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American Benedictine Forum

Timeline

  • 1947: The American Benediction Academy grew out of the National Benedictine Educational Association and was initiated by the American-Cassinese Congregation of monks, 30 December 1947.
  • 1948: First meeting of the board of the Academy at St. Meinrad, Indiana. First sectional meetings, which were in a variety of academic disciplines.
  • 1950: The Academy began publication of the American Benedictine Review.
  • 1972: The governing structure of the Academy was simplified. The sectional structure of the Academy was replaced by a single grouping.
  • 1975: The American Benedictine Review was separately incorporated.
  • 1978: The focus of meetings shifted from academic fields to “Benedictine Heritage and Culture.”
  • 1982: Membership was declared open to anyone who had a serious interest in Benedictinism.
  • 1984: The Academy’s archive was established at the St. Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota, which became the legal address of the Academy as a not-for-profit corporation.
  • 1995: The ABA website was launched on 2 December 1995.
  • 1998: The Academy observed its fiftieth anniversary at its biennial convention at St. Vincent’s Archabbey, 9-12 August 1998.
  • 2000: First pre-convention web workshop at St. Meinrad’s Archabbey.
  • 2004: First CD publication of ABA convention 2002 Proceedings: “Mentors and Mentoring: Refounding the Tradition.”
  • 2012: The Academy elects its first president from an ecumenical community, Martin Shannon of the Community of Jesus.
  • 2016: Mercy Sister Julia Upton is the first Oblate president elected.
  • 2020: The Academy held its first convention online.
  • 2024: The board began to explore post-Covid realities and new program opportunities.
  • 2025: The board proposed and membership approved a new name, mission, and purpose for the organization, which now is known as the American Benedictine Forum.

For more information on the history of the organization, see Alberta Dieker, OSB, “Ideas and Ideals: The American Benedictine Academy, 1948-1998,” _American Benedictine Review _ 51:2 (June 2000): 169-196.