A Modern Monk’s Tale

By John Cavanagh
hoodiemonks.org
October 1, 2012

http://www.hoodiemonks.org/PDFs/MODERN_MONKS_TALE.pdf

[full text]

In the 1950's and until the mid '60's, the abbot of the Trappist monastery I'd entered in '59 was recruiting barely legal colts for his stable. Boys aged roughly seventeen to twenty were being accepted as novices, an age generally considered too young by the Order's standards elsewhere. These boys would often go on to become the abbot's lovers, and because he conducted himself discreetly, the clandestine affairs very possibly could have gone unnoticed indefinitely. But he dropped them as they got older, and eventually there was a row over the ensuing favoritism and how the place was being governed.

In the Spring of 1964 this brought in a tribunal of two abbots from elsewhere in the Order to investigate the cause of the friction. But even after two weeks of listening to everyone's grievances, these investigating abbots were still openly puzzled about what the real stakes were. Encouraged by the spirit of aggiornamento we saw being implemented in the case, four of us went to them as a bloc and described what we had seen and heard, signing notarized affidavits, etc., which we agreed to do only after being promised immunity from any retaliations in return for our sworn testimony. I want to emphasize here as strongly as possible that we were assured that the whole investigation was being closely monitored by the Sacred Congregation for Religious, and that the promise of immunity they extended to us had been pre-authorized from Rome.