Saint Vincent Archabbey
Saint Vincent Archabbey, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine Monastery in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the city of Latrobe. A member of the American-Cassinese Congregation, it is the oldest Benedictine monastery in the United States and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The Benedictine monks of St. Vincent operate and teach Saint Vincent Basilica Parish, Saint Vincent College, and Saint Vincent Seminary. The monks also provide pastoral care for Catholics in the Dioceses of Baltimore, Greensburg, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Altoona-Johnstown, and Richmond. The monks also run a military school in Savannah, Georgia. The Archabbey also oversees Wimmer Priory in Taiwan, and Saint Benedict Priory in Brazil.
The original abbey structures were designed by the German-American architect, J. William Schickel and built between 1891 and 1905.
The most recent archabbot of St. Vincent's was Rt. Reverend Douglas Robert Nowicki, O.S.B. who was elected by the monastic community in 1991 and reelected in 2010, with his term ending on May 8 2020, in accord with the congregational constitutions and norms of the American-Cassinese Congregation. On June 23, 2020 Fr. Martin Bartel was elected as the 12th archabbot.
Prior to Rev. Nowicki, the Archabbey had had ten archabbots:
The monks operate St. Vincent Archabbey Gristmill, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Monks from this abbey founded Newark Abbey , Saint John's Abbey, Saint Bernard Abbey, Saint Benedict Abbey, Saint Mary's Abbey, Saint Bede Abbey, Saint Procopius Abbey, and Mary Help of Christians Abbey.
