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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Abbot Emeritus Gerald Benkert, O.S.B., of
4Marmion Abbey in Aurora, who passed away on May 16, 2012; at
5the time of his passing he was the oldest known Benedictine
6Abbot in the world; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Abbot Gerald was born on October 24, 1909, in
8Louisville, Kentucky; he was the second of 6 children born to
9Constantine and Pauline Benkert; after completing his
10elementary education at Holy Name School in Louisville, Francis
11Benkert entered St. Meinrad Minor Seminary in southern Indiana
12in September 1923, where he had 2 uncles in St. Meinrad Abbey
13and a great-uncle, Abbot Athanasius Schmitt, who was the abbot
14of St. Meinrad; and
 
15    WHEREAS, After a 5-year course of studies in the Minor
16Seminary, he was accepted into the novitiate of St. Meinrad
17Abbey in 1928; two of his 6 fellow novices, Raymond Battaglia
18(Father Joseph) and John Schuck (Father Hugh), would later join
19him as founding members of Marmion Abbey; on August 16, 1929,
20Francis made his first profession of vows, taking the name
21Gerald; on November 30, 1932, he made his solemn profession of
22vows as a Benedictine monk; he was ordained to the priesthood
23by Bishop Joseph Ritter of Indianapolis on May 22, 1934; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Father Gerald's first assignment was to pursue
2graduate studies at DePaul University, Chicago; he was assigned
3to reside at Marmion Academy in Aurora, where the monks of St.
4Meinrad had taken over the school in 1933; Father Gerald
5returned to St. Meinrad in 1935 to teach in the Minor Seminary;
6he also began summer studies in philosophy at The Catholic
7University in Washington, D.C., obtaining a Master's Degree in
81938; in the same year, he was appointed Headmaster of Marmion
9Military Academy; and
 
10    WHEREAS, He remained headmaster at Marmion Military
11Academy from 1938 to 1940, before returning to The Catholic
12University to continue his doctoral studies in philosophy,
13obtaining his Ph.D. in 1944; he was then appointed as Rector of
14the Minor Seminary at St. Meinrad; on March 21, 1947, Father
15Gerald Benkert was named the first abbot of Marmion Abbey when
16it was raised to the status of an independent Benedictine
17Abbey; he was blessed as abbot on May 22, 1947 by Bishop John
18Boylan of Rockford; and
 
19    WHEREAS, For the next 22 years, Abbot Gerald guided the
20Marmion monastic community in its founding decades; he was
21responsible for the purchase of the property on Butterfield
22Road and the construction of the present monastery building in
231952; he oversaw the construction of the resident campus of

 

 

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1Marmion Military Academy on Butterfield Road that opened in
21959; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Responding to the request of Pope John XXIII, he
4founded the mission Priory and Seminary of San Josč in Sololį
5(and later in Quetzaltenango), Guatemala in 1965; in 1969,
6Abbot Gerald decided to resign as Abbot of Marmion Abbey; he
7chose to begin a new period in his life as teacher and
8spiritual director in the Priory and Seminary of San Josč in
9Guatemala; from 1970 to 2002 he taught philosophy and theology;
10after 1989, Abbot Gerald played a key role in helping to raise
11funds for the construction of a new complex of buildings for
12the Priory and Seminary in its move to Quetzaltenango,
13Guatemala; and
 
14    WHEREAS, In 2002, Abbot Gerald returned to Marmion Abbey on
15a permanent basis; he continued to contribute to the spiritual
16life and public witness of the monastery, and to raise funds
17for the Guatemala mission; on the occasion of his 100th
18birthday in 2009, he published his book "Memoirs of the
19Founding Abbot of Marmion Abbey"; and
 
20    WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents and 5
21brothers and sisters; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Abbot Emeritus Gerald Benkert is survived by the

 

 

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1members of his monastic community and many nieces and nephews;
2therefore, be it
 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL
4ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
5his family, friends, and members of his monastic community, the
6passing of Abbot Emeritus Gerald Benkert, O.S.B.; and be it
7further
 
8    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9presented to the family of Abbot Emeritus Gerald Benkert,
10O.S.B., as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.