In mid-January 2019, the governing body of the Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum (CIB), the worldwide association of female Benedictine monastic communities, met at the Benedictine Abtei St. Scholastika in Dinklage, Germany. Further details here.
On 19 January 2019, the community of the Abbey of Keur Moussa, near Dakar, Senegal, elected Sant’Anselmo Professor of Liturgy Fr. Olivier-Marie Sarr abbot of their monastery. Story, photos and links here.
On the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, 12 December 2018, the monastic community of the Abbey of Christ in the Desert elected Dom Christian Leisy OSB as its new Abbot. More details here.
The Benedictine monastic community of Pachacámac has moved to the property of a formerly Cistercian monastery in Lurín, Peru. The Cistercian community previously living there, having to return to Spain, invited the Benedictines to continue their monastic presence on the site. Story and photos here.
The 91st Assembly of the Union of Superiors General was held on 21-23 November 2018 in Ariccia, Rome. Several Benedictine monastic superiors were present for the meeting, which focused on the implementation of the XV Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment. See article and photo here.
Enclosed nuns from across the United Kingdom and Ireland recently met at Stanbrook Abbey to examine the new Vatican document Cor Orans. See articles and photos here.
Wechselburg Priory's monastic church was elevated to the dignity of Minor Basilica on 12 November 2018, becoming the first church in eastern Germany outside of Berlin to bear the title. Apostolic Nuncio Nikola Eterović proclaimed the papal decree on the festive day. See articles, photos, and Apostolic Nuncio's homily here.
The committee for the next International Oblate Congress, in 2021, met from 27 October - 4 November 2018 at Sant’Anselmo in Rome to begin the planning process. This Congress takes place every four years and includes Oblates and Oblate directors from across the globe. For more information, see story here.
The Annual Council Meeting of the Alliance for International Monasticism (AIM) was held at Sant'Anselmo from 13-15 November 2018. Details, links and photos here.
Father Robert Taft, world scholar on Eastern liturgy and longtime friend of Sant’Anselmo, passed away on 2 November at the age of 86. His noteworthy life is commemorated with a special necrology on his decades-long relationship with Sant’Anselmo, obituary, and video here.
