There is much happening in Sant'Anselmo. Our restoration and renovation operations have center stage right now. For the past few weeks there has been a huge crane direcly in front of the balcony of my office. Every morning at eight o'clock the workers continue the work of restoring the roof of the church. While the main beams are sound, the minor beams that support the roof-tiles crumble in one's hand. When the roof is finished the interior of the church will be completely repainted. The Atrium of the church is now gleaming in renewed splendour. The stone capitals and entrance portal of the church have been restored to their original brilliant white.

The crane will remain in front of my window for a long time. Once the church is finished we intend to excavate the cloister garden. Half of the new space underground will be used to provide a new aula and the other half for extra storage-space for the Library. This space will be given a solid roof to form a fl oor at cloister level which in turn will be roofed in glass to provide a covered courtyard, a practice that is becoming popular in many places. The resulting space will provide an aula which we hope to use for the next Congress of Abbots in September 2008. We are going to have to wait for the definitive Aula Magna under the second courtyard, along with all the changes associated with this building.

In the autumn we were able to finish the complete renovation of our laundry. Shortly, the firm of Schindler will replace the lift near the sacristy, renovate the lift near the Portineria and install a completely new lift in the stair-well that leads to the laundry. All of this has been arranged by Father Markus Muff. All of these activities are a source of much extra work and an enormous challenge for our Economo, Father Gerardo and our Treasurer General, Abbot Laurence. I am grateful to the abbots and their communities and to several generous benefactors who have financed these costly projects to date. We have established two foundations with the object of putting Sant'Anselmo on a firm financial footing. The scope of the former Pontifical Institute of Liturgy (PIL) foundation in the United States has been broadened to include all of Sant'Anselmo and will in future be known as the "Saint Benedict Education Foundation". Here, I should like particularly to thank the American Abbeys and Priories that have assumed the start-up financing of this foundation for the first three years. A foundation needs a few years before it can become self-financing and begin to make funds available for various projects. My special thanks go to Archabbot Douglas of Saint Vincent, the unflagging driving force behind this foundation. Again, some days ago we were able to establish a foundation for Europe under the name of "Foundation Benedict". This foundation has its official office in Lucerne, Switzerland. The Abbey of Engelberg has generously released Father Markus Muff to take care of development activities within Europe. He is in the process of building up a network of contacts and has already been successful in attracting some gifts. Nor should I like to forget the help of the Abbot of Ganagobie who has been instrumental in obtaining some donations in France.

None of this means, however, that we are now swimming in money. Foundations need a long time to bear fruit. The two foundations mentioned above are intended to secure the financial future of Sant'Anselmo by establishing endowments for professorial chairs, student scholarships and the maintenance of the buildings. But in the immediate future we shall need funding to pay for current renovation measures. On Ash Wednesday when I was explaining these measures to the Holy Father on his arrival here and told him that I was looking for the necessary money he said, "Saint Benedict will help." I replied, 'No, this is Saint Joseph's responsibility." He laughed and said, "You're right again."

But now to the life of the house itself. This year the Athenaeum, or university, had 380 students. The college, with 120 residents from 43 nations, was completely full. We have had additions to our personnel: Abbot Pius Engelbert from Gerleve, for many years a professor of Church History here and editor of the "Corpus Consuetudinum" has, following his resignation, returned to Sant'Anselmo and taken over the archives of the Confederation. Father John Seddon from Ramsgate Abbey has come to work as a librarian. Since the autumn, Father Denys Bernard Cazes from the French Trappist monastery of Mont des Cats has been teaching in the Faculty of Philosophy. Sister Leena of the Indian Saint Lioba Sisters is working inthe Portineria and in the Rector's office.

The Holy Father was here briefl y on Ash Wednesday. On 21st November last, the head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Rowan Williams, came here along with Cardinal Kasper and delivered a brilliant and much acclaimed lecture on "Benedict and the Future of Europe". The Benedictine women held their symposium,"RB 4,19. Wisdom Leadership" here last September. At the end of this symposium, on 15th September, Sister Judith Heble of Sacred Heart Monastery, Lisle, Illinois was elected the new Moderator of the CIB. She succeeds Mother Máre Hickey, Abbess of Dinklage. In the meantime preparations have begun for the second World Congress of Oblates which will take place in 2009. But our main preparations at the moment are focused on the Congress of Abbots in 2008. The preparatory commission met at the last Synod of Abbots President at Downside and again on 2nd February at Sant'Anselmo.

Finally, I should like to mention briefly some of my travels. I was able to be present at the large meeting of Latin-American Benedictines, Cistercians and Trappists at Belo Horizonte in Brazil which had as its theme "Peace as Gift and Challenge". Following this I flew to Mount Angel in the northwest of the United States for the dedication of a new wing of their seminary. I spoke to several abbots and Cardinal Levada about our Saint Benedict Education Foundation. In January I went to San Francisco for the Workshop of North-American Abbots and Prioresses. The theme was "The Following of Christ in the Light of Chapter 2 of the Rule of Benedict". Abbess Máire Hickey and the Trappist Abbot Armand Veilleux set the scene for the discussions. The annual meeting of the Superiors of India and Sri Lanka was held at the Sylvestrine Priory of Vijayawada. One of the emphases was on the question of solid monastic training and continuing monastic formation. Similar questions were dealt with at the Abbey of Inkamana where the conference of the eleven communities of southern Africa met.

Throughout all of these journeys I was accompanied by a photographer who plans to publish a book on the global presence of Benedictines. During the Pope's visit to Bavaria I was invited by Bavarian Television to be co-commentator for their transmissions. The members of this team were fascinated by the variety of Benedictine life and its rootedness in different cultures throughout the world. Benedict is at home not only in Europe but, over the last century-and-a-half, has put his stamp on the Church in the United States. Benedict's Rule, based on the Gospel, is increasingly esteemed in India and even in the vast expanses of Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, Saint Benedict is no longer a stranger.

In Christ's Love,

Notker Wolf, O.S.B., Abbot Primate