Subiaco Cassinese Congregation

Father Casaretto (1810–1878) from the age of seventeen was a monk of the Abbey of Santa Maria del Monte which was a member of the ancient Cassinese Congregation of Benedictine monasteries. Due to his poor health later, after his ordination as a priest, he was advised to seek exclaustration (a temporary leave of absence for discernment). Instead, he accepted assignment to a parish which had been entrusted to the pastoral care of the Congregation, but only on condition of being accompanied by a few of his brother monks. Furthermore, his stipulation was that they be allowed to follow an exact observance of the monastic life as laid down in the Rule of St. Benedict. To be revived in this was the practice of perpetual abstinence from meat and the celebration of Matins at 2:00 A.M. This was seen as an act of defiance in some quarters, but Casaretto had won the confidence of Pope Pius IX and the King of Piedmont. His vision was fulfilled with the establishment of a small monastic community in 1843.

The new foundation received approbation within the Congregation in 1846 with the visit of the Abbot of their mother community. That same year, it also found support from the Vatican with its approval of 18 articles Casaretto had submitted to serve as shaping the character of the foundation. Additionally, he founded a small seminary nearby to prepare monks for serving overseas. This was a step away from the purely European focus of the Cassinese congregation.

Over the next few years, three other Cassinese monasteries joined Casaretto's experiment. At this point, the Cassinese Congregation formed these communities into a new Province of Subiaco, granting these communities a degree of autonomy. By 1867, monasteries in Belgium, England and France had also joined this new Province. That was the year that Casaretto had decided that conditions in the mother Congregation were such that a complete split would be best. For this he convened an extraordinary Diet, which declared such a break, and established the monasteries of the Province as the Cassinese Congregation of the Primitive Observance. One new feature of this congregation, breaking with monastic tradition, was the establishment of a single abbot for the congregation, titled the Abbot General, with the Superior of each monastery being titled simply a prior, who was to be elected triennially, rather than for life.

This step drew the criticism of excessive centralization of monastic life, but the new congregation thrived, and received final papal approval in 1872, only five years after its inauguration. Yet Casaretto's vision was not to survive intact. Within a few years of his death, a committee of Cardinals called an extraordinary General Chapter in 1880. In the course of this, they cancelled the congregational nature of the monastic religious vows and re-established both the lifetime office of Abbot as the Superior of each monastery and the practice of the monk's vowing stability in a single community.

Following decades saw the consolidation and expansion of the Congregation. Growing hostility by the governments of Italy and France saw temporary suppression of various abbeys. This led them to establish new foundations in Bengal, New Zealand and the Philippines by the end of the 19th century. The congregation was flourishing, however, at the start of the 20th century, with the number of monks growing from about 1,000 in 1920 to over 1,400 by 1937. New foundations were taking place, but this growth also came through the affiliation of the formerly Anglican monastery of Prinknash Abbey which chose to affiliate itself with this Congregation, after its conversion to the Catholic Church.

The Spanish Civil War, followed soon after by World War II, saw a change in fortunes of the Congregation. Widespread destruction and dispersal of religious communities did not spare the monks. The entire community of "El Pueyo" was murdered during this conflict. Growth was able to resume after these conflicts, especially in the French province, which made new foundations in Asia and Africa. In 1959, the General Chapter of the Congregation chose to re-take its original name of Subiaco.[2]

As of 2013, the Congregation consists of 80 monasteries, with another 45 women's houses affiliated or "aggregated". There are 1,329 members of whom 535 are priests.

The congregation was formed with the aim of rediscovering the ancient simplicity of the monastic life, which had become obscured over the centuries. As such, its houses tend to be focused more on an enclosed contemplative life rather than pastoral involvement with the larger community through the operations of schools or parishes. Compared to the other member congregations of the Benedictine Confederation (apart from the Ottilien Congregation), the Subiaco Confederation is one of the most internationally diverse, due to the widespread missionary activity of its abbeys.

The residence of the Abbot President of the congregation is at the Abbey of St. Ambrose (Italian: Sant'Ambrogio della Massima) in Rome. It was founded by the saint's own sister in the 4th century as a monastery of nuns.[3]

Abbot President Bruno Marin, who has served in this capacity since 2004, and re-elected in 2012, resigned his position according to the Norms of the Congregation.

On Thursday, September 22, 2016, capitulars of the General Chapter meeting in Rome, elected as the new Abbot President, Abbot Guillermo Arboleda Tamayo. He was born in 1956, ordained priest in 1980, and professed as a monk of Santa María de la Epifanía (Guatapé) in 1986, and until now, Abbot of the Abbey of Santa Maria of Medellin and Administrator of Santa María de la Epifanía (Guatapè). The new Abbot President is the first from the Americas.

