Interreligious dialogue is now seen as one of the most pressing needs of our times. However both this perception and active engagement in dialogue are both recent phenomena. From the beginning, many of the pioneers in this work have been drawn from the Catholic monastic tradition.

 

This volume brings together a wide-ranging and engaging series of studies that witness to the depth of theological reflection that the contemporary Christian monastic and scholarly community are engaged in as the religious traditions seek to understand and relate to each other in a global context. Here are reflections on encounters with Buddhism, where the main efforts of monastic interreligious dialogue have been directed, with Hinduism, and with Islam (from St Francis to the Cistercian Martyrs of Algeria). As well as profiling the history and current witness of monastic interreligious dialogue, the volume also contains studies of the great pioneers of this work - Charles de Foucauld, Bede Griffiths, Henri Le Saux (Abhishiktananda), Louis Massignon and Thomas Merton.

 

At a time when there is so much need for understanding among people belonging to different religion, may these studies stimulate that exchange at the deeper level which leads to an experience of harmony, and even of a certain unity. Our conflict-ridden world is longing for this. 

 

Contributors include: Peter Bowe, OSB ∙ Pierre de Bethune, OSB ∙ Eoin de Bhaldraithe, OSCO ∙ John Flannery ∙ Ian Latham, LBJ ∙ Jean Olwen Maynard ∙ Antony O'Mahony ∙ Steven Saxby ∙ Judson Trapnell ∙ Agnes Wilkins ∙