Abbot's Letter

July 2009 Letter

Dear Brothers and Sisters of our Subiaco Congregation,

When I wrote my last circular letter to the congregation at the beginning of January I was just preparing for the canonical visitation of New Norcia in Australia and asked your prayers for a series of elections which were due in the first months of this year. In fact there have been no less than eight successful elections in the first half of this year, in several cases ending long periods of uncertainty under Prior Administrators, so I would like to begin by congratulating our new superiors: Abbot John Herbert of New Norcia; Abbot David d’Hamonville of En Calcat; Abbot Francesco Trolese of Santa Giustina, Padua; Père Damase Duvillier, the retired abbot of La Pierre qui Vire, who has generously agreed to accept election as Conventual Prior of Bouaké in West Africa; Abbot Ordinary Beda Paluzzi of Montevergine; and Prior Savio Ma. Siccuano Malaybalay in the Philippines, who was elected Conventual Prior by the community after eight years as an appointed administrator. Among our associated sisters we have also been informed of the election of M. Marie-Reine Hounson as Prioress of Toffo in Benin, and M. Geneviève Barrière as Abbess of Jouarre. Ad multos annos!

And now, let me return to the subject of the Carta Caritatis. The General Chapter of 2008 approved the general lines of this document, but the years that separate us from the next Chapter in 2012 give us time to reflect further on the text, on what it means, ways we could improve it, so that – if desired – it could really become a driving force in the life of our Congregation. Straight away let me suggest that anyone who has something to say on this subject, either for or against the text as it stands, should send their thoughts to the Curia at Sant’Ambrogio. Such contributions would be gratefully received and they will be forwarded on to the members of the Commission preparing for the Chapter, and given close attention by them. The more responses we receive from you, the richer the preparation of the text, and the more decisive the final work in the course of the General Chapter. Your contributions can be personal reflections, those of a community, a council or a Provincial Chapter. All will be given due attention.

The last Chapter posed two questions: one concerning the title of the document, and the other concerning its nature or purpose. I would like to share with you my reflections on these points. 1. I understand why some of you should feel uneasy about the idea of taking as a title that of one of the foundation documents of the Cistercian Order. However, to this I would say that before Cîteaux, this title was used in the Middle Ages by the monks of Vallombrosa. To come to an agreement on the charity existing between monasteries, and to produce a text on this subject, is permitted to everyone. Perhaps it is even necessary! The Order of Cistercians of the Common Observance have in fact expressed an interest in our initiative and have asked that one of the Commission should come to speak at their next Synod of Presidents in the autumn. So we don’t appear to be trespassing on their rights! That said, the commission remains open to all suggestions for an alternative title (Confessio Caritatis, Concordia Caritatis …). 2. As for what concerns the nature and purpose of the document, it has been asked whether we are preparing a canonical document. To which I reply: certainly not. It deals neither with the Rule of St Benedict, in the Tradition of which we live, nor with the legislative provisions which are presented, with varying degrees of obligation, by our Constitutions. But neither should it be solely a pious exhortation from the Chapter, which is forgotten as soon as it is voted on. St Benedict sends us back, in the final chapter of the Rule, to every page of the Old and New Testaments, and to the other writings of the monastic tradition. So it is possible to have “norms of life” which are not canonically obligatory, but which go beyond those texts: they urge us on strongly to an interpretation of the Gospel appropriate for a given moment in our history. Are we going to refuse them, or keep them at a distance, because they are not within a juridical framework?

Our document gives three reasons for creating now a text which can serve as a “road map” in the years to come: the growing fragility of our communities, and thus the need for a mutual and active charity; the effect of globalisation on our communities – as in society in general – and the opportunity we have this to live this in a Gospel fashion; and the theological and cultural changes of recent years, which have affected us all. I do not believe that these are matters of little concern to us, but on the contrary think they well describe our present situation in the Church and in the world. Starting from this point, it seems to me that our text envisages (with a ‘discretion’ in the sense with which that word is used in the Rule) concrete steps, towards which charity seems to be inviting us. It is not a matter of obligations, but of descriptions, both of situations which could become real, and of attitudes which are desirable. The commission has sought to sensitise us, in a constructive way, to present or future reality, without defining in advance how individuals, communities, provinces or the Congregation as a whole should act.

