MONASTIC ENCOUNTER BULLETIN AUGUST 2006
2006: UPS AND DOWNS
INTRODUCTION
This year of
2006 has been a very rich one for MID-GBI in spite of our
difficulties.
Fr Peter
Bowe’s appointment to the new community of Douai, France, left us
feeling very fragile as a local commission. A general letter to all
the UMS and some Anglican communities outlined the situation and
appealed for help. About half the communities approached (RC and
Anglican) responded with financial help, and we were able to
establish an account for MID-GBI based at Prinknash Abbey, and
thanks to Abbot Francis Baird. This generosity enabled MID to send
Sr Lucy to the European meeting, to cover the cost of our
newsletter, and we hope it will also cover the setting up and
maintaining of a web site for our local commission (see below).
Unfortunately, however, the response in terms of attendance was not
enough for us to be able to hold the usual annual meeting, and we
had to postpone it. We hope to have a meeting in autumn, open to
all, to replace this meeting.
There was
still no one to take over the role, so M Prioress Zoe of Turvey
Abbey gave permission for Sr Lucy, who had been acting as
Coordinator
for some time, to accept this responsibility for 5 years. This meant
that Sr Lucy was able to represent MID-GBI at the Annual DIM/MID
meeting of the European Commissions, which was held this year in
Vienna. A full account follows, together with points for our
consideration and decision. Our hope is that by 2011 some other
person will have “arisen” in another community to carry on this work
of interreligious dialogue.
We have also
received from a few more monasteries (see below) a response about
the work of dialogue going on. It is evident that as well as the
prayer of all the communities, much activity is going on, perhaps
especially in those communities who cannot send a contact member to
meetings but faithfully continue the “grass roots” work of dialogue
and prayer. In addition, some of us have attended Interreligious
Conferences at national or local level; and some monasteries are
working closely with RC Diocesan initiatives or with local
Interfaith Forum organisations.
Some Anglican
monasteries both in the UMS and outside it are taking a great
interest in MID-GBI and supporting us financially and in other ways,
as well as pursuing their own programmes of interreligious dialogue
and formation.
INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
NEWS FROM THE MONASTERIES
[Reports from Superiors/Contact
Members]
AMPLEFORTH
Abbot-Emeritus Timothy Wright, who with Br Wulstan initiated the
Catholic/Shi’a dialogue and the Ampleforth conferences of past
years, has now been appointed from September 2006 to serve in Rome.
He will be based in the Beda College as Spiritual Director, but has
also been asked by the Abbot Primate to be an adviser on Islam. In
practice this will mean researching opportunities for Benedictine
communities of both men and women to engage in dialogue with
Muslims. We look forward to hearing more about what our monastic
communities can offer the Church in this area. He hopes to keep in
touch with MID and keep us informed of ways in which our communities
can go forward in dialogue especially with Islam. Another Ampleforth
monk has more informal contacts with local interfaith groups in the
Preston area where he lives and works.
CHRIST THE
KING, COCKFOSTERS
Dom Philip-Herluin
writes: “Partly due to a reduction in our
numbers we have not been as active in interfaith dialogue as in past
years. Two of our community who were very supportive are no longer
with us – one through death, and who is no doubt interceding for us
and the other through reassignment. Our House of Christian
Meditation and interfaith hospitality still thrives under the
direction of the WCCM. One of our monks, as a member of a
parish-based interfaith group, meets every two months with different
faith communities in North London.”
DOUAI
Dom
Christopher Greener, who succeeded Fr Peter at Douai, GB, writes: “I
attended the Interfaith Conference at Boars Hill, Oxford, organised
by the Bishops’ Conference. In the last year I have run two
interfaith days, the first on interfaith marriage, and the second on
Nostra Aetate. On September 16th, I will be taking
part in a day at Sarum College, Salisbury, as part of a panel of
Christian and Buddhist monks. I also hope to attend an Interfaith
walk in Reading on September 10th, and to contact local
faith groups.”