In recent months, Abbot President Guillermo Leon Arboleda Tamayo OSB has nominated the following monks to the Curia Generalizia, Rome: Father Luigi Tiana OSB (Subiaco Abbey, Italy) as Procurator General; Father Christian Leisy OSB (Christ in the Desert Abbey, USA) as Assistant and Secretary; Father Stefano Visintin OSB (Praglia Abbey, Italy) as Assistant; Father Jacques Damestoy OSB (Abbot Emeritus of Belloc Abbey, France) as Assistant; and Father Andre Ouedraogo OSB (Abbot Emeritus of Koubri, Burkina Faso) as Assistant.

The abbot president has also confirmed the following elections: Father Luc-Ange Randrianasolo OSB as Conventual Prior of the Monastery of Mahitsy (Madagascar); Father Eduardo Africa OSB as first abbot of the Priory of the Transfiguration, Malaybalay (Philippines), elevated to the status of abbey by decree of the abbot president, 2 February 2017; Father Prior Pierre Thoi OSB as Visitor of the Vietnamese Province. Also nominated was Abbot Joël Chauvelot OSB, Abbot of Tournay, as Abbot Administrator of Belloc (France), until the next canonical visitation; and Abbot Jean-Christophe Yameogo OSB as Prior Administrator of Koubri (Burkina Faso), for two years.

The congregation is currently made up of:

(from the former Subiaco Congregation)

Eight provinces: the Italian Province (18 houses), the English Province (14 houses), the Flemish Province (10 houses), the French Province (14 houses), the Spanish Province (11 houses), the African and Madagascar Province (7 houses), and the Vietnamese Province (4 houses);

The Philippine Pro-Province (2 houses)

Seven extra-provincial monasteries, subject directly to the Abbot President of the Congregation.

The individual membership numbers below are as of March 2009.

Italian Province

Aerial view of Subiaco Abbey

• Archabbey of Monte Cassino (6th century): 15 monks (territorial abbey)
• Monastery of St. Scholastica and Sacro Speco (6th century) Subiaco: 20 monks and 1 secular oblate
• Abbey of St. Martin, Palermo (7th century): 15 monks
• Monastery of Saints Paul and Andrew, Novalesa (726): 8 monks and 20 secular oblates
• Abbey of St. Justina, Padua (970): 21 monks and 25 secular oblates
• Abbey of St. Peter, Assisi (970): 4 monks
• Abbey of St. John the Evangelist, Parma (980): 14 monks
• Abbey of Our Lady of the Stairs, Noci (1112-1140; 1160): 22 monks and 330 secular oblates
• Abbey of St. Mary of Montevergine, Montevergine [Avellino] (12th century): 13 monks
• Priory of Saints Martin and Benedict, Pegli: (dependent on Finalpia)
• Praglia Abbey, Teolo: 45 monks and 32 secular oblates
• Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Monte, Teolo: (dependent on Praglia)
• Monastery of Our Lady of the Snows, Torrechiara (dependent on Parma)
• Abbey of St. Gregory the Great, Venice: 8 monks (dependent on Praglia)
• St. Mary's Abbey, Finalpia, Finale Ligure (1905): 19 monks
• Monastery of Our Lady of Miracles, Casalbordino (1925): 11 monks
• Monastery of St. Scholastica, Civitella San Paolo (1934): 13 nuns and 20 secular oblates
• Abbey of St. Peter of Sorres, Borutta (1955): 10 monks
• Monastery of Saints Peter and Paul, Germagno (1974): 8 monks and 5 secular oblates
• Monastic Community of the Most Holy Trinity, Dumenza [Varese]: 10 monks
• Sadhu Benedict Math, Maheshwarapash, Daulatpur, Bangladesh (1990): 2 monks and 27 secular oblates (dependent on Praglia)

English Province

Tomb of Empress Eugénie in St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough

Hispanic Province

Our Lady of Montserrat

• Abbey of Saint Julián of Samos, Lugo, Galicia, Spain (655; 960): 19 monks
  • Monastery of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico: 5 monks (dependent on Samos)
• Valvanera Abbey, La Rioja, Spain (900): 12 monks
• Abbey of Sant Mary of Montserrat, Barcelona, Spain (1025): 76 monks
  • Abbey of Saint Michael of Cuxa, Codalet, France: 5 monks (dependent on Montserrat)
  • Monastery of Saint Mary (Santuari del Miracle), El Solsonès, Catalonia, Spain (1899): 6 monks (dependent on Montserrat)
• Estibaliz Priory, Estibaliz, Álava, Spain (1923): 7 monks
• Monastery of Saint Mary of El Paular, Rascafria, Madrid, Spain (1954):[5] 8 monks
• Abbey of Saint Mary of Medellín, Colombia (1954): 15 monks
• Monastery of Saint Mary of the Epiphany, Guatapè, Colombia (1968): 27 monks
• Monasterio de Santa Teresa de Jesús, Lazkao, Spain (1968): 8 monks
• Resurrection Abbey, Ponta Grossa (Brasil): 23 monks

German Pro-Province

The former Michaelsberg Abbey

With the closure of Michaelsberg Abbey in June 2011, this province was abolished. Kornelimünster Abbey was made an extraprovincial monastery.[6]

• Michaelsberg Abbey, Siegburg (1064-2011)

• Subiaco Cassinese Congregation official website