Beer-Brewing Monks Are Helping Rebuild Earthquake-Devastated Town In Italy

"Large sections of Norcia's ancient walls lie in rubble. Its many centuries-old buildings are wrapped in steel girders, off-limits to the few people who visit what now looks like a ghost town."

"Located near Perugia in Italy's Umbria region, Norcia was the birthplace — in the year 480 — of St. Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism and patron saint of Europe. It was one of several Italian towns devastated last year by a series of earthquakes that claimed some 300 lives."

"The town's grandiose 13th century basilica was dedicated to the saint, but all that's left standing is the façade."

"The church and a nearby monastery had been home to a community of Benedictine monks, most of them from the U.S. After a series of big tremors last August, the monks sought shelter at their dilapidated grange on the mountainside high above the town. For months, they've lived in tents while they built more permanent housing on the mountainside, in what will now become their new monastery."