 | The topic of this articlemay not meet Wikipedia'sgeneral notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citingreliable secondary sources that areindependent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to bemerged,redirected, ordeleted. Find sources: "St Benedict Patron of Europe Association" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
St Benedict Patron of Europe Association (Latin:Associatio Sancti Benedicti Patroni Europae, ASBPE) is a CatholicInternational association of the faithful in theBenedictinespirituality.
The association was founded byabbots and bishops from variousEuropean countries, including Abbot President Sighard KleinerO. Cist. and Dom Jean Roy, Abbot ofNotre-Dame de Fontgombault,[1] BishopJean Rupp of Monaco and BishopFrançois Charrière of Fribourg in Switzerland.[2] It was founded in 1967 afterPaul VI in his Apostolic LetterPacis Nuntius (1964)[3][4] proclaimedBenedict of Nursia as thePatron of Europe.[5] The aims of the association were further confirmed inJohn Paul II’s Apostolic LetterSanctorum Altrix (1980)[6] on relevance of theRule of Saint Benedict, calling attention to anew evangelisation. On 11 July 1988 thePontifical Council for the Laity established ASBPE as aninternational association of the faithful ofPontifical Right.[7]
Theabbot of Fontgombault, Antoine Forgeot, was the secretary general of the Association as of 1989.[8]
In September 1991, the association held its 23rd International Congress at the CistercianAbbey of Hauterive in Switzerland. The conference was scheduled to be chaired byHans Hermann Groër, then archbishop of Vienna, andAmédée Grab, then auxiliary bishop of Geneva. Speakers were set to includeKurt Furgler, former president of the Swiss Confederation andThomas Goppel, a Bavarian state minister.[9]
In September 1997, the association held a congress in Canterbury on the theme of Benedictine discretion.[10]
The association celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017 atPraglia Abbey in Italy, where it received greetings fromRobert Sarah, then prefect of theCongregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.[11]
The main purpose of the Association is to promote and encourage a range of values and traditions, connected with the Association's view of a "truly Christian Europe". This includes promoting the Church'sliturgy,Gregorian chant and protecting traditionalcrafts. The Association draws its inspiration from their understanding of the influence of theRule of SaintBenedict of Nursia, in terms of shaping a Christian spirit on Europe.[2] An abbot of aBenedictine orCistercianabbey is the spiritual advisor of the ASBPE. The association organises yearly international congresses open to all,[12] and in addition an annual pilgrimage to a monastery. The national groups organise days of study and prayer. The association has members also inNorth America.[13][14]
The ASBPE seat isTriors Abbey, where the abbot, Dom Hervé Courau, is the Association's general secretary as of 2025.[15]
