The new prior of the ecumenical monastic community of Taizé, Brother Matthew (Andrew Thorpe), is an old friend of our community. We wish him and the community of Taizé every blessing as he begins this new ministry among his brethren.
Brother Matthew and Brother Alois (the former prior)
In keeping with the Rule of Taizé, according to which the prior of the community appoints a brother to ensure continuity after him, Brother Alois carried out a consultation among all the brothers and handed over his office as prior to Brother Matthew, who is English and by denomination Anglican. The change of prior took place on Saturday 2 December, 2023 during the evening prayer.
Brother Alois explains: Eighteen years after succeeding Brother Roger, with the world and the Church having changed so much over the last two decades, I feel the time has come for a brother who entered our community after me to take over my responsibility. In the family-like understanding we have of our community life, the ministry of prior has neither an age limit nor a time limit fixed in advance. But I said to myself: it is up to me to pass on this charge while I can take the time to prepare this transition without being under any constraints. Over the last two years, I have consulted all my brothers, we have prayed and reflected. And I have chosen Brother Matthew as the new prior of Taizé. I have complete confidence that he will provide continuity and take the right steps to impel our community to be, according to the intuition of its founder, a “little parable of communion”.
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