ST. MEINRAD, Ind. - The Rev. Theodore Heck, a southern Indiana priest believed to be the world's oldest Benedictine monk, has died. He was 108.

The St. Meinrad Archabbey said Heck died Wednesday, just a month before he was to celebrate his 80th anniversary as a Roman Catholic priest.

A spokeswoman for the Archabbey said the Benedictine order considered Heck its oldest monk.

Heck was born in Chariton, Iowa, in 1901. After attending elementary school in Missouri and three years of high school in West Terre Haute, he enrolled in the seminary at Saint Meinrad in 1918.

He taught for more 50 years at St. Meinrad and held a variety of administrative positions over the years at its high school, college and theological seminary about 40 miles west of Evansville.