BY DAVID V BARRETT
THE BENEDICTINE abbey that featured in the BBC television series The Monastery has elected a new abbot.
Fr Kevin Taggart was appointed as abbot of Worth replacing Fr Christopher Jamison, the abbot since July 2002.
Born in Kent in 1931, Fr Kevin was educated at Downside school and Christ’s College, Cambridge, gaining a degree in English. Initially a member of the Downside Abbey, he volunteered for Worth Priory, now Worth Abbey, in Sussex on its independence in 1957.
He was the first housemaster when Worth School was founded in 1959, and was later headmaster of the school. He has also been bursar for the abbey and parish priest.
Founded in 1933, Worth Abbey is one of 13 monasteries belonging to the English Benedictine Congregation and has 24 monks. It featured in the 2005 series The Monastery in which five men seeking a new direction in their lives spent 40 days in the monastery. It is also one of the settings in the forthcoming BBC Two series The Big Silence in which five people explore prayer in their busy lives.
Fr Kevin said: “I am deeply touched by the confidence that the community has shown in me. The monastic life is a great gift to the Church and the world. It will be my privilege to foster this gift at Worth Abbey.”