Lincoln Journal Star

Lincoln, NE  --  Sunday, 10/16/05

Lincoln women meet with pope, other Benedictine
Oblates
By JOEL GEHRINGER / Lincoln Journal Star

As Marti Fritzen and Carol Olson listened to Pope Benedict XVI

speak at Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence in Italy, they
felt a certain connection.

It was almost as if he was speaking directly to them.

Of course, he was speaking to everyone gathered at the public audience, but even so, Olson, a Lutheran, and Fritzen, an Episcopalian, listened intently to what the Catholic leader had to say.

After all, the three were members of the same community, connected and devoted to the life and teachings of St. Benedict, regardless of their denominational differences. Olson is a member of Grace Lutheran Church and Fritzen is a member of St. David’s Episcopal Church.

Like the Pope, the Lincoln women are Benedictine Oblates, a religious community of Christian men and women who have vowed to model their lives after the Benedictine Rule and the lives of Catholic Benedictine monks and nuns.

In late September, Olson and Fritzen attended the World Congress of Benedictine Oblates in Rome. Among speeches and services with about 300 oblates from every continent in the world, the two took part in a public audience with Benedict XVI, who addressed the assembled oblates.

Oblates aren’t monks or nuns. They’re laypeople, looking to implement Benedictine values — respect, hospitality, moderation and awareness of God — into their daily lives.

“It lets us focus on scripture and exercise moderation in our daily lives,” Olson said. “I think I’m more calm now. You have concrete things in your daily life, but really you get a sense of the presence of God more than you ever would before. The rule of St. Benedict really draws you into that.”

There are about 24,000 oblates in the world, and 10,600 in the United States. In Nebraska, oblates have been present since 1993 when the Sacred Heart Monastery in Yankton, S.D., asked associate director Sister Phyllis Hunhoff to organize a chapter for the state.

Hunhoff, former director of Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, started the group in Lincoln, branching out to Steinauer, Hastings and Omaha and eventually recruiting the 200 statewide members it has today.

About half of the members are Catholic, but Hunhoff said she’s seen tremendous response from members of other denominations.

“We tend to have access to (Catholic) parishes, but now we have grown and we do announcements at all of the churches, especially where oblates are members,” she said.

An individual’s denomination isn’t important, as long as he or she shares a devotion to the oblate community’s values.

“It’s kind of like going back to the roots (of Christianity),” Olson said.

Regardless of the church they attend on Sunday mornings, oblates pray daily together, organize small “cell-group” meetings and take part in Lectio Divina, a Benedictine prayer form focusing on reading of scripture, meditation, prayer and contemplation.

“People have the same feelings about God, so you can create a community like mine where we can support each other,” Fritzen said.

After years of experience with their local oblate groups, Fritzen and Olson got the chance to see just how far the oblate community reaches at the World Congress.

From Sept. 19 through Sept. 25, the two women listened to Benedictine leaders from across the world talk about the conference themes of communion and contemplation and participated in oblate worship services conducted in a variety of world languages.

“Our headphones had five different language options,” Olson said. “We felt like we were in the UN.”

Despite language barriers, Olson and Fritzen said, the group was united by their ties to Benedictine tradition.

Fritzen described one evening vespers service conducted in Russian.

“We opened our books, we noticed it was all in Russian, and we just closed them again,” she said. “And (the service leaders) sang and chanted the songs, and we listened, and it was just incredible.”

The women also met Abbot Primate Notker Wolf, the world head of the Benedictine order. Wolf gave each of the conference’s 300 participants a signed, bound copy of the Congress’ program and speeches in the original languages in which they were conducted.

On the final day of the Congress, the group went to Castel Gandolfo to hear Pope Benedict XVI speak. They had originally hoped for a private audience, but settled for a public address from the church leader.

In his address, Fritzen and Olson said, Benedict talked about his experience as a Benedictine oblate and the influence oblates can have on the world.

“He was influenced by the monks of Bavaria in Germany,” Hunhoff said. “In fact, he’s said he chose the name Benedict because the Benedictines were instrumental in bringing Christianity to many areas of Europe. It was his thought that maybe, through Benedictine spirituality again, maybe that could bring some influence.”

Olson said Benedict spoke only briefly to the oblates, but she was glad he took the time to acknowledge their presence.

“It was brief, but it was just a thrill,” she said. “As a Lutheran I did not know what I would think when seeing the pope, but it was great.  He has just a wonderful, gentle smile and he was grinning the whole time he was talking. I think he waved and smiled at me, though.”

Now back from the weeklong conference, Olson and Fritzen hope to use some of the lessons and themes they learned at the conference to bolster their oblate communities at home.

“We’re coming back with the impression that oblates as a group are very strong and that we can really do a lot to make the world better — which is really cool,” Olson said. “The ideas of peace, justice, and inter-religious dialogue. … They really emphasized concrete things you could do as a group and individually, and it was very powerful to think about that. I think it can generate a lot of discussion.”

Reach Joel Gehringer at 473-7254 or jgehringer@journalstar.com