5th International CIB Symposium, Rome 2006

5th International Symposium and Conference, Rome 2006

Account of the Symposium and Conference

On Friday, 15th September 2006 the Conference of Delegates elected Prioress Judith Ann Heble of Sacred Heart Monastery, Lisle, Illinois USA, as Moderator for the next four year term. Assistant Moderator is Abbess Vera Lucia Parreiras Horta of Salvador, Brazil and the other two members of the Council are Prioress General Theodora Ntuli of the Twasana Benedictines in South Africa and Sr.Teresa Paula Dias Perdigao, President of the Benedictine international congregation Regina Apostolorum.

The new Moderator and the Administrative Council met the same day and nominated two more members, as is possible according to the statutes of the CIB. The two nominated members of the Council are: Prioress Zoë Davis of Turvey Abbey, Great Britain, and Sr. Clare Condon, Prioress of the Good Samaritan Benedictines, Australia.

This meeting was preceded by a Symposium where over 100 delegates from 19 regions around the world were assembled, each of them representing about 250 Benedictine women in their region. This was the 5th international Symposium held in Rome with the aim of bringing Benedictine women of different traditions and cultures together for mutual encouragement, deepening of monastic spirituality and creating links across our small globe. A Newsletter which can also be found on this website gives more details about the meeting. The speakers made it clear that deep changes are taking place in society making it not easy to find the right language to meet the needs of young women wishing to join the community, but it was also clear that St. Benedict has a message which has never grown old during the 1500 years of Benedictine life. The young sisters invited to the meeting reaffirmed their belief in monastic values and encouraged the abbesses and prioresses attending in their difficult task of leadership in our day.