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The Swiss Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation is a grouping of Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland or with significant historical Swiss connections.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2023) |
The Swiss Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation is a grouping of Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland or with significant historical Swiss connections.
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.
The membership of the Congregation as at 1647 was thus all the extant Benedictine monasteries still in Switzerland:
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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.
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.
The member houses of the Swiss Congregation are presently as follows:
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, are a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church following the Rule of Saint Benedict. They are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits. They were founded in 529 by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule.
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.
Einsiedeln Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery administered by the Benedictine Order in the village of Einsiedeln, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, in recognition of Meinrad of Einsiedeln, a hermit Catholic saint. The monastery is not under the jurisdiction of a diocese or a bishop because it is a territorial abbey.
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.
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.
Disentis Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the Canton of Grisons in eastern Switzerland, around which the present town of Disentis grew up.
Beinwil Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Beinwil in the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
Mariastein Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Metzerlen-Mariastein in the Canton of Solothurn, Switzerland.
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.
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.
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.
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 Roman Catholic 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 was founded in 1844 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.
Fintan Mundwiler was a Swiss Benedictine, who became Abbot of St. Meinrad Abbey, Indiana.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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