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BENEDICTINE-LEADERSHIP Sep-19-2006 (840 words) xxxi
Prioresses say Benedictine life can be example for rest of world
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) -- Benedictine life, which centers around communal, harmonious and prayerful living, is an important example for the rest of the world, said several prioresses during an international gathering in Rome.
Some 100 prioresses and abbesses from around the globe came together Sept. 7-15 for a symposium on leadership.
Every four years, the international Benedictine conference, Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum, brings together leaders of Benedictine monasteries of women for discussions, prayer and a pilgrimage to the Italian city of Norcia, where their order's founder, St. Benedict, was born.
On Sept. 15 participants also elected Sister Judith Ann Heble of Lisle, Ill., to be the conference's moderator. Sister Heble, prioress of Sacred Heart Monastery and president of the Confederation of Benedictine Prioresses of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, replaced Mother Maire Hickey, who ended her term after serving for nine years.
This year, participants discussed what kind of wisdom was needed in leadership, specifically, what ways were best to guide a monastic community that can be made up of anywhere from a handful to hundreds of women.
"Each person is unique, diverse, at a different stage of growth; the community is intergenerational, in some ways intercultural, and that's the true challenge to make a community out of the variety," said Sister Christine Vladimiroff, prioress of Mount St. Benedict in Erie, Pa.
Sister Vladimiroff and other prioresses told Catholic News Service that being good at their job was not about honing sophisticated management skills, but rather was about crafting "the art" of spirituality.
"A leader needs to have a very intimate relationship with Christ whom she represents in the community," and this involves "being deeply spiritual about being our best selves as leaders and calling forth the best self of each of our members," she said.
The Rule of St. Benedict serves as a valuable guide for monastery leaders and their members, she said.
The first word of the rule, she said, is listening: listening to all members of the community, to oneself and what one's heart is saying, and to the spirit of God.
Mother Hickey, abbess of St. Scholastica Abbey of Dinklage, Germany, said many leaders can find it tempting to play the superhero and stoically approach difficulties and problems "because we're called on to be strong" and get things done.
"But we need to be close to other people," she said, and that means being aware of one's own fragility and keeping one's feet on the ground, staying in touch with what one's sisters are going through.
"Everybody has a piece of the truth," said Sister Margaret Michaud, prioress of St. Bede Monastery of Eau Claire, Wis.
The best way to tackle a problem is "you have to listen to everybody, and if you take the time to do it, you'll come out with a pretty good decision," she said, adding that people will find decisions easier to support once they have a role in shaping them.
She said many of the sisters at the symposium had been wondering how to share their way of life and leadership with the outside world.
"We have a lot to share with our society, with the world in general, but we're struggling with how to make it known," said Sister Michaud.
But she emphasized that the Benedictine way of life was "not a democracy. It's not a political thing. It's a spirit-filled way of making decisions."
Sister Dorothy Jean Beyer, prioress of Queen of Angels Monastery in Mount Angel, Ore., said the Benedictine approach of respect and reverence for every individual was sorely needed in society.
"In today's world of disrespect for the elderly, the young, the unborn, and the disrespect for peoples seen in genocide, I think the Benedictine rule of reverence would be a wonderful message to give to the world," she said.
As Benedictine sisters, "we're all on the same road with each other following Christ," she said, but each person has "her own way to God."
Leaders need to "encourage the strong so that they have something to strive for, but make sure the weak are not discouraged" or afraid, she said.
Sister Heble said the Rule of St. Benedict has often served as a "kind of touchstone" for nonreligious groups, even corporate life.
The whole notion of working to achieve unity and community through collaboration has proved to be very attractive to many people.
St. Benedict's rule says "always seek advice and you'll never be sorry afterward," Sister Heble said, "and that in itself is a model for any kind of structure, be it corporate or religious or civil."
The monasteries' spiritual centers and guesthouses help the Benedictine women evangelize and show their way of life to the wider world, the prioresses said.
While the many people who visit Benedictine monasteries as guests do not become sisters or monks, Mother Hickey said, "they have gotten closer to what the root of life is about and have discovered a deeper meaning of things."
END
Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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