CNA Staff, Sep 1, 2020 / 09:05 am
An English Benedictine community's decision to leave their home for the past two centuries will allow members to focus on core monastic principles, the abbot said Tuesday.
Abbot Nicholas Wetz told CNA Sept. 1 that the monks voted unanimously to move out of Downside Abbey in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, but that it was "an incredibly difficult decision."
"The community spent many months trying to discern what to do and where the Holy Spirit was leading them, and, in the end, took the unanimous decision after much prayer and many, many meetings," he said.
"There was a deep desire to focus on what was truly important to them as Benedictine monks. While it was a very hard decision, they made it in a very positive spirit because they see it as an opportunity to return to some of those monastic principles."