Preparations have begun for the 1500th anniversary of the founding of Italy’s Monte Cassino, the mother abbey of Western monasticism established by St. Benedict in 529. Source: OSV News.
The Benedictine Confederation has launched a new website designed to connect pilgrims, visitors and spiritual seekers with monasteries around the world.
The initiative is part of a global “Journey to Jubilee” leading to celebrations in 2029. Organisers say the project is intended to use the anniversary as an opportunity to introduce people to Benedictine spirituality today.
“I think the rule of St Benedict speaks to our age because it begins with a very simple invitation: ‘Listen’,” Abbot Primate Jeremias Schröder, head of the worldwide Benedictine Confederation, said.
“Much of contemporary life is marked by noise, speed and constant distraction. Benedictine life proposes something different: a way of inhabiting the world with greater attentiveness, balance and humanity,” he said.
The new website allows users to locate monasteries, explore Benedictine communities and follow preparations for the jubilee.
According to Adam Simon, coordinator of the 2029 jubilee project, about 400 men’s monasteries are already featured on the platform, with women’s monasteries expected to be added in a second phase.
“The jubilee website was created to give the 2029 jubilee a visible and accessible home online,” Mr Simon said.
“Above all, it is an invitation for people to discover Benedictine monasteries as living ‘places of hope,’ rooted in prayer, community, stability and welcome.”
The website grew out of a practical question, Mr Simon explained: “How can people across the world encounter the jubilee, find a monastery, follow the ‘Journey to Jubilee,’ and take part?”
“The doors of monasteries are opening for the jubilee, and the website is the digital gateway to discovering them,” he said.
The website also highlights the global reach of Benedictine life today. According to Mr Simon, the Benedictine family includes approximately 6200 monks and 12,000 religious sisters spread across different congregations and regions around the world.
“Of the male monasteries in the world just under 50 per cent are in Europe,” Mr Simon said. “Following the missionary expansion of the last 200 years, the remaining 50 per cent are split across North America, Asia-Pacific, Africa and South America.”
Those figures, he said, demonstrate how Benedictine monasticism has developed far beyond its European origins.
FULL STORY
Benedictines launch global jubilee initiative ahead of 1500th anniversary (By Katarzyna Szalajko, OSV News)
Benedictine Jubilee (Benedictine Confederation)
