The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict () is the international governing body of the

Order of Saint Benedict The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Origin

The Benedictine Confederation is a union of monastic congregations that nevertheless retain their own autonomy, established by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

in his brief ''Summum semper'' (12 July 1893), subsequently approved by his successors.

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

explicitly ordered this union to be regulated by a "Lex Propria", which was later revised after the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

Organization of the Benedictine Confederation

Most Benedictine ''houses'' are loosely affiliated in 19 national or supra-national congregations. Each of these congregations elects its own abbot president. These presidents meet annually in the Synod of Presidents. Additionally, there is a meeting every four years of the Congress of Abbots, which is made up of all abbots and conventual priors, both of monasteries that are members of congregations, as well as of those unaffiliated with any particular congregation. The Congress of Abbots elects the Abbot Primate, who serves a four-year term as the Confederation's representative and administrative head, although without direct jurisdiction over the individual Congregations. The Confederation has its headquarters at Sant'Anselmo, which is the seat of the Abbot Primate and hosts the quadrennial Congress of Abbots. Sant'Anselmo is also home to the Benedictine Pontifical Athenaeum, the Collegio Sant'Anselmo, and the "Church of Sant'Anselmo". Communities of Benedictine

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

s and Religious Sisters are joined in 61 congregations and federations that are associated with the Confederation, although they do not have full membership. In November 2001 after a consultation process with all monasteries of Benedictine women around the world, it was decided to use the nam
Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum
(CIB) to designate all communities of Benedictine women recognized by the Abbot Primate as such and listed in the ''Catalogus Monasteriorum O.S.B''. The first attempt to group Benedictine monasteries into national Congregations was at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. Only the

English Benedictine Congregation The English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) is a congregation of autonomous Abbey, abbatial and Priory, prioral monastic communities of Catholic Church, Catholic Benedictine monks, nuns, and oblate (religion), lay oblates. It is technically the o ...

survives from this early attempt at centralization, and in historical reality even this Congregation is a 17th-century foundation although it was given juridical continuity with the medieval English Congregation by the papal bull ''Plantata'' of 1633. Primacy of honor is given to the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation, since this Congregation includes the Abbey of Monte Cassino, where St Benedict wrote his Rule and was buried (although Fleury Abbey also claims to house the remains of the founder). Founded in 1872, the Congregation has its origin in the Congregation of the Abbey of Santa Giustina, founded in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

in 1408 by Dom Ludovico Barbo. The Benedictines suffered badly in the anti-clerical atmosphere at the time of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and the modern Congregations were mostly founded in the 19th century when monasticism was revived. The majority are essentially national groupings, although the Subiaco Congregation (originally the Cassinese Congregation of the Primitive Observance) has from the first been truly international because of its interest in foreign mission. Since the time of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, there have been independent Benedictine communities in the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

(especially

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

) traditions which maintain official friendly relations with the Benedictine Confederation, although they are not formally linked with it or its congregations. Throughout the Benedictine confederation and its subdivisions, independence and autonomy among communities are uniquely valued; too highly for

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

, who complained that the largely nominal confederation was "an order without order". The basic unit has always been the individual abbey, rather than the Congregation. This explains why some houses (e.g. Monte Cassino, Subiaco, Saint Paul-outside-the-Walls (Rome), Montserrat and Pannonhalma) have unbroken histories of more than a thousand years while the Congregations to which they belong are more recent. This balance between autonomy and belonging is one of the distinguishing features of the Benedictine Confederation, and brings with it both strengths and weaknesses. One immediate consequence is that there is often great diversity of observance even between houses of the same Congregation: in liturgy, timetable, pastoral involvement and habit.

Congregations of Benedictine monks

The present Confederation of Congregations of Monasteries of the Order of Saint Benedict, officially, the "Benedictine Confederation" of monks, consists of the following congregations in the order given in the ''Catalogus Monasteriorum OSB'' (dates are those of the foundation of the congregations – Primacy of honour is given to the Cassinese Congregation, though the English Congregation is the oldest, because Monte Cassino was the original Abbey of St. Benedict himself. The older Camaldolese and Sylvestrine congregations joined the Confederation only in the mid-20th century). The number of houses, monks, and priests is found in the 2019 edition of the ''

Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' ( Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides nam ...

