U.S. Benedictine Environmental Ressourcement after Vatican II: From Primitive Observance to Ecological Consciousness

Abstract: In the generation after World War II, select new Benedictine foundations in the United States connected their apostolic activity to their landholdings and physical surroundings, bringing attention to ecology and conservation. These foundations, particularly those that embodied what has been alternately called a simple or a primitive following of the Rule of St. Benedict, did not understand themselves to be at the vanguard of the then-incipient environmental movement, but their growth led to an unparalleled ecological awareness among Benedictines. This article proceeds in three parts. First, mid-century theological justifications shared by these monastic houses are summarized, particularly those that led them to pursue vocations dependent on rural surroundings without institutional ties to educational institutions or formalized agreements to oversee parochial missions. Second, the article examines the process by which these communities developed a heightened awareness of ecology and began to describe their activities in overtly ecological terms. Finally, it will consider how these monastic foundations adopted progressive social positions, which were made possible by a return to the ideals of a more contemplative and simpler form of monastic life. This, it will be argued, complicates scholarly assessments of U.S. religious communities both before and after the Second Vatican Council.