Norbertine Abbot General celebrates Mass at St. Norbert Abbey ahead of abbatial election
DE PERE, WI — Abbot General Josef Wouters, O. Praem., the leader of the worldwide Norbertine Order, came to the Diocese of Green Bay from Rome to preside over the abbatial election, which will take place today, Thursday, January 15, 2026, at St. Norbert Abbey.
Fr. Wouters celebrated Mass with the Norbertine community on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, in preparation for the election of their new abbot. That evening, the community also held a time for prayer and Eucharistic adoration for the abbatial election.
A tradition that will follow the election of St. Norbert Abbey’s eighth abbot is the passing down of the pectoral cross (pictured on the left). Every abbot since Abbot Sylvester Killeen, O. Praem. (starting in 1955) has worn this pectoral cross. In the center of the cross is an amethyst. The inset shows the middle of the back of the cross — under the “N” design is a capsule housing a relic from St. Norbert.