Swiss Congregation

Last updated
Kloster Einsiedeln Kloster Einsiedeln IMG 2852.JPG
Kloster Einsiedeln

The Swiss Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation is a grouping of Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland or with significant historical Swiss connections.

Contents

Foundation

Kloster Fischingen Kloster Fischingen.jpg
Kloster Fischingen

The congregation was founded, at the urging of the Papal legate to Switzerland, in 1602, [1] with a significant reform agenda. Of the nine Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland which had survived the Reformation, seven had joined by 1604. Disentis Abbey was prevented at first by considerations of the sensitive politico-religious situation in Graubünden, but joined in 1617. Beinwil Abbey had been dissolved in 1554, but the community was still together, and at last, after it had been decided that a re-foundation would take place at Mariastein, joined in 1647.

As at 1647, therefore, the congregation included all the extant Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland:

Engelberg kloster Engelberg kloster 2011-08-20 16 40 23 PICT4025.JPG
Engelberg kloster

Changes

Kloster Disentis Kloster Disentis Mai 2011.JPG
Kloster Disentis

The fortunes of Roman Catholic establishments in Switzerland were turbulent, especially in the 19th century. All were dissolved as a consequence of the French Revolution in 1798, but were restored by Napoleonic decree in 1803, with the exception of St. Gall, where the Prince-Abbot refused to make the necessary political concessions. The politics of the Swiss cantons brought about the dissolution of Pfäfers (1838), Muri (1841), Fischingen (1848) and Rheinau (1863), of which Muri was re-founded in 1845 at Gries in what is now the Italian province of South Tyrol and Fischingen not until 1977, as an independent priory.

The "Kulturkampf" caused the dissolution of Mariastein in 1874/75. The exiled community sought refuge first in France, and, exiled again in 1901, in Austria, where they settled at Bregenz, only to be deported yet again in 1941, by the Gestapo. The Swiss government then allowed them as political refugees to re-occupy their old monastery, which was however not re-established as such until 1973.

Kloster Marienberg AbbaziaMonteMaria2.JPG
Kloster Marienberg

The outlook for Swiss Roman Catholics during the "Kulturkampf" was so bleak that Einsiedeln and Engelberg began a programme of establishing new religious houses in the United States of America so that the remaining monasteries and nunneries in Switzerland would have a refuge if they were all exiled. Eventually the crisis passed, but the new foundations took on a life of their own as the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation.

Political changes outside Switzerland brought the addition of Marienberg Abbey in South Tyrol, which transferred from the Austrian Congregation in 1931.

Present membership

Kloster Mariastein Mariastein.jpg
Kloster Mariastein
Murikloster Murikloster.jpg
Murikloster

The member houses of the Swiss Congregation are presently as follows:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Engelberg Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery in Engelberg, Canton of Obwalden, Switzerland

Engelberg Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Engelberg, Canton of Obwalden, Switzerland. It was formerly in the Diocese of Constance, but is now in the Diocese of Chur. It is dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels and occupies a commanding position at the head of the Nidwalden Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Einsiedeln Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery in Switzerland

Einsiedeln Abbey is a Catholic monastery administered by the Benedictine Order in the village of Einsiedeln, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muri Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery in Aargau, Switzerland

Muri Abbey was a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. It flourished for over eight centuries at Muri, in the Canton of Aargau, near Zürich, Switzerland. While the monastery is currently established as Muri-Gries in South Tyrol the former abbey is now a museum and heritage sites of national significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marienberg Abbey</span> Benedictine abbey in Mals, Vinschgau in South Tyrol, northern Italy

Marienberg Abbey is a Benedictine abbey in Mals, Vinschgau in South Tyrol, northern Italy. It was founded in 1149 or 1150 by Ulrich von Tarasp and other nobles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beuronese Congregation</span> Congregation within the Benedictine Confederation

The Beuronese Congregation, or Beuron Congregation, is a union of mostly German or German-speaking monasteries of both monks and nuns within the Benedictine Confederation. The congregation stands under the patronage of Martin of Tours, who is the patron saint of the Archabbey of Beuron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disentis Abbey</span>

Disentis Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the Canton of Grisons in eastern Switzerland, around which the present town of Disentis grew up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beinwil Abbey</span>

Beinwil Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Beinwil in the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariastein Abbey</span>

Mariastein Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Metzerlen-Mariastein in the Canton of Solothurn, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rheinau Abbey</span>

Rheinau Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Rheinau in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland, founded in about 778 and suppressed in 1862. It is located on an island in the Rhine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fischingen Abbey</span>

Fischingen Abbey, now Fischingen Priory, is a Benedictine monastery situated in Fischingen in the Canton of Thurgau, Switzerland, on the upper reaches of the Murg, a tributary of the Thur. It was founded in 1138, dissolved in 1848 and re-founded as a priory in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pfäfers Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery in Pfäfers

Pfäfers Abbey, also known as St. Pirminsberg from its position on a mountain, was a Benedictine monastery in Pfäfers near Bad Ragaz, in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conception Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery in Conception, Missouri

Conception Abbey, site of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is a monastery of the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monastery, founded by the Swiss Engelberg Abbey in 1873 in northwest Missouri's Nodaway County, was raised to a conventual priory in 1876 and elevated to an abbey in 1881. In 2021 the community numbered fifty-eight monks who celebrate the Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours daily and who staff and administer Conception Seminary College, The Printery House, and the Abbey Guest Center. Monks also serve as parish priests and hospital chaplains in the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph and other dioceses. There is also a large postal facility attached to The Printery House, operated by lay employees, which includes package shipping and delivery facilities.

Muri-Gries Abbey is located in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy and was founded in 1845 as an offshoot of the former Muri Abbey in Aargau. It is a member of the Swiss Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation, mostly known for its wine-making.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fintan Mundwiler</span> Swiss Benedictine

Fintan Mundwiler was a Swiss Benedictine, who became Abbot of St. Meinrad Abbey, Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assumption Abbey (North Dakota)</span> Religious house in North Dakota

Assumption Abbey, located in Richardton, North Dakota, is a Benedictine abbey of the American-Cassinese Congregation, founded in 1893 by a monk from the Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss-American Congregation</span> Association of Benedictine monasteries

The Swiss-American Congregation is an association of Benedictine monasteries founded in 1881 in the United States, as a part of the international Benedictine Confederation of monasteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernhard Müller (abbot)</span> Abbot of Saint Gall

Bernhard Müller was prince-abbot of the Abbey of Saint Gall from 1594 until 1630. He was the son of Brosi Müller and Magdalena Lutz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Kälin</span>

Bernard Kälin was a Swiss Benedictine monk of Muri-Gries Abbey, an abbot of Muri-Gries Abbey, and the third Abbot Primate of the Order of St. Benedict and the Benedictine Confederation.

References