SANTA MARIA AUSILIATRICE DI BEL-MONT. - A Benedictine *abbazia nullius* popularly known as the “Abbazia di Belmont.” On 1 August 1875 a property called “Caldwell Plantation,” in Gaston County (North Carolina), was offered to the Benedictine abbey of Saint Vincent in Pennsylvania by Bishop J. Gibbons of Richmond. One of the monks, Fr Henry Wolfe, was sent to take possession on 21 April 1876 and named the place Maria Stein. Others—priests and lay brothers—followed.
Construction began at once, and in the following September a school was opened with only four pupils. The first Mass was celebrated in the chapel on 8 September 1877, and about the same time the name was changed to Maria Santissima Ausiliatrice dei Cristiani. Progress was slow, and in order to stimulate greater interest in the new foundation the Abbot Wimmer of Saint Vincent decided to make the abbey independent. The Chapter agreed, and the Holy See confirmed the decision on 9 November 1884. The Revd Oswald Moosmüller was named abbot, but since he declined the election, Leo Haid, a Benedictine, was elected in his stead on 14 July 1885 and blessed on 26 November of the same year. Three years later he was named Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina and on 19 July 1888 was consecrated titular Bishop of Messene.
In view of the apostolic activity and the work the monks carried on in the mission fields of North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia, Blessed Pius X on 8 June 1910 erected the abbey *nullius* and assigned to it the eight counties of Catawba, Cleveland, Burke, Gaston, Lincoln, Polk, McDowell, and Rutherford. As the district developed, the labors exceeded the community’s capacity; at the abbey’s request the Holy See, by a brief of 8 January 1944, ceded the entire original territory except Gaston County to the Diocese of Raleigh. The *abbazia nullius* now comprises only Gaston County, an area of 363 square miles and a population of 110,706 souls, of whom 16,000 are Negroes. The number of Catholics is 730, including 140 Negroes. There are several chapels and missions, three parishes, and three parochial schools in the district. The monks direct the Abbey College and a military school respectively at Savannah, Georgia, and Richmond, Virginia. Bishop Haid died on 24 July 1924 and was succeeded by the Revd Vincent Taylor, a Benedictine, who still holds the office. The community now numbers more than sixty priests and clergy and ten lay brothers. Ulrico Beste