Benedictine abbot, retired professor, goes back to high school as ‘lifelong learner’

A Benedictine abbot, former college professor and secondary education teacher is now among the students at his abbey’s Catholic high school, proving that — as he told OSV News — “all of us should continue to be learners our entire life long.

“You never just say, ‘I’ve learned enough,'” said Abbot James Wiseman of St. Anselm’s Abbey in Washington.

For the past several semesters, the abbot has been among the students in Spanish teacher Belén Fernández’s classroom at St. Anselm’s Abbey School. Founded in 1942 and located steps away from the abbey, the Catholic, Benedictine school in the nation’s capital provides a rigorous classically-based college preparatory curriculum to some 250 middle school and high school boys.

Five days a week, Abbot Wiseman takes his place at one of the desks, keeping up with all of the assignments and improving his grasp of the language.

“I do all the tests, I do all the quizzes,” said Abbot Wiseman. “I haven’t missed a class this year.”

The abbot, who taught theology at The Catholic University of America from 1985 to 2012, is no stranger to foreign languages. As a young man, he studied in Europe and “got to know German very well.” That facility proved “very useful” for his academic work in particular, he said.

But, said Abbot Wiseman, the increased use of Spanish in the U.S., along with being “very much in love” with Spanish culture — particularly after undertaking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain — led him to start studying the language on his own.

“I’m pretty good at reading it,” he said. “But I need to practice speaking the language, and I figured the only thing that would push me to do it is to just take a course.”

As a faculty member at the abbey’s school, he’s entitled to do so, although he admits that “hardly any” of his fellow teachers take advantage of the perk.

Mary Kelly, the schools communications director, told OSV News she was “not surprised at all” by the abbot’s decision.

“He’s an eager teacher and an eager learner,” she said. “Education is his vocation.”

Abbot Wiseman said that initially, the students “were a little puzzled” by his presence.

“They were a little unsure about who this guy is,” he quipped.

And he insists on not receiving any preferential treatment, he said.

“The teacher said the other day she was going to excuse me from doing an upcoming quiz, and one of the students said, ‘Well, why excuse him?'” Abbot Wiseman said. “I tended to agree with them. I’ve done all the tests so far, and I don’t see why I should get special privileges just because I’m the abbot.”

Fernández’s class is keeping him on his toes, he said.

“I can’t deny it’s a bit of extra work. … I’m in there with a group of sophomores, and in some respects, some of them are better speakers of Spanish than I am right now,” said Abbot Wiseman. “But I’m pushing myself to get as skilled as I can, and if all goes well, I’ll take a more advanced course in the coming school year.”

Kelly said that as Abbot Wiseman takes his place in the class to learn, he’s also teaching by example.

“It’s a fabulous lesson from him to the students,” she said. “We are all lifelong learners.”

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