Fr. Mauro-Giuseppe Lepori re-elected abbot general of the Cistercian Order

Fr. Mauro-Giuseppe is currently the vice-president of the USG

The General Chapter of the Cistercian Order has re-elected Fr. Mauro-Giuseppe Lepori as Abbot General on 10 October 2022.

In his opening address to the General Chapter, Fr Mauro said:

"Pope Francis, in all his exhortations to revive the synodal nature of the Church, helps us to rediscover our Cistercian charism, precisely as a "journey together" of communities united by a single vocation, a single hope, a single faith, a single charity. In my letters and in some conferences over the last four years, I have tried to stimulate among us this synodal awareness of our vocation and mission, regardless of the differences of observance and style that we live in our individual communities or Congregations.

I was greatly helped in this by attending several Church meetings: the 2018 Synod of Bishops dedicated to young people, the meeting at the Vatican in February 2019 on the topic of abuse in the Church, and then the beginning of the synodal journey of the whole Church on 9 and 10 October 2021, a journey that will culminate in next year's Synod of Bishops.

I was also encouraged in this by the surprise of being elected to the Executive Council of the Union of Superiors General, and the even greater surprise of being elected Vice-President of this Union. It is not a very demanding task, fortunately, but it helps me to be more attentive to what is going on in the universal Church and in the world. I have tried to make the Order part of this awareness".

The last General Chapter of the Cistercian Order was held seven years ago. Since then, the number of members of the Order has gone from 2,500 to 2,217. In this regard, the Abbot General recalled the words he said to Pope Francis on 13 June: "It is more difficult for us to walk, but we walk more together." Fr Mauro also recalled the Pope's response, quoting an African saying: "If you want to walk fast, walk alone, but if you want to walk safely, walk together with others".