THE ELECTION of Benedictine Fr Gregory Collins of Glenstal Abbey, Co
Limerick as sixth Abbot of Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem has been warmly
welcomed by the Bishop of Down and Connor Noel Treanor.
“I send
him my congratulations and those of the people of Belfast, the city he
was born in. I send him my good wishes and blessings as he takes up his
appointment in Jerusalem,” Bishop Treanor said yesterday.
Fr
Collins was born in 1960 and studied at Queen’s University Belfast,
gaining a doctorate in Byzantine studies in 1991.
He made his profession
at Glenstal in 1994 and was ordained a priest in 1995.
Between
1998 and 2002 he was headmaster at Glenstal Abbey School, after which he
spent six years teaching at the Benedictine university of Sant’ Anselmo
in Rome before returning to Glenstal.
In recent years he has been
preaching retreats and writing.
He produced The Glenstal Book of Icons
(Columba Press, 2002).