THE ELECTION of Benedictine Fr Gregory Collins of Glenstal Abbey, Co Limerick as sixth Abbot of Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem has been warmly welcomed by the Bishop of Down and Connor Noel Treanor.
“I send him my congratulations and those of the people of Belfast, the city he was born in. I send him my good wishes and blessings as he takes up his appointment in Jerusalem,” Bishop Treanor said yesterday.
Fr Collins was born in 1960 and studied at Queen’s University Belfast, gaining a doctorate in Byzantine studies in 1991. He made his profession at Glenstal in 1994 and was ordained a priest in 1995.
Between 1998 and 2002 he was headmaster at Glenstal Abbey School, after which he spent six years teaching at the Benedictine university of Sant’ Anselmo in Rome before returning to Glenstal. In recent years he has been preaching retreats and writing. He produced The Glenstal Book of Icons (Columba Press, 2002).
