Following an invitation from Abbot Benedict Nivakoff OSB, a delegation of approximately ninety monastics and scholars from Rome undertook a fraternal visit to Norcia on Saturday 25 April. The excursion formally marked the opening of the year of Norcia. The visiting group comprised 65 residents from the Collegio di Sant’Anselmo, a small number of Benedictine nuns teaching or studying at the Ateneo and more than 20 participants from the Monastic Formators Program. This 12-week intensive course, which ran from March to June at Sant’Anselmo and the Benedictine Monastery of Saint Giuseppe in Assisi, provides vital preparation for those tasked with guiding postulants, novices and junior monks or nuns across the Confederation.

Travelling from Rome in two buses, the group arrived first in Norcia to pray Ora Media within the Basilica of Saint Benedict. A definitive symbol of the city and the birthplace of the patron saint of Europe, the basilica was faithfully rebuilt to its original appearance and reopened for worship in October 2025, concluding a monumental nine-year restoration after the devastating earthquake of 30 October 2016. Following the liturgy, the assembly listened to presentations delivered by Abbot Primate Jeremias Schröder, Archbishop Renato Boccardo of Spoleto-Norcia and Abbot Benedict.

In his address, Abbot Benedict drew a profound parallel between the physical ruin of the 2016 earthquake and the interior renewal required within monastic life. "I think of a rebirth that awaits every monk of our Order — whom you represent here today from all over the world," he observed. "In Christ, every day can be a rebirth. Ten years ago, after the earthquake, we thought our future had come to an end. Yet often it is only when we think there is no future left, when in our monastic life we feel that our strength is exhausted, that God can intervene. It is then that our life can truly become His."

The delegation subsequently toured the reconstructed basilica and its crypt, which preserves the site of the ancestral home of Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica. After a brief walk through the town, which continues its extensive reconstruction efforts, the group travelled to the Abbey of Saint Benedict on the Mountain. On a clear, warm day with snow still blanketing the peaks behind the monastery, the guests enjoyed a picnic lunch with the resident community and sampled the famous Norcia beer while taking in the magnificent views of the scenic valley of Norcia. Prior Brendan Coffey offered formal thanks to the community for their exceptional welcome, while Abbot Benedict expressed his joy at receiving the Sant’Anselmo community in such significant numbers. The day concluded with the three-hour return journey to Rome, arriving in time for evening Vespers.