A Well Deserved Tribute To A Great Theologian (from The Herald )

Wednesday is the 40th anniversary of the death of [Thomas] Merton, probably the most influential Catholic writer of the twentieth century….The ever-questing Father Merton in his latter years embarked on an ecumenical journey that took him beyond the historic Catholic- Protestant divisions into the realms of Buddhism. He had a profound appreciation of Buddhist spirituality, one which was acknowledged by Buddhist leaders such as the Dalai Lama and D T Suzuki. Merton saw Buddhism not as a substitute for Christianity, but an enriching “way”. Out of the centre of the Catholic Christian tradition, he was able, as one scholar put it, to “engage in dialogue with other restless Catholics, Christians and people of other faiths or no formal faith”….