Benedictine Monastery

Sr. Maria Silvia Bate, OSB, a nun from Maukeli, Nagekeo, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, was officially appointed head of the Monastero Benedettino di Orte, or Benedictine Monastery of Orte, Italy, on September 27, 2026.

“For a year, I lived like a zombie,” she said. “I let the gloomy tide of life take me wherever it led. I was angry, helpless, and questioned God.”

Amid the ongoing war in Gaza and continuing violence across the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa urged Christians to cling to hope, stressing that the power of evil can never overcome life rooted in Christ.