EDGWARE
Their
friendly contacts with the Buddhists especially the nuns of
Amaravati Buddhist Monastery continue. As a result, they sent us an
amusing and encouraging article on a little-thought-out aspect of
monastic interreligious dialogue! (see below):
PRINKNASH
Abbot Aldhelm
will be a panel member on the same interfaith day at Sarum College
in September. Prinknash continues to offer hospitality to the Zen
Buddhists of Throssel Hole, Northumberland. They are also the centre
where we can contact our new Treasurer, Adrian Jones.
RAMSGATE
D Dunstan
faithfully attends the meetings, leaving at unearthly hours to do
so! He is in friendly contact with doctors of other Faiths at the
local hospital.
STANBROOK
Sr M Agnes
our contact person attends meetings whenever she can. She was
invited to be a speaker at the Conference on Louis Massignon (see
report) and gave a very interesting talk on Louis Massignon and
Thomas Merton.
TURVEY
Both
communities at Turvey Abbey continue with their involvement in
interreligious dialogue, supporting each other wherever possible.
The monks yearly in Advent and Lent host and participate in services
of prayer around a theme, with offerings from the local
(Bedford-Northampton-Milton Keynes) Jews, Buddhists, Baha’i, Hindus,
Muslims, and Brahma Kumaris. Representatives of the different faiths
make a devotional offering at these services and all attend monastic
Compline in our community oratory. There is also informal “dialogue”
over refreshments before or afterwards.
On 23 February, the monks hosted a meeting of the MK/Bucks/Northants
branch CCJ at which the Rev Jonathan Gorsky, Education Adviser CCJ
spoke of “Judaism in the time of Jesus”, the meeting preceded
as usual by refreshments and with monastic Compline during the
interval between talk and discussion. As ever, it was interesting,
informative and very enjoyable.
In addition, there was an interfaith weekend on “Prayer and
Activity” (see report), and a very well attended meeting of the
same branch of CCJ to hear Dr Marcus Braybrooke speak about “Praying
with people of other faiths”. He outlined different ways of sharing
prayer with people of other Faiths. His talk was very interesting
and informative, based on his long experience of dialogue and full
of fascinating anecdotes. Lively discussion followed his talk, and
the attendance of the group at Compline.
The nuns’ community continue with the annual three
Christian-Buddhist weekends which are always over-subscribed. Each
is jointly led by a Buddhist layperson or a nun, and by Sr Lucy. One
weekend deliberately looks to the shared monastic practice of
Buddhism and Christianity (“Meditation and Mindfulness”)
while the other two make use of the practice of Lectio Divina on
texts of Meister Eckhart and others, as a means of entering more
deeply into “Inner Silence and Awakening”.
Sr Lucy has contacts with the Interfaith Forum Milton Keynes,
a very active group in MK which meets monthly for dialogue with the
different faiths/religions based in the MK. area Their most recent
venture was a series of public talks, supported by the Home Office,
called “Different Paths: Women’s Journeys of Faith”.
The meetings were addressed by some eminent women of different
faiths—a woman Rabbi, a well-known Shi’a Muslim broadcaster, a Hindu
who teaches at Birmingham University, and two English scholars very
experienced in dialogue. Sr Clare Jardine of the Sisters of Sion,
educational consultant at the Sion Centre for Dialogue and
Encounter, and visiting lecturer at Heythrop College, University of
London, was the Christian speaker. Sr Lucy was able to attend two of
the meetings which were excellent, and hopes to maintain contact
with this group. The meetings were chaired by local women from
different faith groups
WORTH
Abbot
Christopher has been invited to give talks to interfaith groups at
diocesan and national level. The political situation in and around
Crawley with regard to different groups of Muslims makes this work
particularly significant. Fr Paul attended the Conference on Louis
Massignon and has contacts with the local Interfaith Forum.
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ANGLICAN
COMMUNITIES
Our MID-GBI
commission is also supported by many Anglican communities, not
members of UMS, which follow their own path in dialogue through both
prayer and active engagement. The Franciscans and Poor Clares, the
Convent of the Incarnation, Fairacres, Oxford, and the Society of
the Precious Blood, Burnham Abbey deserve special mention. We are
grateful for their interest as well as their financial support.