Usually we have several senior monks here, a middling monk who trained in the UK and one or two ‘home-grown’ junior monks, novices and anagarikas trained here in Italy. My role is mainly that of senior monk – ‘abbot’ sounds a bit grand, especially in this context – but is something I hold fairly lightly, consulting with the Sangha on many things, but being a reference point for the laypeople and for overseeing the training of the junior members of the community. I feel it’s important to keep my own practice as the priority and allow everything else to flow from that, adapting to what is appropriate according to time and place, rather than identifying too much with a specific role. It’s an ongoing process of learning how to take responsibility without letting it become a burden.