Founded 1855, the American-Cassinese Congregation is a Catholic
association of Benedictine monasteries.
The Congregation includes 25 monasteries; 19 are autonomous monasteries
and 6 are dependent priories. Our monasteries are located in 15 of the
United States, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico and Taiwan.
Abbot Boniface Wimmer OSB, founder of Saint Vincent Archabbey in
Latrobe, Pennsylvania, created the Congregation. Pope Pius IX
erected it as a monastic congregation
under the patronage of the Holy Guardian Angels.
Our monasteries follow the
Rule
written by Saint Benedict of Nursia (480-547).
Please email us at
webmaster@amcass.org about the
website with any questions, comments, suggestions, or edits.
Upcoming Events
June 6-16, 2022
Juniorate Summer School 2022 at Belmont Abbey
Greetings from Belmont Abbey! We are very excited about having the
opportunity to host the Juniorate Summer School this year at Belmont
Abbey in North Carolina, and to welcoming those junior monks who are
able to attend. We were originally planning to host this event in
2020, when it was interrupted by the pandemic. But, given how
everything seems to be developing and opening up at this time, we are
feeling confident that we will be able to have the event this summer.
The program will be from June 6-16, 2022, with the first and last days
planned as travel days. The registration form is attached to this
message and the cost per participant is $600. As is apparent with so
many things these days, we have found the costs a little bit higher
than two years ago.
We are putting together what hopes to be an engaging and formative
monastic experience for the juniors with excursions to the Biltmore
House, the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville, Sacred Heart Convent
of the Sisters of Mercy - alongside whom we have ministered for over a
century, and the National Whitewater Center - with an opportunity for
rafting and various outdoor activities for those who are interested.
We'll also have several classes on monastic spirituality and history,
opportunities to sing in the monastic schola and serve in liturgy, and
numerous opportunities for the juniors to speak with each other and
recreate with each other.
Please pass along this announcement and invitation to the relevant
members of your community. We ask that participants
register
by April 11th, if possible, or at least let me know who is planning on
attending so that we can solidify plans. If you have any questions,
feel free to contact me!
Fraternally,
Fr. Elias Correa-Torres, O.S.B.
Belmont Abbey
June 19-24, 2022
54th General Chapter at St. Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, KS
The 54th General Chapter of the American-Cassinese Congregation will
begin Sunday evening, June 19, 2022 and conclude Friday, June 24,
2022. Saint Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kansas will host this 54th
General Chapter.
Communities need to arrange to elect a delegate and alternate to the
54nd General Chapter and inform Abbot John Klassen who they are along
with their email addresses not later than November 15, 2021.
Postponed until September, 2022
International Congress of Abbots. Orientation for new abbots on
September 6-7, 2021, with arrival on September 5, 2021; Congress
proper on September 8-14, 2020, with arrival on September 7 and
departure on September 15, 2021. For more information on registration,
accommodations, etc:
www.congressusosb.com
Postponed until November, 2022
Benedictine Oblate World Congress at Fraterna Domus Convention
Center, Rome, Italy. For information, contact
2023
Synod on Synodality.
Earlier this summer, the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Last
week, the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops released
several documents in preparation for the 2023 Synod Bishops, with the
theme of “For a synodal Church: communion, participation, mission.”
The
Preparatory Document
is “a tool to facilitate the first phase of listening to and
consulting the People of God in the particular Churches.” The
Vademecum
is the handbook for listening and discernment in local churches, with
a focus on the work of the Diocesan Contact Team.
Earlier this summer, the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of
Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life invited conferences
of religious from around the world to participate in the synodal
journey by seeking and providing input in preparation for the Synod.
Specifically, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect of CICLSAL, has
asked to provide feedback in Spring 2022. In doing so, he notes that
“To ensure the synodal church is not a mirage, but rather a dream to
be realized, it is necessary to dream together, to pray together, and
to work together.”
2024
Decision on next Congress of Abbots.
One of the key decisions of the recent Synod of Presidents was whether
to hold a Congress of Abbots in September of 2022 or wait until the
normal scheduled congress in September of 2024. The latter date will
be either an additional four-year mandate for Abbot Gregory Polan or
the election of a new abbot primate.
A second major consideration for the timing of next Congress of Abbots
is the course of the pandemic. The Confederation is truly an
international organization with abbeys across five continents.
However, at this time there were two uncertainties: 1) How many
monastic communities in the developing countries are fully vaccinated?
How many abbots from developing countries have the financial resources
to come to a Congress of Abbots meeting in a non-election year?
Scheduling a Congress for September of 2022 could result in a meeting
of abbots from Europe and North America, a genuine misrepresentation
of the diversity of the confederation. Furthermore, the preparation
work for such a meeting by the staff of Sant’ Anselmo is significant
and it could potentially underserve the confederation.
Abbot Presidents realized that there is still significant uncertainty
about the course of the pandemic through September 2024. That is, it
is more likely that we will be dealing with a “new normal,” a
situation that is not like either fall of 2020 or 2021! However, it is
surely likely that we will know more about the pandemic by then and
will have strategies in place for traveling and meeting safely.
Thus, the abbot presidents voted to hold the next Congress of
Abbots in September of 2024.