Home

Monastic Life

Ministries

Prayer

Mission Statement

History

The Rule of St. Benedict

About the Prioress

Contact Us

Job Postings

Monastery Publications

Academy Alumnae

Home @ the Dome

News Desk

Sign Our Guestbook

Support the international ministries of the Sisters of St. Benedict.

Click here to make a donation today.

International Ministries

Peru: Monasterio Paz de la Cruz, Morropón

The second foundation in Latin America began in response to a call for help in the Augustine Mission in Peru. Six sisters who had been in Guatemala arrived in Morropón on January 2, 1969.

Four of the sisters remained in Morropón and established a parochial high school for girls. Sixty-three girls, all in their first year of high school, enrolled for the 1969 school year. While these four sisters were busy handling administrative and teaching duties at the school, Colegio Santa Rita, the other two founding members went to Santo Domingo to establish an outpatient clinic and to undertake educational and pastoral ministry with the youth and women.

On August 15, 1982, the Peruvian mission received permission to become a dependent monastery and to open a novitiate. The sisters continue to operate Colegio Santa Rita in Morropón and the parish clinic in Santo Domingo. They also serve the people of Peru through pastoral ministry.

Sister Mary Alice Schnur, a member of the monastery in Guatemala, spoke of the Benedictine sisters' presence in Latin America: "We offer a gospel witness to prayer, both communal and personal, and to community life, with an emphasis on unity and diversity. We also offer witness to work — manual, intellectual, and ministerial. And, a unique witness we can offer as Benedictines is our stability. With a general lack of stability in the society, our tradition of rootedness helps to confirm the faith of the baptized Christians in Central and South America."