After some 50 years, members of the Cistercian community are withdrawing their presence and service from the Diocese of Trenton.
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., announced during a June 24 meeting with Dom Eugenio Romagnuolo, the Abbot President of the Cistercians, that he learned of the Cistercian council’s decision to withdraw the Cistercian priests from St. John Neumann Parish, Mount Laurel, and to suppress or close Our Lady of Fatima Monastery, where the priests reside. (Read more in this story from The Monitor)
During the meeting, Dom Romagnuolo presented Bishop O’Connell with the official “Decree of Suppression.”
In a letter to the St. John Neumann community Bishop O’Connell informed the congregation that the Cistercians’ departure will not “alter the status” of the parish. Bishop O’Connell indicated that the “time of the Cistercians’ actual departure has not yet been determined nor has the future use of the monastery,” but that parishioners will be kept informed once the decisions have been made.
“Please join me in expressing deep gratitude to the Cistercian community for their many years of service at St. John Neumann Parish,” stated Bishop O’Connell in his letter. “May God be with our Cistercian priests as they return home” to Italy.