Abbot-Presidents in the Archives

In mid-September, the abbot-presidents of nineteen Benedictine congregations met at the Monastery of Montserrat, which is celebrating its thousandth anniversary this year. This gathering, lasting just under a week, is an annual forum of the Benedictine Confederation held at varying locations, where participants discuss shared topics of general relevance to monastic life and the Church. Abbot Primate Jeremias Schröder was also present at the event. One of the largest language-based working groups at the meeting is the community of German-speaking abbot-presidents, which includes the Swiss, Slavic, and Hungarian congregations alongside the Austrian, Bavarian, Beuron, and Sankt Ottilien congregations. The superiors of the German-speaking congregations meet separately each year to reflect on the proceedings of the Synod of Abbot-Presidents.

This year, at the end of October, Pannonhalma and Abbot-President Cirill hosted the German-speaking abbot-presidents. The agenda for the joint discussions is always prepared by the host. That is how it happened in Pannonhalma, too. In addition to the exchange of ideas, the Benedictine superiors toured our monastery, including a visit to the archives. At our institution, visitors could view documents related to the centuries-old ties maintained primarily with abbeys in German-speaking regions.