Inside this issue:

President

Canon Law

Monastic News Omnibus

ABA Nominations

Art Exhibit

Book Reviews

AMN Online

ABA Index

Issue Contents

MONASTICS GATHER FOR GETHSEMANI III

Everyone is talking about the environment and monastics, thankfully, are no exception. Thus, it seemed like the ideal topic for the third Gethsemani Encounter sponsored by Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (MID). Every few years, a group of invited monastics from the Benedictine and Buddhist traditions gather at the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky to share their spiritual insights. The forty Buddhists and Catholics who participated in the conference May 27-31 exchanged the wisdom of their monastic traditions concerning their relationship to the world and evaluated concrete ways in which their communities are responding to contemporary ecological crises.

Ezechial Lotz, OSB, gave the opening presentation on the environmental teaching of Thomas Merton and Dr. Stephanie Kaza, a Buddhist who teaches, set the stage for the discussion with a thought-provoking presentation on the current state of the earth and its resources. Among the Catholic speakers were Father Charles Cummings, OCSO, and Benedictines James Wiseman, Hugh Feiss, Renée Branigan and Judith Sutera. They were paired with Buddhist counterparts on such topics as the monastic tradition of the founder, the theology of creation, and good/bad practices in contemporary monasteries. These brief presentations facilitated deep and lively periods of dialogue after each pair of teachings. 

A website on the conference, created by the Rev. Kusala Bhikshu, a Buddhist monk from Los Angeles, is at www.Gethsemani3.info. It includes the final statement and audio files of the major presentations. According to William Skudlarek, executive director of MID, the MID website (www.monasticdialogue.org) will soon be updated to allow for the posting of MP3 files and all the materials from the conference will be archived there, along with the texts of the twelve presentations.

The board of directors of MID met immediately following the conference. They proposed the creation of a short video about the conference and about the current best practices of North American Buddhist and Catholic monasteries. They hope to have DVDs of this documentary ready to send to all North American monastic communities within a year and the proceedings will be published in book form at a later date.

William Skudlarek, OSB, of St. John’s, Collegeville, ends his term as most capable Executive Director of MID only to take up residence in mid-August at the Collegio San’Anselmo in Rome to serve as Secretary General of DIM/MID. In that capacity Fr. William says he hopes "to help Catholic monastic men and women recognize the benefits for their own spiritual life of entering into relationship with spiritual practitioners from other religious traditions, and to take advantage of the opportunities for hospitality and dialogue that are available to them."/p>

MID received lead gifts from the Raskob Foundation, St. Procopius Abbey, and Mrs. Shirley Lotz for this particular conference and is supported by sustaining contributions from Benedictine, Trappist, and Trappistine monastic communities in the United States and Canada. The text of the joint statement issued at the end of the meeting follows:

Simple and Sufficient

A Statement from "Gethsemani III: Monasticism and the Environment"quot;

We live in a time of environmental crisis and calamity, but also in a time when more and more people are coming together to respond to the suffering of the world. Our monastic interreligious dialogue has brought us to a new awareness of the social and spiritual relevance of ancient monastic traditions that have been sustained for millennia by Buddhist and Catholic communities.

Together we celebrate our common monastic values of reverence for the sacredness of all things, contemplation, humility, simplicity, compassion and generosity. These virtues contribute to a life of nonviolence, balance, and contentment with sufficiency.

We recognize greed and apathy as the poisons at the heart of ecological damage and unbridled materialism. Throughout the centuries, monastic life has inspired generous personal, social and spiritual effort for the good of others. We give and receive in the spirit of gratitude.

We acknowledge our complicity in damaging the environment and will make a sincere and sustained effort to reduce our negative impact on the planet. We are committed to take more mindful, universal responsibility for the way we use and manage the earth’s resources. We resolve to develop our hearts and minds in ways that will contribute to a sustainable and hopeful future for our planet. We renew our commitment to the sacredness of the earth, relating to it as a community, not a commodity.

May our love for all beings and this world sustain our efforts and may our earth be revitalized. This is our prayer and commitment.

All monastic communities and all readers who love the earth are encouraged to think, pray and discuss about this statement, encouraging themselves and others to act for the good of all creation.

The American Monastic Newsletter

Published in February, June and October

Judith Sutera OSB
Editor in Chief
Mount St. Scholastica
801 S. 8th Street
Atchison, KS 66002
<JSutera@mountosb.org>
Fax 913-367-3866

The Mission of the American Monastic Newsletter is to be an instrument of communication and information for Benedictine monasteries of North America and members of the American Benedictine Academy.

Submit any announcements or articles for publication in the American Monastic Newsletter to Judith.

Please submit any address changes for the American Monastic Newsletter to Renée.

Renée Branigan, OSB
Managing Editor
2441 10th Ave. W #10
Dickinson, ND 58601
<reneeosb@ndsupernet.com>

Adel Sautner OSB
ABA Secretary
415 S. Crow St.
Pierre, SD 57501-3304
<bennii@dakota2k.net>

For all payments for membership, subscription or purchase of any American Benedictine Academy sponsored publications, or any other business, please contact the secretary of the Academy. This would include the ordering of the Proceedings or non-member, personal subscriptions to the American Monastic Newsletter. All checks should be made payable to the American Benedictine Academy and addressed to Adel.

The American Monastic Newsletter is published three times per year as a complimentary service to members of the American Benedictine Academy and its sponsoring communities. Others may receive a Newsletter for a donation of $5 per year to cover printing and postage. Sponsor monasteries may also order bulk copies (10 or more to same address) at a special rate of $3 per year.