Abbot of Wettingen-Mehrerau
Rev. Fr. Vinzenz Wohlwend, O.Cist., was born in Grabs, Switzerland, on October 15, 1969. He attended the Abbey’s secondary school in Wettingen-Mehrerau. After graduating in 1989, he began his philosophical and theological studies in Salzburg. In 1990, he entered the novitiate at Wettingen-Mehrerau Abbey, making his solemn profession in 1994. From 1991 to 1995, he completed his theological studies at the Theological Institute of Maria Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland. Subsequently, he undertook a pastoral internship in Benediktbeuern (Germany). He was ordained a priest on September 19, 1998. From 1997 to 2009, he served as a formator and religious education teacher at the Collegium Bernardi, which is run by Wettingen-Mehrerau Abbey. From 2009 onwards, he served as Prior and Novice Master at the same abbey. Finally, since August 1, 2018, he has led the Abbey as Apostolic Administrator. On September 19, 2018, we—the community of Mehrerau Abbey—elected Vinzenz Wohlwend as our Abbot. If we had to describe Abbot Vinzenz in three words, they would be: warm-hearted, personable, and responsible. Since 2018, he has served not only as the Abbot of our monastery but also as the Abbot Praeses of the Mehrerau Congregation, which comprises 18 monasteries worldwide. As a territorial abbot, he is also a member of the Austrian Bishops' Conference and is directly subject to the Pope. He has known Mehrerau since childhood, having been a student at the Collegium Bernardi, later a novice in the monastery, as well as an educator and—since 1999—a religious education teacher at our school.