• Source: Benedictine Congregation of Saint Ottilien

The Ottilien Congregation, officially known as the Benedictine Congregation of Sankt Ottilien and as the Missionary Benedictines, is a congregation of religious houses within the Benedictine Confederation, the aim of which is to combine the Benedictine way of life with activity in the mission field.




History



The congregation was founded in 1884, incorporating the houses founded on the vision of Andreas Amrhein, a monk of Beuron Archabbey, who, finding it impossible to realise the vision of the Benedictine mission within Beuron, left to begin an independent community. He set up a house in 1884 at Reichenbach in the Oberpfalz, but the site was too remote, and in 1887 the community moved to what is now St. Ottilien Archabbey in Oberbayern.
In the same year the first missionary monks left for the Apostolic Prefecture of South Zanzibar in German East Africa, a territory which now comprises several dioceses in Tanzania, which the monks serve from the abbeys of Peramiho, Ndanda and Hanga and several smaller houses. Similarly the Congregation's Zululand mission (begun in 1921) is now an independent monastery serving the diocese it once helped to create.
In 1908 an Asian mission field was added, comprising two abbeys in North Korea and China, which after the end of World War II were re-constituted as Waegwan Abbey in South Korea. There is also a priory at Digos on Mindanao Island in the Philippines, and a priory at Kumily in Kerala (India).
Further monasteries were established in North and South America after World War I, and more recently several new foundations have been made in Uganda, Togo, Cuba, Egypt.
Until 2012, the Archabbot of St. Ottilien was the ex officio president of the congregation. Since 2012 the president is elected by the General Chapter.
Women religious have formed part of the Missionary Benedictine enterprise from the beginning, based at first at St. Ottilien but shortly after at their own house nearby. They have developed independently and today form the Congregation of Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing.




Demographics


As a Congregation founded with the purpose of evangelizing German East Africa, it is no great surprise that the vast majority of early monks were Germans. As the Church grew in Africa and Asia, the Missionary Benedictines eventually began to accept indigenous vocations.
In 2024, the 1021 monks of the Congregation belong to 25 communities in Africa (58%), Asia (16%), the Americas (2%) and Europe (24%). At this time the Congregation features three houses with monastic populations in excess of one hundred monks:

Hanga (125)
Waegwan (114)
Mvimwa (100)




List of member houses and dependencies






= Europe

=
Germany:
Sacred Heart Archabbey, St Ottilien (1887)
Monastery of the Holy Redeemer, Monte Irago, Spain
St Felicity's Abbey, Münsterschwarzach
Christ the King Priory, Schuyler, United States
Holy Trinity Abbey, Schweiklberg
Königsmünster Abbey, Meschede
St Benedict's Cella, Hanover
Austria:
St George's Abbey, Stans
Switzerland:
St Otmar's Abbey, Uznach




= Africa

=
Kenya:
Prince of Peace Abbey, Tigoni
St Benedict's Monastery, Nairobi
Our Lady Queen of the World Monastery, Nanyuki
Monastery of Peter the Fisherman, Illeret
St Gregory's Study House, Langata (Congregation)
South Africa:
Sacred Heart Abbey, Inkamana
Tanzania:
St Maurus and St Placidus Abbey, Hanga
St John Bosco Formation House, Nakagugu
St Joseph's Farm, Nole
St Placidus Procure, Dar-es-Salaam
St Bernard's Priory, Kipalapala
St Benedict's Monastery, Mbeya
Holy Spirit Abbey, Mvimwa
St Benedict's Monastery, Sumbawanga
St Bernard's Monastery, Kipili
St Benedict's Monastery, Pugu
Our Lady Help of Christians Abbey, Ndanda
St Maurus Procure, Kurasini
St Benedict Parish, Sakarani
St Benedict's Abbey, Peramiho
St Raphael's Priory, Uwemba
Togo:
Incarnation Conventual Priory, Agbang
St Maurus and St Placidus Monastery, Kara
Cella St Boniface, Lomé
Uganda:
Christ the King Priory, Tororo
Zambia
St Teresia of Lisieux Priory, Katibunga,




= Asia

=
China (People's Republic):
Holy Cross Abbey Yanji (suppressed in 1946)
Holy Cross Monastery, Kouqian
India:
St Michael's Priory, Kumily
Korea:
St Benedict's Territorial Abbey, Tokwon (1909-1949)
St Maurus and St Placidus Abbey, Waegwan
St Benedict's Monastery, Seoul
St Joseph's Monastery, Namyangju
St Benedict's Monastery, Busan
St Benedict's Village for the Aged, Kumnam
St Paul's Abbey, Newton II
St Benedict's Monastery, , Hwasun
Philippines:
St Benedict's Conventual Priory, Digos
St Anselm's Study House, Davao
St. Scholastica's Priory, Manila




= America

=
Colombia:
St Benedict's Conventual Priory, El Rosal
Cuba:
Priory of the Epiphany of the Lord, Havana (Congregation)
United States:
St Paul's Abbey, Newton, New Jersey
Venezuela:
St Joseph's Abbey, Güigüe




References






External links


Congregation of the Missionary Benedictines official website

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Benedictine Congregation of Saint Ottilien
• St. Paul's Abbey (New Jersey)
• Notker Wolf
• Digos Conventual Priory
• Hanga Abbey
• Monastery of St Odile
• St. Ottilien Archabbey
• Waegwan Abbey
• Subiaco Cassinese Congregation
• Agbang Conventual Priory