Locations
The monks of St. Joseph Abbey, Louisiana, founded the Abbey of Jesus Christ Crucified, Esquipulas, Chiquimula, Guatemala, in 1959. It became an independent abbey in the Swiss American Congregation on the feast of St. Benedict, 21 March 1982. The monks have the care of a parish attached to a great basilica that attracts large numbers of pilgrims. Pope John Paul II visited the sanctuary on the occasion of its fourth centenary in 1996. The monks also administer Colegio San Benito, a private school for both elementary and secondary boys and girls.
In 2003 the monks elected Rt. Rev. Héctor Paz OSB to be the third abbot. He also serves as the Vicar General of the Prelacy of Esquipulas that includes 6 parishes and 45,000 inhabitants. The monastery consists of 23 monks.
Michael Anderson (left) and Liam Sperl (right), the first two Benedictine Volunteers, arrived in Esquipulas in late summer 2007.
Saint
Benedict's Preparatory School, Newark Abbey, New Jersey.
The Benedictine monks of Newark Abbey established the school in 1868.
Today it is an inner-city school providing a quality education for about
575 boys. SJBVC volunteers are tutors of students and teacher assistants
in grades seven through twelve. The school's eleven-month calendar includes
a mandatory five-week summer session. Black students account for 67%
of the enrollment, white students 10% and Hispanics 23%. The spirit of
the school flows from its motto: "Whatever hurts my brother, hurts
me."
Ryan Radmer, at left, and Robert Kirsch, second
from right,
with students of Saint Benedict's Prep School
Collegio Sant'Anselmo, Rome, Italy. The International Benedictine College
of Saint Anselm was established in 1687 and restored in 1888. The school
enrolls some 90 students in programs of priesthood and monastic studies,
theology, philosophy and liturgy. Abbot Primate Dr. Notker
Wolf OSB resides
at the College and serves as the chief representatative of the Order of Saint
Benedict.
St.
Maurus Hanga Benedictine Abbey, Songea, Tanzania. Founded
in 1957, Hanga Abbey with its 150 members is the largest Benedictine
community in Africa and operates a hospital, dispensary, primary and
secondary schools and seminary. Hanga Abbey focuses on the neglected
human beings arising from a Tanzanian society that is experiencing rapid
and fundamental changes in the economic, religious, political, technological
and socio-cultural fields alongside other African countries.