The Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum (International Communion of Benedictine Women) gathered for a symposium at the Collegio Sant’Anselmo in Rome, Italy in September 2026, attended by Mother Karol O’Connell of the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception at Kylemore Abbey and approximately 100 Benedictines from six continents.
The CIB was established in 2001, forming a global network of Benedictine women’s communities.
Besides meeting to discuss aspects of living Benedictine life in these ever-changing times, the Benedictines had an opportunity to get to know each other, and attend a private audience with Pope Leon XIV on September 12.
In his address to the CIB, Pope Leo XIV thanked them for their prayer, “humble and silent presence,” and the “daily and hidden offering” of their lives.
Photo: The Region 4 CIB representation (from left to right): Mother Nikola Proksch from Minster Abbey, Mother Karol O’Connell from the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception at Kylemore Abbey, Sister Mechtild Crawford from Jamberoo Abbey, Mother Anna Brennan from Stanbrook Abbey.
