Iowa monks and their llamas settle into new home, and iritate Iowa dioceses

The sympathetic nature of their rare Argentine llamas reflects the ministry of Benedictine monks making a home for themselves in the former Buchanan County Care Facility.

Argentine llamas have a spiritual quality that is consistent with the monks’ mission of healing, mercy and charity, said the Rev. Ryan St. Anne, abbot of Buchanan Abbey, which opened earlier this year in the three-story brick building that had long served county residents who could not care for themselves.

“I can’t tell you why, but if you put your arms around one, you’ll understand,” the abbot said.

Buchanan Abbey, which has operated under other names in other Midwest states, has had a contentious relationship with the Catholic Church, in part because it adheres to a traditionalist view that rejects reforms instituted by the Second Vatican Council in 1963.[I'd really like to know the details here.  VII was mostly(in ambiguous mushy fashion) just a reaffirmation of what the Church already taught.  Maybe they reject some of the reforms after the council?]

Neither the Vatican nor several Midwest dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Dubuque, recognize it as a Catholic institution. In fact, in a Sept. 4 statement, the Archdiocese of Dubuque warned its faithful “to exercise great caution in relating to” Buchanan Abbey.
Monsignor Thomas Toale, vicar general of the archdiocese, said the warning was prompted by public notices that Mass and other religious services are being performed at the abbey and that its abbot is a Roman Catholic priest.

[now get this....]“No evidence has been provided to the officials of the archdiocese of a valid ordination to the priesthood … and the institution is clearly not in communion with the archbishop of Dubuque, who has not given any permission or approval to the institution,” the statement said.

St. Anne said he was originally ordained in 1993 and later reordained by Bishop James Byrne of the Dubuque archdiocese and that he has the documents to prove it.

Buchanan County Supervisor Ellen Gaffney, a Catholic, said she initially had reservations about selling the former county home to the abbey.

“But we didn’t have any other offers, and I thought it best for the people of the county to get some money out of it — it sold for $125,000 — rather than having to pay to tear it down,” she said.

The supervisors’ subsequent good relationship with the abbey and its monks has alleviated those initial concerns, she said.

“They appear to be an asset to the community, and we wish them well,” Gaffney said.

 continue at Cedar Rapids Gazette

Very interesting article, and I think reported well, worth reading the whole thing, including the fact they are growing and attracting Franciscans and Carmelites to join their order.  Not sure if they are operating under emergency faculties or what or if they won't step in line regarding liturgy.  Is the Traditional Mass offered anywhere in the area?  Will tradition minded Catholics be pushed to this order because dioceses in the area have not supported or taken action on Summorum Pontificum?