Deep in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, Blount County has quietly become the global headquarters for two emerging Catholic religious orders. Originally founded in the Italian Republic of San Marino, the Benedictine Daughters of Divine Will and the Benedictines of Divine Will (monks) have officially transferred their motherhouses to Maryville, Tennessee.
Our investigation into property records, diocesan decrees, and Vatican communications reveals a fascinating intersection of local real estate development, traditional monasticism, and a recently suspended and now conditionally reinstated doctrinal controversy.
The Founders and the Charism
To understand what is being built in Maryville, you have to look at who is building it. The communities were founded by two Americans whose spiritual journeys took them from the U.S. to Italy, and back again.
Mother Gabrielle Marie Breaux spent 33 years as a Poor Clare nun under Mother Angelica, the famous founder of the EWTN network. In 2009, deeply impacted by the writings of Italian mystic Luisa Piccarreta, Mother Gabrielle took a leap of faith and traveled to Italy. In 2011, the Benedictine Daughters of Divine Will was erected as a Public Association of the Faithful in the Diocese of San Marino-Montefeltro.
A parallel men’s community, the Benedictines of Divine Will (OSBDV), was founded in 2014 by Fr. Elijah John Joseph. Both communities share a singular charism: strict adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict, dedicated Eucharistic Adoration, and living in the “Divine Will” as detailed in the voluminous diaries of Luisa Piccarreta.
The Historic Transfer to Knoxville
The move to East Tennessee was formalized in late 2022. On December 12, 2022, a signing ceremony took place at the Chancery of the Diocese of Knoxville. Bishop Richard F. Stika (Knoxville) and Bishop Andrea Turazzi (San Marino-Montefeltro) signed decrees officially transferring the motherhouses of both the monks and the sisters to the Knoxville diocese. At the time, Bishop Stika publicly declared the transfer to be “truly a historic moment for the diocese.”
The “Little Mountain” Build-Out
The footprint of these communities in Maryville is substantial. Operating under EIN filings for the Benedictine Daughters of Divine Will, the primary location is listed at 2425 Tipton Loop Rd., Maryville, TN 37803.
The communities are currently engaged in a massive construction project on a tract of donated land referred to as “Little Mountain.” The architectural master plan involves building two distinct monasteries one for the men and one for the women flanking a central church shared by both orders. According to community newsletters, the sisters relocated to temporary housing in Maryville in October 2023 to directly oversee the ongoing construction of their permanent cloister.
Doctrinal Scrutiny: The Luisa Piccarreta Controversy
The foundation of their spirituality the writings of Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta has been the subject of intense Vatican scrutiny, creating a turbulent backdrop for the Maryville expansion.
Piccarreta was an Italian mystic who claimed to receive daily visions from Jesus, producing 36 notebooks about living in the “Divine Will”. While a cause for her beatification was opened in 1994, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith raised red flags in 2019 regarding theological, Christological, and anthropological ambiguities in her work. Specifically, theologians were concerned by interpretations suggesting that followers of the Divine Will entirely lose their own human free will, or that her writings constituted new public revelations.
Because of these concerns, the Vatican temporarily suspended Piccarreta’s canonical process of beatification in January 2024.
However, the tide turned just months later. Following clarifications submitted by theologians, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith concluded that her writings did not contain blatant doctrinal errors. In June 2024, the Vatican granted a nihil obstat (a declaration of no objection), allowing the beatification cause to resume.
This resumption, officially announced by Postulator Msgr. Paolo Rizzi in August 2024, came with strict mandates. The Church now requires the publication of an official, critical edition of Piccarreta’s writings to correct “harmful forms of spirituality” and arbitrary translations that have spread among various Divine Will groups worldwide.
For the monks and nuns building on Little Mountain, this Vatican clearance validates their foundational charism just as they pour the physical foundations of their permanent home in East Tennessee.