Trappist community of Mt Atlas

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: "info@indcatholicnews.com"
To: nunrawdonald@yahoo.com
Sent: Thu, 10 June, 2010 9:47:22
Subject: Recommended Article
Hello, your friend at info@indcatholicnews.com felt that you would be interested in the following article posted at our site:

"Des Hommes et des Dieux - Of Gods and Men "
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=16222

Your friend made this comment about the article:
"Dear Fr Donald - This is the review we carried recently.
It does look a lovely film.
Best wishes Jo"

Why don't you take a moment to check it out?
Thanks,
Independent Catholic News

Des Hommes et des Dieux - Of Gods and Men

By: Fr Peter Malone - Signis

Posted: Saturday, May 29, 2010

One of the finest religious films, and one of the best Catholic films, in years. No controversy here.  The film won the Ecumenical Prize at Cannes 2010.  It also won the Grand Prix du Jury from the festival itself. The subject is the Trappist community of Mt Atlas, Algeria, in the 1990s.  Living their monastic life amongst the local people and ministering to them, especially with medical services, they were viewed more and more with suspicion in the country, especially because they were French expatriates, by government troops who were becoming more active against the increasing terrorist attacks, and by the terrorists themselves.  Seven of the monks were killed in the latter part of May, 1996. While the film expertly builds up the background of post-colonial Algeria, corrupt government, extreme Islamists imposing something like Taliban terror in the towns and villages, the role of the military  is ambiguous.  Later, and with stronger evidence emerging in recent years with documentation more open and available, the violence perpetrated by both sides, including the military is now under review.  The centre of the film, however, is the life of the monks and their preparation for death.

Cistercian Branches

OC - General Chapter 2010

Cistercian Order

Monday, 06 September 2010 15:20

On September 2^nd, 2010, the abbots, abbesses and delegates of the Cistercian Order, gathered in their General Chapter at Rocca di Papa (Rome), elected Dom Mauro-Giuseppe Lepori as their Abbot General.

Dom Mauro-Giuseppe was born in 1959 and entered Hauterive in 1984. He made his solemn profession in 1989 and was ordained a priest in 1990. Dom Mauro-Giuseppe was elected abbot of Hauterive in 1994.

Dom Meinrad Tomann was re-elected Procurator General of the Cistercian Order for a new term of five years on September 3^rd, 2010.

On September 4^th, Abbot General, Dom Eamon Fitzgerald, OCSO (Trapist), an invited guest at the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order.

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ZENIT, The world seen from Rome
News Agency
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Cistercians Elect New Abbot General

Challenges Include Unification of Order

ROME, SEPT. 13, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The abbot of Hauterive, Switzerland, Father Mauro Giuseppe Lepori, was elected abbot general of the Cistercian Order.


The election was held Sept. 2 during the order's general chapter of abbots, abbesses and delegates, who gathered in Rocca di Papa, near Rome.

Father Lepori succeeds Abbot Maur Esteva Alsina, who has been serving in that post from 1995 to the present and is resigning for reasons of age.

Born in Canobbio, Switzerland, in 1959, the new superior general of the Cistercians entered the Abbey of Hauterive in 1984. He made his first monastic vows in 1986 and his solemn profession in 1989.

Ordained a priest on June 10, 1990, Father Lepori served as master of novices until his election as abbot of Hauterive on May 16, 1994.

With a licentiate in philosophy and theology from the University of Fribourg, the priest became known for the publication of several articles and books translated into several languages, such as "Simon Called Peter."

Father Lepori also gives conferences, preaches retreats, and paints with watercolors.

Communion

As superior general, Father Lepori has the task of "guaranteeing the unity of the order and of making its visible communion more concrete, but also of breathing into it a 'spiritual breath,'" reported Cistercian Father Henri Marie Couette to the newspaper "Liberation."

In addition to the administrative work of the order, the new abbot general will have to work in the reunification of the two Cistercian branches, that of the "common observance," to which the abbey of Hauterive belongs, and that of "strict observance" (Trappists).

According to data of 2009, the Cistercian Order of "common observance" includes 122 houses and more than 1,900 monks and nuns in the world, whereas the Cistercian Order of "strict observance" has 175 houses and some 3,600 religious, including men and women.

In 1998, on the occasion of the 900th anniversary of the installation of Abbot Robert of Molesmes in Citeaux, in Burgundy, France, Pope John Paul II appealed for the reunification of the two Cistercian branches.

The new superior general will have another important challenge: the aging of the communities and the lack of vocations in Europe.

As is traditional, Father Lepori took office immediately and will now reside in Rome.

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