Some Famous Benedictines

by Gunther Simmermacher · Published July 11, 2025 · Updated July 11, 2025

St Hildegard, Pope Pius VII, Sr Reinolda May, Bl Benedict Daswa

There have been 17 Benedictine popes — and none of them took the name Benedict. The first of them was Pope St Gregory the Great (590-604). Gregory VII (1073-85) was one of the most significant reformers in the Church’s history.

Pope Celestine V (1294) was the last pope to resign voluntarily until Pope Benedict XVI (who was not a Benedictine) in 2013. Pope Pius VII (1800-23) was held captive by Napoleon. The last pope from the order was Pope Gregory XVI (1831-46).

Benedictines were also key in evangelising England. St Augustine of Canterbury, who lived in the 6th century, is considered the “Apostle to the English”. Bede the Venerable, born around 672, was an important Anglo-Saxon theologian and historian. St Wilfrid played a significant role in the evangelisation of England’s northeast in the 7th century.

The order produced great theologians, such as Anselm of Canterbury and the 11th-century reformer Peter Damian, and many timeless mystics. These include Hildegard of Bingen, who was born in Germany around 1098; Mechtildis of Edelstetten (died 1160), another German nun and mystic who is remembered for her visions and spiritual writings; as was Gertrude the Great (1256-1302).

Another hugely influential mystic was Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), who was so offended by the monks’ corruption in his time that he founded the Cistercian order in order to get back to the roots of St Benedict’s Rule.

Frances of Rome was known for her piety, charity, and devotion to the poor during the 15th century, and remains a popular saint.

In South Africa, there have been several Benedictine bishops and abbots. The first bishop for South African was a Benedictine, Bede Slater. Appointed to Cape Town in 1818, the Irish-born prelate was never a resident there.

Many Benedictine priests and nuns served in South Africa. Most famous of them is the German-born Sr Reinolda May, whose visions have given rise to the devotion to Our Lady of Ngome.

And then, of course, there is the saintly Bl Benedict Daswa, who was inspired by the order’s motto of “Ora et Labora”, and on converting to the Catholic faith took the name Benedict.

Published in the July 2024 issue of The Southern Cross magazine