One year since its abbot was moved to Rome, the monks of Mount Melleray Abbey have yet to elect a new abbot. The famous County Waterford monastery has been without an abbot since Dom Eamonn Fitzgerald (63), who had held the post since 1989, was appointed Abbot General of the Cistercian Order worldwide last September.
Traditionally a new abbot would be elected by the monks within three months.
However, a date for the election among the 25 monks living at the abbey has yet to be set, and Fr Michael Ahern has been appointed as Superior in the interim.
Any monk who has been professed for seven years and is under the age of 75 is an eligible candidate for the position of abbot, which is decided by a secret ballot. At 78, Acting Superior, Fr Ahern is precluded from being a candidate for election.
Dom Joseph Delargy, Abbot of Mount St Bernard and Father Immediate admitted that the aging profile of the monastery had limited the options for candidates.
The ideal scenario of electing someone in-house may not be a possibility.
The election of Dom Patrick Purcell as abott to another Cistercian abbey in Roscrea in July of this year required a special dispensation from Rome.
Dom Purcell (34), had not been solemnly professed for seven years.
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