the website. You can support AI

On June 29, 2026, The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Sister M. Lenka Zábovská made solemn profession at the Monastery of Naší Paní (Czech Republic). Sister M. Lenka was born in Považská Bystrica (Slovakia) in 1981. She re-entered Naší Paní in April 2021 and made first profession in July 2021. ocso.org https://www.trapistky.cz/

There are 2 Liturgical Courses coming in July and September this year: 1. Liturgical inculturation: definitions, guiding principles, models and criteria (This is a reminder of the news published on May 4) Online course, one day Speaker: Abbot Olivier-Marie SARR OSB, Abbot of Keur Moussa Abbey in Senegal, Professor at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Sant’Anselmo in Rome. Time: July 27, 2026, 8:30-12:00 and 14:00-17:30 (Rome time). Format: Online via ZOOM with simultaneo

We would like to inform you that yesterday evening, June 24, 2026 local time, Venezuela was affected by two strong earthquakes. By God’s grace, our monasteries in Los Andes and Humocaro are safe. We kindly ask for your prayers for the safety and well-being of our brothers and sisters in these communities, as well as for all the people in the affected regions who are facing this difficult situation. May the Lord grant them strength, protection, and comfort in this time of need

On June 24, 2026, The Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, Sister Marie-Théophane Van Hattum made solemn profession at the Abbey of Our Lady of Good Help, Blauvac (France). Sister Marie-Théophane was born in Leiden (The Netherlands) in 1970. She entered the monastery in Arnhem in 2016, made her first profession in 2019, and transferred her stability to Blauvac in 2022. ocso.org https://abbaye-blauvac.com/

On 15 and 16 June 2026, the newly appointed Advisory Board of the Pontifical Atheneum Sant’Anselmo gathered in Rome for its inaugural meeting. Established in accordance with the Statutes of the Atheneum, the board serves as a vital instrument through which the Benedictine Confederation exercises its care for the institution. Comprising monks and sisters and a layman from three continents, the new board brings a distinct perspective to the Atheneum. Abbot Primate Jeremias note

On June 7, 2026, we celebrated with joy and great thanksgiving the opening of the jubilee year of our monastery. In this jubilee, we mark 75 years since the transfer of the Abbey of Hardehausen to Brazil, in Itatinga — a milestone completed on May 28 — as well as the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Abbey of Hardehausen, which we will complete on the same date next year. Representatives from several houses were present: the Abbey of Itaporanga, Itararé, Campo Grand