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Background

Abbot Jonathan Licari, O.S.B., is a Benedictine administrator and educator with more than three decades of leadership across parish, diocesan, university, and abbey settings. He is currently President of the American Cassinese Congregation (2022–2028), and serves in areas of strategic management, fundraising, and team development for Benedictine institutions nationwide. His prior roles include Administrator of St. Mary’s Abbey/Delbarton School in Morristown, NJ (2022–2025), Formation Director, Subprior, Personnel Coordinator, and Vice-Rector at Saint John’s Abbey and Saint John’s School of Theology/Seminary, as well as multiple pastorates in Minnesota. Earlier in his vocation, he was Prior of Saint John’s Abbey and Assistant Professor of Theology at Saint John’s University, pairing academic rigor with pastoral care. 

Across his career, Abbot Jonathan has led complex initiatives, from directing a major church restoration and consolidating two parishes into a cohesive community, to tribunal work in marriage cases for the Dioceses of Duluth and Saint Cloud. He is recognized for, and enjoys, working with a variety of constituents. His operational leadership includes paying off $2.1 million in parish debt within six years and guiding a K–6 Catholic school of over 350 students to achieve national “Blue Ribbon” recognition for academic excellence. His board service spans Saint John’s Abbey/University governance bodies, diocesan planning commissions, and educational trusteeships, underscoring his commitment to mission-centered stewardship and Catholic education.

Abbot Jonathan has a Doctorate and Master of Cannon Law from Saint Paul’s University, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and a Doctorate of Philosophy of Law from the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He also has a Master of Divinity degree from Saint John's University School of Theology, in Collegeville, Minnesota.