CNA Staff, May 28, 2020 / 05:00 am
The Vatican has ordered the prominent Italian Catholic layman Enzo Bianchi to leave the monastery he founded in 1965.
The Holy See made the ruling in a decree dated May 13, signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and approved by Pope Francis, following an apostolic visitation.
A statement on the Monastic Community of Bose's website said the pope had approved the apostolic visitation in response to "serious concerns" about "a tense and problematic situation in our community regarding the exercise of the founder's authority, the governance, and the fraternal climate."
Bianchi founded the ecumenical community in Biella, northern Italy, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. It is a mixed community, composed of both men and women, who pray the Liturgy of the Hours and follow a rule influenced by St. Benedict and St. Basil the Great. Members include Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox Christians.