ARCCIS
ARCCIS has been a research and meeting center for Cistercian culture and history since 1996, based in the Cîteaux monastery in France .
History and mission
On January 15, 1996, the Association pour le Rayonnement de la Culture Cistercienne (association for the benefit of the radiation of Cistercian culture) was founded in the Cîteaux monastery and appears in public under the acronym ARCCIS. It is worn by all components of the Cistercian family (Cistercians, Trappists and St. Bernard from Esquermes ).
ARCCIS differs from the European Institute for Cistercian Research (EUCist), which has existed since 2007 and focuses in a special way on the German and English-speaking areas, in its focus on the French-speaking area and in addressing large sections of the population such as also to the religious themselves. The aim is "to make the Cistercian culture in all its forms known as far as possible, to protect it from possible misinterpretations or appropriations and to offer support and support to the lived Cistercian spirituality ". Symptomatic of this is the magazine Liens cisterciens (liens = friendly ties), which has been published since 2001 and addresses mainly religious and lay people with modest scientific demands (originally published by Bellefontaine Abbey , currently by Lérins Abbey and Baumgarten Abbey ).
In addition, the association, which currently has around 100 members, maintains the research and documentation center Center d'études et de recherches pour la culture cistercienne (CERCCIS) in Cîteaux with a scientific advisory board composed of representatives from French-speaking universities. CERCCIS publishes in collaboration with Editions de Bellefontaine (in Bellefontaine Abbey) and other publishers. Since 2005 the association has organized an annual Journée de culture cistercienne (Day of Cistercian Culture).