Item 14 - Abbot Egan to Bishop: Information about the Oblates of St Benedict

Abbot Egan provides information in response to the Bishop's questions.
The Oblates of St Benedict are attached to his Abbey but are not religious in the strict sense of the work. They live and work within the community under a rule drawn up by the Abbot with Bishop Amigo's approval. He provides some history of the group and reports that Mgr Serafini of the Congregation of Religious in Rome supports their intent to become a proper religious group. Abbot Egan says that they a hard working and zealous and will be sorely missed by their Parish Priest. Indeed if he could find room for them in the Abbey then he would snap them up. They have no income except for that derived form the school which has 100 pupils (protestant children from Strood and Chatham). They are mortgaged to £2750 to Fooks & Arnold. Sr Scholastica is very well educated. He recommends them to the Bishop and suggests that a decision to let them go to Aldeburgh will not be regretted.
manuscript annotation: "Answered. Thanks for information."