Subiaco Abbey is an American Benedictine monastery located in the Arkansas River valley of Logan County, Arkansas, part of the

Swiss-American Congregation The Swiss-American Congregation is an association of Benedictine monasteries founded in 1881 in the United States, as a part of the international Benedictine Confederation of monasteries. History During the 19th century, a number of Benedictine ...

of Benedictine monasteries. It is home to thirty-nine Benedictine monks. The abbey and the preparatory school it operates,

Subiaco Academy Subiaco Academy is an American Roman Catholic day and boarding school for boys founded in 1928. Serving grades 7-12, it is part of Subiaco Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Subiaco, Arkansas. Earlier schools at the priory and abbey dated to 1887 ...

, are major features of the town of

Subiaco, Arkansas Subiaco is a town in Logan County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 572 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Subiaco Abbey, which is located there, and which donated in the early 20th century for a townsite and railroad connec ...

. It is named after the original Subiaco, Italy, where the first monastery founded by Saint Benedict was located. The Abbey has developed commercial enterprises including breeding of black Angus cattle, a brewery and taproom, and its own hot sauce. While located within the territory of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, the Abbey has independent authority as an institution of the Benedictine order.

History

In 1877, the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad (LR&FS) owned thousands of open acres in Arkansas that it wished to develop with settlers. Deciding to offer land only to German Catholics, the company approached Martin Marty, O.S.B., the Abbot of St. Meinrad Abbey in Indiana, with a proposal. The railroad offered land in western Arkansas, south of the Arkansas River, if the Abbey would establish a monastery and school there to serve the German immigrant population the railroad was bringing into the region. The abbot negotiated with the railroad for a grant of to establish a Benedictine monastery for monks, and an additional for the foundation of a monastery for Benedictine nuns. This agreement was supported by Edward Fitzgerald, Bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock, who needed German-speaking priests to serve new immigrants and their families in his diocese. Abbot Marty assigned three monk-missionaries from St. Meinrad to start the foundation in Logan County, Arkansas. They arrived there on March 15, 1878: Father

Wolfgang Schlumpf Wolfgang Schlumpf (January 20, 1831 – August 1, 1904) was a Swiss-born Benedictine monk and missionary in the United States who is credited as founder of Subiaco Abbey in western Arkansas. He immigrated to the United States in 1862 after bein ...

, O.S.B., assigned as prior; Brother Kaspar Hildesheim, O.S.B.; and Brother Hilarin Benetz, O.S.B.. The foundation was developed as St. Benedict's Priory. Due to financial and personnel difficulties, St. Meinrad requested assistance from its mother house in Switzerland to aid the growth. In the fall of 1887, its founding monastery, Einsiedeln Abbey, responded to appeals from the foundation in Arkansas, and sent Fr. Gaul D'Aujourd'hui with eight candidates for the monastery. They became known in the tradition as the Eight Beatitudes. In 1886 the monastery was raised to a conventual priory, independent of St. Meinrad Abbey. In 1891 it was named as an abbey by Pope Leo XIII, receiving the name Subiaco Abbey in honor of St. Benedict's original monastery in Subiaco, Italy. The first abbot,

Ignatius Conrad Ignatius Conrad (November 13, 1846 Au, Switzerland – March 13, 1926 Baldegg, Switzerland) was a Benedictine monk, a Swiss missionary, and the first Abbot of Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas, which was named as an abbey in 1891. He served from 1892 t ...

, O.S.B., was elected in March 1892. He was a monk from Einsiedeln Abbey who had been serving at the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City–Saint Joseph The Diocese of Kansas City–Saint Joseph ( la, Dioecesis Kansanopolitanae–Sancti Josephi) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the state of Missouri in the United States. The current bishop is ...

in western Missouri. Under his leadership, construction of a new abbey was begun in 1898; it was made from local sandstone. In December 1901, just as the construction was nearing completion, the original wooden abbey, located about a mile away, burned to the ground. The monks transferred to the Subiaco Abbey site. This building was gutted by fire in 1927 and was rebuilt. The third Abbot of Subiaco, Paul Nahlen, O.S.B., obtained

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

's blessing for the construction of the present church on the Abbey campus. The church was completed in 1959. This act is depicted in one of the 182 stained-glass windows in St. Benedict Abbey Church. Over the years, the Benedictine monks at Subiaco have pursued various spiritual, agricultural, and commercial endeavors. First were missionary works, then they established Subiaco Academy, a university-preparatory school. In 1927, Subiaco Abbey took its first step in establishing what would become Corpus Christi Abbey in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

. This institution closed in 2002. They made an overseas foundation in 1964 in Nigeria, but it had to be closed in 1968, due to the Biafran War there. The Benedictines made a subsequent foundation, Santa Familia Priory, in Belize in 1971. It closed in 2002. In January 2023, Jerrid Farnam was arrested for public intoxication, theft of property, criminal mischief, breaking or entering, and residential burglary for breaking into the Abbey, vandalizing the marble altar, and stealing two boxes of relics containing 1,500 year old relics related to Catholic

saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

. Both boxes were recovered by police.

