Archabbot Boniface Wimmer Assumption Abbey Saint Procopius Abbey Newark Abbey Belmont Abbey Saint Leo Abbey Saint Anselm Abbey Saint John's Abbey Saint Benedict's Abbey Saint Vincent Archabbey

Founded 1855, the American-Cassinese Congregation is a Catholic association of Benedictine monasteries.

The Congregation includes 25 monasteries; 19 are autonomous monasteries and 6 are dependent priories. Our monasteries are located in 15 of the United States, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico and Taiwan.

Abbot Boniface Wimmer OSB, founder of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, created the Congregation. Pope Pius IX erected it as a monastic congregation under the patronage of the Holy Guardian Angels.

Our monasteries follow the Rule written by Saint Benedict of Nursia (480-547).

Please email us at webmaster@amcass.org about the website with any questions, comments, suggestions, or edits.



Upcoming Events

Benedictine Junior Institute

July 12-21, 2023

The annual Benedictine Junior Institute will take place on July 12-21, 2023 at St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama. This opportunity provides junior professed monks from our own monastic congregation to meet other juniors from different monastic congregation, to explore and expand their appreciation of Sacred Scripture and to visit local sites, including the Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham and the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, among other social and formation experiences. The registration form is due May 1, 2023.

International Oblate Congress

September 9-16, 2023

The International Oblate Congress originally for scheduled for November of 2021 has been rescheduled again for September 9-16, 2023. Presumably the pandemic will be over by that time. This rescheduling was announced on December 1 by Abbot Primate Gregory Polan, O.S.B. in his letter to superiors of monasteries, Abbot Primate Gregory said, “We count on your usual collaboration for the success of this important event, which we are working on together with the International Team of Benedictine Oblates.” For more information you may contact the website for the congress or email Father Benoit Alloggia, O.S.B., who has been coordinating plans for the congressa.

Benedictine Educators Network Conference

October 11-14, 2023

The next Benedictine Educators Network conference, sponsored by the International Commission on Benedictine Education, will be held at Colegio São Bento in Rio de Janeiro from October 11-14, 2023. The conference is for administrators and teachers in Benedictine secondary schools. Please visit the website for more information and registration.

Prior's Conference

November 9-12, 2023

Prior's Conference at Saint Leo Abbey, Florida, November 9-12, 2023 Contact Fr. Prior at for reservations.

Synod on Synodality

2023 Synod 2021 2023

Earlier this summer, the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Last week, the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops released several documents in preparation for the 2023 Synod Bishops, with the theme of “For a synodal Church: communion, participation, mission.” The Preparatory Document is “a tool to facilitate the first phase of listening to and consulting the People of God in the particular Churches.” The Vademecum is the handbook for listening and discernment in local churches, with a focus on the work of the Diocesan Contact Team.

Earlier this summer, the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life invited conferences of religious from around the world to participate in the synodal journey by seeking and providing input in preparation for the Synod. Specifically, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect of CICLSAL, has asked to provide feedback in Spring 2022. In doing so, he notes that “To ensure the synodal church is not a mirage, but rather a dream to be realized, it is necessary to dream together, to pray together, and to work together.”

Decision on next Congress of Abbots

2024

One of the key decisions of the recent Synod of Presidents was whether to hold a Congress of Abbots in September of 2022 or wait until the normal scheduled congress in September of 2024. The latter date will be either an additional four-year mandate for Abbot Gregory Polan or the election of a new abbot primate.

A second major consideration for the timing of next Congress of Abbots is the course of the pandemic. The Confederation is truly an international organization with abbeys across five continents. However, at this time there were two uncertainties: 1) How many monastic communities in the developing countries are fully vaccinated? How many abbots from developing countries have the financial resources to come to a Congress of Abbots meeting in a non-election year? Scheduling a Congress for September of 2022 could result in a meeting of abbots from Europe and North America, a genuine misrepresentation of the diversity of the confederation. Furthermore, the preparation work for such a meeting by the staff of Sant' Anselmo is significant and it could potentially underserve the confederation.

Abbot Presidents realized that there is still significant uncertainty about the course of the pandemic through September 2024. That is, it is more likely that we will be dealing with a “new normal,” a situation that is not like either fall of 2020 or 2021! However, it is surely likely that we will know more about the pandemic by then and will have strategies in place for traveling and meeting safely. Thus, the abbot presidents voted to hold the next Congress of Abbots in September of 2024. For more information on registration, accommodations, etc: www.congressusosb.com