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On February 9, 2025, in Asmara (Eritrea), Br. Abraham Habtemariam made his solemn profession in the presence of the Abbot Negusse Woldai. The community asks the prayers of the Order for this brother. ocist.org

On Friday 7 February 2025, the Benedictine monks of En-Calcat (France) elected Father Maximilien Pietrzak abbot of the community. https://encalcat.com/

AIM-USA is the United States Secretariat of the InterMonastery Alliance. Twice a year it publishes a newsletter reporting on its activities with communities on different continents. https://aim-usa.org

Some community projects supported by AIM: https://www.aimintl.org/en/our-projects/all

Dom Peter McCarthy, abbot of O.L. of Guadalupe (diocese of Portland in Oregon, USA) since 1994, presented his resignation to the Abbot General for the reasons mentioned in ST 40.A of the Constitutions. The Abbot General, with the consent of his Council, accepted the resignation which became effective on March 9th 2025. On March 27th 2025, the community of Guadalupe postulated as Abbot for an indefinite term, Father Scott Dilworth . A dispensation from Cst 39.3 (number of years of solemn profession) was granted by the Holy See and the election was confirmed. The installation of the new abbot took place on March 28th. Dom Scott was born in 1973 in Livonia, Michigan (USA). He entered Guadalupe in 2013, made his solemn profession in 2021 and was ordained a priest in 2023. At the time of his election, he was prior of the community. ocso.org

On 28 March, during the celebration of the 9th Ordinary Chapter of the Congregation of Castile, Mother Eugenia Pablo was elected Abbess President, after Mother Kandida Saratxaga had completed her period of ministry. We offer her our most sincere gratitude for her faithful and fraternal service to all the communities of the Congregation and to the Order. We pray for the new service of Mother Eugenia and the whole Congregation. ocist.org

On March 25, 2025, Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, Sister Francesca Mráčková made solemn profession at the monastery of Naši Paní (Czech Rep.). Sister Francesca was born in 1984 in Prague (Czech Rep.). She entered Naši Paní in 2015 and made first profession in 2019. ocso.org https://www.trapistky.cz/

Mother Pilar Germán, Pontifical Commissary of the community of Alloz (diocese of Pamplona, Spain) since 2014, offered her resignation as Pontifical Commissary to the Holy See in September 2024, in view of an affiliation of the community of Alloz to the community of La Palma (diocese of Cartagena, Spain). On March 11th 2025 the Holy See accepted her resignation, and approved the affiliation of Alloz to La Palma according to the legislation accepted ad experimentum by the General Chapter of September 2022. By this affiliation, Mother Carmen Jesús Serrano Ruiz , abbess of La Palma, becomes the major superior of the community of Alloz. ocso.org https://www.monasteriodealloz.org/

On 11 February 2025, Mother Marie-Pascale Dran, Abbess of Brialmont (diocese of Liège, Belgium), presented her resignation to the Abbot General in accordance with vote 29 of the General Chapter, September 2022. On 4 March 2025, the Abbot General, with the consent of his Council, accepted it and it became effective 18 March 2025. On 18 March 2025, at the request of Dom Xavier Frisque, Superior ad nutum of Orval and Father Immediate of Brialmont, the Abbot General and his Council, in the name of the General Chapter, suspended the exercise of autonomy of the community of Brialmont and appointed Mother Marie-Pascale Dran as Monastic Commissary of the community (Cst. 34bis.1). The appointment became effective immediately. ocso.org

On March 24th 2025, Dom John Bosco Kamali completed his second six-year term as abbot of O.L. Victoria (diocese of Masaka, Uganda). On the same date, Dom Isaac Majoor, abbot of Tilburg and Father Immediate of Victoria, appointed the same Dom John Bosco Kamali as superior ad nutum of the community. ocso.org

Discussion on the Church in China The Benedictine Commission on China 2025 was held on 15 March at Sant’Anselmo. This year’s meeting saw the highest number of participants in recent years, including notable figures such as Abbot President Javier Aparicio of the Saint Ottilien Congregation, Abbot President Bernard Lorent of the Alliance Inter-Monastères, Abbot Blasio Park of Waegwan Abbey, Mother Prioress General Rosann Ocken of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing Congregation, and Mother Abbess Ildefonsa Paluzzi of Monastero San Giovanni Battista di Roma, among others. In addition to the on-site attendees, there were online participants, such as Abbot General Bernardus Peters, OCSO, and representatives from the Olivetan Benedictine Sisters of Busan, South Korea. In total, 19 participants were present in person, and four joined remotely. The meeting began in the morning with an opening address by Abbot Primate Jeremias Schroeder, followed by participant introductions. The first session focused on updates and reports regarding participants’ communities’ engagements with China. Later in the morning, two guests from the Dicastery for Evangelization, Fr. Pietro Murrali from the China Desk and Fr. Luciano Morra, SJ, from the Pastoral Commission, joined the meeting. They gave presentations on their work related to China and answered questions. The session concluded before midday prayer at Sant’Anselmo, followed by a shared lunch in the refectory. In the afternoon, an additional ten Chinese participants joined the meeting, including priests, seminarians, religious studying in Rome, and one layperson. The session featured a keynote presentation by Fr. Prior Norbert Du of Holy Cross Abbey in Jilin, China, who provided an analytical report on the Church in China and proposed future development perspectives. His presentation was followed by an open discussion and Q&A, marking the first time in BCC history that a large number of Chinese nationals participated directly in the discussion. It is also worth noting that this year’s meeting introduced an AI-powered live-text translation system, which significantly enhanced accessibility and mutual understanding among participants who spoke English, German, Italian, Korean and Chinese as their native languages. osb.org

Mokoto became an abbey at the OCSO General Chapter in September 2022. Since the war prevented us from holding an abbey blessing at Mokoto itself, up in the hills at an altitude of 1,800 meters, we had to wait. On March 2, 2025, our bishop kindly agreed to perform the blessing, not in Mokoto, but at Goma Cathedral. The community comprises 36 brothers. The political and military situation remains complicated for the population as a whole. We know that you are praying for us and for the whole population. We thank you for this. In trust and hope, in communion with you. ocso.org