• Fr. Anthony Vinson and Br. Silas Henderson attended the Kentucky Catholic Students Coalition annual retreat in Bowling Green, KY, in February.
  
  
• Fr. Damian Schmelz served as Natural Resources Commissioner at the Surface Mined Land Reclamation Technology Transfer Seminar on December 3-4, 2007 in Jasper, IN.
  
  
• Fr. Guerric DeBona spoke to students at the Illinois Institute of Technology in May. His talk was about discernment and he led them in an exercise of group spiritual direction.
  
  
• Archabbot Justin DuVall attended the Indiana Bishops and Major Superiors meeting in Indianapolis in March.
  
  
• Br. Matthew Mattingly had his translation of the Memoriale Qualiter, the earliest monastic customary dating from the the late eighth century, accepted by The American Benedictine Review.
  
  
• Fr. Matthias Neuman delivered a paper on May 9 to the International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, MI. It was titled “Bishops and Benedictines in Medieval Iceland: Sanctity and Learning.”
  
  
• Fr. Prior Tobias Colgan gave the community retreat at Conception Abbey, MO, from May 11-16.
  

New appointments announced for monastery, School of Theology.

With new leadership in the School of Theology this summer, Archabbot Justin DuVall, OSB, and President-Rector Fr. Denis Robinson, OSB, announced several new appointments in May.

• At the archabbot’s nomination, Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger will appoint Fr. Mark O’Keefe, OSB, as pastor of St. Mary Parish, Huntingburg, IN, effective August 1. Fr. Mark, who served as president-rector of the School of Theology for the past 12 years, will continue to teach in the School.
  
  
• Fr. Pius Klein, OSB, will return to the Archabbey on August 1. He has served as pastor of St. Mary Parish, Huntingburg, for 21 years. He will receive new work assignments at the monastery.
  
  
• Effective August 16, Fr. Guerric DeBona, OSB, will become the subprior (third in leadership) of the monastery, replacing Fr. Denis. He will also be the master of novices and juniors, a position recently held by Fr. Harry Hagan, OSB.
  
  
• Fr. Guerric will continue as a teacher of homiletics, a spiritual director and the formation dean for monastic seminarians in the School of Theology. He was also appointed as the socius for expositi students, whereby he will maintain contact with and monitor the progress of Saint Meinrad monks who are sent away for studies.
  
  
• Fr. Harry will continue teaching in the School of Theology and assume the responsibilities of a new position as director of cultural formation in the School. In this position, he will be responsible for coordinating cultural opportunities, raising awareness of cultural events, providing workshops and coordinating January Interterm cultural formation components.
  
  
• Fr. Bede Cisco, OSB, will return to Saint Meinrad from his long-term assignment in Indianapolis to assume the work of associate formation dean and the director of institutional research in the School of Theology.
  
  
• As director of institutional research, he will assist departments within the School with strategic planning and provide information about trends in priestly, diaconal and lay formation. He will continue as director of deacon formation for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
  
  
• Fr. Kurt Stasiak, OSB, most recently the provost-vice rector in the School of Theology, has been appointed the director of spiritual formation. He will also give regular spiritual formation conferences for the seminary community.
  
  
• Fr. Jonathan Fassero, OSB, will assume the responsibilities of associate spiritual director. He will also continue his work as director of enrollment for the School.
  
  
• Fr. Godfrey Mullen, OSB, was named the provost and vice rector for the School of Theology. Most recently, he served as director of the Permanent Deacon Formation Program. He will continue to teach as well as serve as director of liturgy in the School.
  
  
• Fr. Gabriel Hodges, OSB, has been appointed the director of the Permanent Deacon Formation Program. He will also assume a new post as custos domus. This position unites several aspects of work in the School: overseeing the daily running of seminary housing and food service, the spearheading of special projects, coordination of banquets, oversight of the UnStable and interfacing with the Group Accommodations Office.
  
  
• Fr. Gabriel continues his work in the Institute for Priests and Presbyterates. He also will continue as Master of Ceremonies I for the monastery.
  
  
• Fr. Brendan Moss, OSB, was appointed the director of pastoral formation for the School of Theology, as the School initiates an ambitious new pastoral formation program, called “Workers into the Harvest.” Fr. Brendan will continue his work in the Development Office as well as his work on a significant homiletics grant project.
  
  
• Br. Zachary Wilberding, OSB, will assist Fr. Brendan as associate director of pastoral formation in the School. He is currently working toward a Master of Divinity degree from Aquinas Institute in St. Louis. Br. Zachary will continue working with lay degree formation.
  
  
• Fr. Patrick Cooney, OSB, was named to the new position of director of human formation in the School of Theology, where he will oversee programs relating to human formation. He will continue his work as associate formation dean and teacher of canon law. This summer he has been deployed to Qatar, where he serves as a chaplain in the Kentucky Air National Guard.
  
  
• Fr. Paul Nord, OSB, who recently served as the associate director of pastoral formation, will pursue graduate studies in Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.