Monastic Life, Interreligious Dialogue, and Openness to the Ultimate

A Reflection on the Tibhirine Monks’ Experience

Christian Salenson

 Review by Br Philip Dulson, Burford Priory

I came across what I think is a very thought-provoking and interesting article in a recent edition of the British Jesuits’ magazine: The Way (July 2006, Vol 45, No 3). Written by Christian Salenson, a priest of the diocese of Nimes and sacramental theologian; he is also director of the Institut de Sciences et Théologie des Religions at the Institut Catholicque of Marseilles. The article is a reflection on the Tibhirine monks’ experience, up to, including and after the events of 1996, when seven of the monks were abducted and later executed by Islamic fundamentalists. Christian Salenson bases his article around two very pertinent and valuable questions:

“How monastic life enriches interreligious dialogue”, and

“How interreligious dialogue enriches monastic life”.

Salenson explores the almost unique position the monks held, that of being a Christian community in an almost exclusively Muslim land with no prospect of recruiting from the local population. He talks of the precariousness of the foundation, in terms of age, numbrs, role; he says “what is strange is that such precariousness is rarely considered as a form of evangelical poverty, something which offers a chance of great gospel authenticity.”  A very real condition of this is when dialogue is happening with their neighbours, and its “cost”. Salenson continues “… a willingness to be haunted … opening ourselves up to the possibility of encounter, and accepting the possibility that we ourselves may become displaced.” Salenson goes on to talk of the many issues around dialogue with reference to the Tibhirine experience with interesting insights, above all what he calls “the sacrament of difference”. Although he ends his articles with warnings of the risks of relativism, on which I would have appreciated more clarification, I highly recommend this article.