''.''Annuario Pontificio'' (Citta del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2019)

List of the Abbots Primates of the Benedictine Confederation

* 1893–1913: Hildebrand de Hemptinne * 1913–1947: Fidelis von Stotzingen * 1947–1959: Bernard Kälin * 1959–1967: Benno Gut * 1967–1977: Rembert Weakland * 1977–1992: Viktor Josef Dammertz * 1992–1995: Jerome Theisen * 1996–2000: Marcel Rooney * 2000–2016: Notker Wolf * 2016–2024: Gregory Polan * 2024–present: Jeremias Schröder

Sant’Anselmo

Sant'Anselmo on the Aventine () is complex located on the Aventine Hill in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

's Ripa

rione A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the title of (). Formed a ...

and overseen by the Confederation. The complex comprises the " College of Sant'Anselmo" (), the " Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm" (), the Church of Sant'Anselmo (), and serves as the curial headquarters of the Confederation ().

College of Sant’Anselmo

The ecclesiastical residential College of Sant'Anselmo is juridically considered the successor of the homonymous college of the Cassinese Benedictine Congregation which was founded in 1687. The present college was reestablished in 1887 and moved to the newly constructed "Sant'Anselmo" on the Aventine Hill in 1896. Today the residential college houses an average of one hundred Benedictine monks from about forty countries, as well as other religious, diocesan priests, and lay people. As a house of formation, it offers a monastic environment for those who study at the onsite Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm or at other Roman pontifical universities. The present Prior of the college is Rev. Fr. Brendan Coffey OSB.

Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant'Anselmo

The Anselmianum, also known as the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm (; ), is the

pontifical university A pontifical university or athenaeum is an ecclesiastical university established or approved directly by the Holy See, composed of three main ecclesiastical faculties (Theology, Philosophy and canon law (Catholic Church), Canon Law) and at least o ...

associated with the

Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

. The institution includes faculties of Philosophy, Theology (Sacramental Theology, Monastic Studies), the Institute of Historical Theology, as well as the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy. It grants certificates and diplomas in various subjects, as well as Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctoral degrees. Originally the university exclusively served only

, but now is open to external students. The present Rector of the Athenaeum is to be confirmed.

Church of Sant'Anselmo

The church which was consecrated on November 11, 1900, and is constructed of three naves, divided by

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s, and includes one main altar and two side altars. A large section on the east and west ends near the apse includes the traditional stalls for the monastic choir. The church serves as a place of worship for the Benedictine residential college community and the students of the Athenaeum. It is also known, especially to the Romans, for the performances of

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

offered by the monks during the Sunday liturgical celebrations of

Vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

. Since 1962, the church has also been the starting point of the penitential procession presided over by the Pope on

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of Christian prayer, prayer, Religious fasting#Christianity, fasting and ...

, and which ends at the basilica of Santa Sabina where the first stationary mass of

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

is celebrated. The present Rector of the church is Rev. Doroteo Toić, O.S.B.

Gallery

Collegio Sant'Anselmo 9061.jpg Collegio Sant'Anselmo 8663.jpg Avantin - panoramio.jpg Chiesa Sant'Anselmo 7704.jpg Chiesa Sant'Anselmo 3956.jpg Chiesa Sant'Anselmo 3941.jpg Chiesa Sant'Anselmo 1585 2.jpg Sant'Anselmo Monastic Choir Stalls.jpg Sant'Anselmo College Refectory.jpg Interior Courtyards at Sant'Anselmo.jpg

Notes

References

External links

The Benedictine Confederation of Congregations of Monasteries of the Order of Saint Benedict
(official website)
International Atlas of Benedictine MonasteriesCollegio Sant'Anselmo
Italian and English
Pontificio Ateneo Sant'Anselmo
Italian and English
Chiesa Sant'Anselmo
Italian and English

with an introduction to the Benedictine Confederation. {{Catholic congregation Catholic religious institutes established in the 19th century Christian organizations established in 1893