Gregory Collins (born 1960 in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

) was the sixth

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of the

Abbey of the Dormition Abbey of the Dormition (, ''Knesia HaDormitsiyon'', Arabic: كنيسة رقاد السيدة العذراء) is a Catholic abbey belonging to the Benedictine Order in Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, just outside the walls of the Old City near the Z ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Studies and priestly ordination

Gregory (Earl) Collins studied Byzantine Studies and Scholastic Philosophy at Queen's University Belfast and the British School of Archaeology in Athens. In 1989 Collins joined the

Benedictine 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 ...

religious community at

Glenstal Abbey Glenstal Abbey is a Catholic Church, Catholic Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of the Annunciation located in Murroe, County Limerick, Ireland. It is dedicated to Saint Joseph and Saint Columba. In July 2024, Col ...

. In 1991, he received his doctorate in Byzantine Studies in Belfast and was a teacher in Nigeria. From 1992 to 1996 he taught at Glenstal Abbey School. He professed in 1994 and received priestly ordination in 1995. After studying depth psychology at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich, he became director of the Glenstal Abbey School in 1998.

Leadership positions

From 2002 to 2008 Gregory Collins taught Orthodox Theology and History of Theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant'Anselmo in Rome. He was director of the Monastic Institute there from 2004 to 2008. He lectured at the Jerusalem Year of Theological Studies at the Dormitio and at the Salesian Ratisbonne Institute in Jerusalem. Since 2008 he has taught Byzantine Theology at the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972, as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in Septemb ...

. In 2011, Gregory Collins was elected abbot of the German-speaking Benedictine Abbey of Dormitio on Mount Zion in Jerusalem in an elective chapter in Jerusalem presided over by Abbot Primate

Notker Wolf Notker Wolf (; 21 June 19402 April 2024) was a German Benedictine monk, priest, abbot, musician, and author. He was a member of St. Ottilien Archabbey located in Bavaria, Germany, which is part of the Benedictine Congregation of Saint Ottilien ...

. He succeeded Benedikt Lindemann, who had held the office since 1995. On June 22, 2016, Gregory Collins announced that he would end his service as abbot on June 29, 2016, leaving Dormitio Abbey and returning to his professed monastery of Glenstal after a sabbatical period.

Conversion to Anglicanism

Since 2018, Earl Collins has been serving as a priest in the Anglican Diocese of Ely; he is currently in St. John’s, Palmeira Square in Hove. As theology lecturer and Acting Vice Principal at Westcott House theological college, the Anglican Diocese of Chichester reported that "he has greatly enjoyed preparing female and male ordinands for ordained ministry." In February 2021, he held a lecture titled "Modern Approaches to the Eucharist: Beyond Catholic and Protestant."

Publications

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References

External links

Gregory Collins entry on ''orden-online.de'' (German)

Gregory Collins elected abbot of Dormition Abtei in Jerusalem
(German news report) {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Gregory 1960 births Christian clergy from Belfast Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism Academic staff of the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm Living people Irish Benedictines Academics of the University of Limerick Irish expatriates in Italy Irish abbots 20th-century Christian abbots Irish expatriates in Israel Alumni of Queen's University Belfast