We could also note that many of the suggestions made in the text are already to be found in one place or another in the Congregation. We have seen how contacts between provinces have multiplied, even to the point where Provincial Chapters are being held in monasteries belonging to a different province. Often at provincial meetings, brethren from other provinces are invited to take part. On its own initiative La Pierre qui Vire organised a meeting for the young professed from Europe in 2006, and the monastery of Kornelimünster is preparing a meeting for the Northern European Provinces for 2010. The more we meet, the more we will know one another. And with a growing realisation of our various riches and needs will come exchanges and assistance. The Curia, for its part, will always be ready to facilitate these contacts, even when the initiative comes from elsewhere.

I would like to share two ideas I have had on this subject: I think it would be good if the monasteries of Asia and Africa could play a greater part in the governing of the Congregation through the appointment of two new assistants, one from Vietnam and the other from Africa. I am not quite sure how, or when, this could be arranged – there is the matter of available personnel and of languages. Perhaps this would also be the moment to reflect more deeply on the function of the assistants. I would welcome your own thoughts on this.

The other idea concerns formation. The English-speaking Benedictine world has various fairly long courses of formation for monks and nuns of all congregations, and these have been a great success. Our congregation is international, but held together by a long common tradition. The sense of this tradition is there, even if it is hard to define. I would like to ask if we could consider – perhaps experimentally at first – a fairly long course of common formation, maybe for nine months, for a group of about twelve young monks drawn from various monasteries of our Congregation? It would be necessary to establish a programme, a place, and a language. As to the last, I propose French since many of the monasteries of our Congregation are francophone and much of the monastic literature is written in French. This is also to introduce another language of international communication other than English. In this age of globalisation it is an impoverishment to know only one language and it is good to encourage a linguistic diversity. Would there be interest in such a course?

Permit me to end this section of my letter with a question which touches me to the heart and which is related to the object of the Carta Caritatis: amongst the monasteries in greatest need of help is Morne Saint Benoît in Haïti. I think that the Carta Caritatis can help us focus on what we (as individuals, monasteries and provinces) could do to help this monastery. The founding abbey, Landévennec, has done a great deal in the past, but now lacks the resources to do more. The abbey of la Pierre qui Vire has lent two monks for a long period of time, but now they must return to France. Is there any monastery in Europe, Viet Nam or Africa, that is in a position to offer someone to the Abbot of Landévennec in order to keep monastic life going in this country which is so poor, and tried by so many difficulties?

In early May I was in France for the six-monthly meeting of the Council of Visitors, which this time was held at the abbey of Saint-Guénolé in Brittany. One of the major topics under discussion was the question of the restructuring of our present provincial boundaries. Last year the General Chapter approved the transfer of the monastery of Ponta Grossa in Brasil from the Brasilian Congregation to our own. There is also the probability of a diocesan monastery in Brasil, Santa Rosa, joining our Congregation as a dependent house of Ponta Grossa. This has profound implications for the geographical distribution of the provinces. Has it now become feasible to detach the monasteries of North and South America from their European founding provinces (Spanish, French and English) to create two new regional groupings? I have just returned from a visit to South America with Abbot Joël Chauvelot of Tournay, to visit Ponta Grossa and Tournay’s small foundation at Goias in Brasil. We had hoped that a solution might be found for Goias which, following the death of Don Pedro Recroix in March has been reduced to just one effective member, but sadly we were forced to conclude that there is no alternative but to close this house.

