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To: Polycarp; Cap'n Crunch; ArrogantBustard; B-Chan; John Beresford Tipton; boromeo; narses; ...
I e-mailed a monk I know. Here are his two replies (edited to remove names):

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I'm not surprised that such a group exists, however I've never heard of them before. The only two independent Benedictine communities in the US that I know of are Mt. Savior Monastery in Elmira, NY (which is presently petitioning to joining the ***** congregation) and Weston Priory in Weston, VT.

In order for them to get started as a Benedictine house they would have had some initial ties to a community that belonged to one of the recognized congregations or they were a foundation from either Weston or Elmira. Given their ministry (lectors and eucharistic ministers) no one in the community is ordained. My suspicion is that these "monks" are actually Benedictine oblates (third order members).

There is no Independent Benedictine Congregation. If there were, there would be no reason for Mt. Savior Monastery to be required to join an existing congregation. As of now, both Mt. Savior and Weston Priory are under the guidance of the Abbot Primate in Rome.

This whole thing sounds screwy, but that really should surprise either of us!

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I sent a copy of the web link to Br. ***** and we were reviewing it once again this morning. It turns out that the telephone number they have listed is not available through any public directory (even though they claim to be in existence since 1988). Also, their mailing address is a P.O. Box.

There isn't another Benedictine monastery that I have ever heard of that doesn't have an actual street address. My suspicion is that this "monastery" is actually operating out of someone's home and that "they" have an unlisted phone number so they can screen the calls they receive.

The fact of the matter is that the only person listed on the website is Br. Gerald. The pictures that are shown can be from any monastery. In fact, one of the pictures looks like it might be from a Buddhist monastery since the "altar" area doesn't appear to be the least bit Catholic.

48 posted on 09/20/2003 10:39:31 PM PDT by Dajjal
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To: Dajjal; Polycarp
Good research and post. I should know better than to shoot from the hip.

Let's pour a B&B and chill out on this this Sunday afternoon.
49 posted on 09/21/2003 10:32:41 AM PDT by Barnacle (The Barnacle has spoken... Barnacle/Oracle, what’s the big deal? Close enough.)
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