History of AIM

1957: Through the Encyclical Fidei Donum, Pope Pius XII calls Christians to mobilize in the service of the expansion of the faith. The monks respond enthusiastically to this request.

1959: The Congress of Benedictine Abbots meeting in Rome proposes the creation of an information and coordination center for monastic establishment in mission countries. Dom Benno Gut, Abbot Primate, encourages the creation of a Secretariat. Dom Tholens, Abbot of Slangenburg, Dom Guesquiere, Abbot of Zevenkerken in Bruges formed with Father Abbot of Floris a study group for the project. He settled in Vanves, at the Ste-Bathilde Priory, to create with Sister Maur Esquerré de Rosny, Benedictine of Vanves, the beginning of this Secretariat.

1961: Father Abbot Primate officially establishes the Mission Secretariat which is entitled “Aid for Monastic Implantation” (AIM). The project is ratified in Ligugé on the occasion of the festivities in honor of St Martin. Dom Sortais, Abbot General of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance, supports the project. An association under French law was created on December 15. This is a legal support for the Secretariat under the control of a Management Council. Donations are collected for African foundations.

1962: The Synod of Abbot Presidents OSB ratifies the existence of the AIM until the next Congress of Abbots.

1964: A pan-African monastic meeting takes place in Bouaké in Ivory Coast.

1965: The edition of a liaison bulletin in French is created.

1966: The Congress of Abbots approves the existence of the AIM Secretariat created for Africa and extends its action to Latin America and Asia. The following year, Sister Pia Valeri, OSB, replaced Sister Maur Esquerré. Dom Paul Gordan, osb, Secretary General of the Benedictine Confederation joins the Management Council of the AIM. The Cistercians of strict observance are also represented by a delegate from their Abbot General.

1968: First pan-Asian monastic meeting in Bangkok (Thailand).

1969: The Liaison Bulletin also appears in English. In France, lay people created an association supporting the AIM: Friends of the Third World Monasteries (AMTM).

1972: A Latin American monastic meeting takes place in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), followed the following year by a second pan-Asian meeting in Bangalore, (India). An AIM secretariat is created in the USA.

1974: AIM develops its interest in Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (DIM - MID).

1975: A second Latin American monastic meeting takes place in Bogota (Colombia).

1976: AIM becomes: “Inter-Monastery Aid”.

1978: In the USA and in Paris, meetings concerning Monastic Interreligious Dialogue take place.

1979-1980: Successively, two international monastic meetings took place, the first in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), the second in Kandy (Sri-Lanka).

1982: Father Marie-Bernard de Soos, Founder of the Monastery of the Ascension in Dzogbégan (Togo) replaces Father Abbot de Floris, who resigned for health reasons. The AIM has internal regulations confirming its organization, its aim, its activities and its relationship with the Benedictine Confederation and the Cistercian Orders. The AIM Bulletin appears in Spanish.

1984: At the AIM Secretariat, Sister Thérèse Rodrigues, OSB, succeeds Sister Pia Valeri and will provide this service until 1993, Sister Alma Pedri, OSB then taking over until 1996. After an interim period provided by Sister Véronique Dupont, OSB, a lay person, Ms. Françoise Mazzoni, then another lay person, Mr. Jean-Jacques Mansion, were hired until the arrival of Sister Gisela Happ, OSB, in 2001.

1994: The Monastic Interreligious Dialogue is established as an autonomous organization. Father Pierre de Béthune, OSB, is the Secretary General, providing this service until 2007. On this date, Father William Skudlarek, OSB, succeeds him. A link is maintained between the AIM and the DIM-MID, in publications and the reciprocal invitation to annual meetings.

1997: After the resignation of Father Marie-Bernard de Soos, the new Abbot Primate, Marcel Rooney, surrounded by a few members, restructures the AIM to better adapt it and affirm it in its international service. Fr. Martin Neyt, OSB, becomes president of AIM and reports on its activities to a Council which meets once a year. A few representative members of the Orders form an Executive Committee which monitors international activities and meets twice a year, especially for the allocation of funds. Father Jacques Côté, OSB, is appointed Secretary General and resides in Rome. The AIM becomes “Alliance Inter Monastères”. Reciprocal exchanges between continents are increasing.

2001: Sister Gisela Happ, OSB, joins the AIM Secretariat in Vanves. She became its Secretary General a year later. Vanves is definitely the International Center of the AIM, hosted by the Sainte-Bathilde priory. A few years later, she would be assisted by Sister Marie-Placide Dolorès, OSB (congregation of Cogon, Philippines).

2004: New internal regulations confirm the reform of the structures put in place in 1997.

2006: The AIM creates a studium in Vanves in the premises of the Sainte-Bathilde priory: the Jean XXIII center, to welcome young nuns from Africa, Latin America and Asia coming to study in Paris.

2007: The AIM Bulletin appears in Portuguese in Brazil.

2013: Dom Jean-Pierre Longeat, abbot emeritus of Ligugé Abbey (France), becomes president of the AIM.

2016: The AIM Bulletin appears in German. In June of that same year, the Jean XXIII studium, housed in the buildings of the Sainte-Bathilde priory and managed by the AIM, was closed.

2017: Sister Christine Conrath, OSB, becomes secretary of AIM.

AIM serves the link between the communities of the Benedictine family, with particular attention to the young monastic foundations of the last sixty years. We observe an annual growth of 3 to 4 new communities; However, the number of nuns and monks in many large communities is decreasing.