List of Abbots

# Rt. Rev.

, O.S.B. (1892-1926) # Rt. Rev.

Edward Burgert Edward Burgert (October 15, 1887 Paris,_Arkansas, Paris, Arkansas – January 23, 1968 Refugio,_Texas, Rufugio, Texas) was a Benedictine monk and the second Abbot of Subiaco Abbey (Arkansas), Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas. He would become known not ...

, O.S.B. (1926–1939) # Rt. Rev. Paul Nahlen, O.S.B. (1939-1957) # Rt. Rev. Michael Lensing, O.S.B. (1957–1974) # Rt. Rev. Raphael DeSalvo, O.S.B. (1974–1989) # Rt. Rev. Jerome Kodell, O.S.B. (1989–2015) # Rt. Rev. Leonard Wangler, O.S.B. (2015–present)

Subiaco Academy

David Wright, Ed.D., was appointed in 2018 as Subiaco Academy Headmaster. He was previously Assistant Vice-President and Athletic Director of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. In 2019 he instituted a new “Parallel Curriculum” within the Academy to focus on “integrity-based and socially responsible leadership.”

Student body

The Academy has a diverse student body of American students and international students; the latter come from China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Curaçao, and South Korea. In 2020, the Academy was ranked by Niche as the #1 Catholic High School in Arkansas. The student body is composed of 60% boarders, 30% students of color, and 9% international students.

Media references

Great Big Story Great Big Story was a media company producing micro-documentaries based in New York with offices in London. Launched in October 2015 by CNN, the company created 2,600 videos, being published on various websites such as Facebook and YouTube. Vid ...

, a media company of CNN, produced a segment on the Hot Sauce operations of the Abbey. American Angus Association produced a segment on the Angus Farm operations of the Abbey. KTHV, a media company in Little Rock, Arkansas, produced a segment on the new CountryMonks Brewing and the Hot Sauce operations of the Abbey.

Priests with credible allegations of abuse

Catholic institutions in Arkansas have received allegations of child abuse by priests and monks assigned here. Since 2018 they have provided public information about these allegations. On September 10, 2018 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock released a report disclosing the names of clergy who at some time served in Arkansas and who have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse. As it is independent of the diocese, on January 24, 2020 the Abbey of Subiaco released its own report; it disclosed the names of three deceased monks with established allegations of abuse: Nicholas Fuhrmann, Francis Zimmerer, and Patrick Hannon. Two additional deceased monks were listed as "Of Note": Fr. Timothy Donnelly for "multiple incidents of inappropriate touching", and Fr. Bede Mitchel as a "credible allegation of abuse" by the Diocese of Fort Worth (TX). Neither Subiaco Abbey nor a third party independent investigator could find any evidence related to the latter allegation against Fr. Mitchel. A criminal investigation is pending of Fr. Jeremy Myers, a former monk who left Subiaco Abbey to become a diocesan priest in the Diocese of Dallas (TX) in 1991.

Gallery

Wolfgang_Schlumpf_Older.jpg Wolfgang_Schlumpf_with_Monks.jpg Ignatius_Conrad_as_new_Abbot.jpg Ignatius_Conrad_with_Subiaco_Monks_in_1894.jpg Edward_as_Abbot.jpg Edward_newly_Elected_1925_with_Monks_%26_Abbot_Phillip_Ruggle.jpg Abbot_Paul_Nahlen.jpg Abbot_Paul_and_Abbot_Edward_with_Community.jpg Subiaco Abbey Aerial.jpg Subiaco Abbey NE.png Subiaco Abbey NW.jpg Subiaco Inner Court NW.jpg Subiaco Inner Court.jpg Subiaco Abbey Church Interior.jpg

References

External links

Subiaco Abbey and Academy homepage

Subiaco Abbey Online Store

Guide to the New Subiaco Abbey Postcard and Prayer Card Collection
, Collection of postcards depicting New Subiaco Abbey in Subiaco, Arkansas, housed in the University of Dayton's U.S. Catholic Special Collection.
Order of Saint Benedict
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subiaco Abbey And Academy 1878 establishments in Arkansas Benedictine monasteries in the United States Buildings and structures in Logan County, Arkansas Religious buildings and structures in Arkansas Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock 19th-century Christian monasteries German-American culture in Arkansas Roman Catholic churches completed in 1959 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States