The creation of a North American province could also have eased the problems of the geographically extended English Province, and aided the formation of a ‘North European Federation’ of the English, Flemish and German Provinces. This, in turn, has implications for the future of the two Anglophone African houses, Polokwane and Kristo Buase. Are we yet in a position to create a bilingual African Province? Our discussions at Landévennec showed how difficult it is to find solutions agreeable to all parties. The Visitors have asked for the members of the individual provinces to have time to discuss the matters fully amongst themselves and we will return to the topic later.

On the recommendation of Abbot Stéphane, Visitor of the Vietnamese Province, who communicated to us the agreement of the Bishop of Banmethuot, the Council of Visitors voted unanimously to restore the status of independent Priory to the monastery of Thien Hoa, which had been made a dependent house of Thien An as a consequence of the Vietnamese war. The decision was timely since it coincided with a ‘Holy Year’ to celebrate 75 years of Benedictine presence in Viet Nam and 70 years since the foundation of Thien An by two monks of La Pierre qui Vire, Dom Romain and Dom Corentin, in 1939. The Jubilee Year was opened on 10th June 2009 with a Mass presided by the auxiliary bishop of the Archdioces of Hue. Three abbots and about seventy diocesan priests concelebrated, and in all there were about 700 faithful present for the celebrations. Other events will continue until the feast of the Sacred Heart next year.

We offer special congratulations to the monasteries of Vietnam on this joyful occasion. Our four monasteries have suffered greatly under communist regimes and as a consequence of the war which divided their country, but now they are the most flourishing part of our Congregation. The four monasteries of Thien-An, Thien Binh, Thien Phuoc and Thien Hoa now have a total of 269 monks, of whom 80 are novices or postulants. It is largely because of these young Asian monks that our Subiaco Congregation recorded a small increase in our annual statistics. At the end of December 2008 we numbered 1,375 monks in 68 monasteries, spread over 25 countries in six continents. We still have the task of preparing up to date statistics for our associated sisters but they number about 1,000. Last year the General Chapter also voted to receive the Anglican community of Camperdown in Australia (a mixed house of monks and nuns) into ecumenical association with our Congregation. I was able to visit them again earlier this year with Abbot Hugh of Pluscarden after the Canonical Visitation of New Norcia.

In the middle of May we said farewell to P. Ghislain Lafont who has served the Congregation as Procurator General since March 2007. Père Ghislain celebrated his 81st birthday with us at the Curia in February but shortly afterwards left for his monastery of la Pierre qui Vire where he will use his ‘retirement’ to continue his theological work and prepare material for publication. A generation of monks is familiar with ‘Père Lafont’ as a theological lecturer at Sant’Anselmo and at the Gregorian University in Rome. Fortunately, he is not completely severing his connections with the Curia and continues to work on the commission of the Carta Caritatis.

The new Procurator General is Fr Ambrose Flavell, who recently came to the Curia as Secretary. That position is now being held by Sr M. Martina Pirastru of the monastery of San Luca, Fabriano, who has been generously lent to our Congregation by her Abbess for a period of one year. Fr Bernardo Mariani, of St Scholastica’s Abbey, Subiaco, has been appointed to the Council of Assistants but will continue to live at Subiaco.

We say farewell also to several resident guests. Fr Dominic Nguyen Duc Hanh completed his doctorate in Canon Law and has returned to his monastery of Christ in the Desert. He will be involved in the projected new Vietnamese house in Texas belonging to Christ in the Desert. Sr Leena and Sr Lissy, Benedictine Sisters of the S. Lioba Congregation, leave Rome to take up new appointments elsewhere. Fr Maximilien Longanghe of the Congo, and Dott. Matteo Poddi, a Sardinian archaeologist, finished their studies in June and will also be leaving us. There will be some new faces in September, but we are making some structural alterations in the sisters’ part of the house that I hope mean that in future we will have some spare rooms and be able to offer hospitality to visiting sisters of our Congregation.

With my prayers and good wishes,

20th July 2009

P. Bruno Marin, Abbot President