Abbot President’s Council Meeting

Mount Michael is an autonomous abbey. It is also part of a larger grouping of monastic communities based upon its origin. This grouping is called the Swiss-American Congregation. The two founding monasteries of the Congregation – Saint Meinrad Archabbey and Conception Abbey – were established from different monastic communities in Switzerland.

Today the Swiss-American Congregation consists of 17 Benedictine monasteries stretching from coast to coast as well as from Canada to Guatemala. Abbot Justin Brown currently serves as the Abbot President of the Congregation. His role is to provide oversight, foster unity, and help to maintain regular discipline across the member houses.

The Abbot President utilizes a council of two abbots and two monks to assist him. These four monastic council members are elected from different monasteries. While there are periodic meetings throughout the year often conducted via Zoom, the Abbot President holds a formal council meeting at one of the communities of the Congregation. This past weekend, Fr. Louis traveled to Saint Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana for the Abbot President’s Council Meeting. Fr. Louis was appointed to the Council in December 2024 to complete another delegate’s term.

Pictured left to right: Fr. Tobias Colgan of St. Meinrad (delegate), Abbot Justin Brown of St. Joseph Abbey (Abbot President), Archabbot Kurt Stasiak of St. Meinrad, Fr. Louis Sojka of Mount Michael (delegate), Jennifer Whitehouse (CFO of St. Joseph Abbey and assisting with the Congregation finances)