Monastic interreligious dialogue basically denotes interreligious dialogue that focuses on spiritual practice and experience rather than on questions of doctrine. In doing so, it tries to put into practice the summons of the Second Vatican Council to “recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral” that are found in other religious traditions (Nostra Ætate #2, emphasis added). Monastic interreligious dialogue is now a legally incorporated organization.

As an organization, Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique•Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (DIM•MID) was formally established in 1994 by the Benedictine Confederation to promote and support dialogue between Christian monastic men and women and followers of other religions. It should be noted, however, that well before the establishment of DIM•MID, there were monks seriously committed not only to enter into dialogue with the followers of other religious and spiritual traditions but to learn from them as well. 

Two eminent pioneers of such dialogue are the Benedictine monks Henri Le Saux from France (1910-1973) and Bede Griffiths (1906-1993) from England. They both lived in India and immersed themselves in the rich spiritual traditions of that country. Another monastic pioneer of dialogue is the American Trappist Thomas Merton (1915-1968), whose writings and correspondence show how familiar he is with the teaching and teachers of many different religious traditions, and how much he was indebted to the enduring wisdom of Zen Buddhism. 

Merton’s description of what he was looking for when he traveled to Asia in 1968 continues to speak to contemporary Christian monastics who engage in dialogue with monastic traditions that predate Christian monasticism by a thousand years: “I come [as] a pilgrim who is anxious to obtain not just information, not just ‘facts’ about other monastic traditions, but to drink from ancient sources of monastic vision and experience. I seek not only to learn more (quantitatively) about religion and about monastic life, but to become a better and more enlightened monk (qualitatively) myself. . . . “ (The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton, pp. 312ff.)

Catholic monks are also—and increasingly—involved in dialogue with Muslims, whose spiritual practices are very similar to those of Christian monasticism. The person most responsible for witnessing to and promoting this expression of monastic dialogue was Christian de Chergé (1937-1996), a French Trappist who was prior of the monastery of Tibhirine in Algeria until 1996, when he and six of his confreres fell victim to the violence that was wreaking havoc on the country. 

In a talk he gave to the European commission of DIM•MID a year before his martyrdom, he pointed to three significant links between Muslim and monastic spirituality. There is, he said, a connection between the central place of obedience in the monastic tradition and the importance of surrender or submission in Islam. Secondly, the monastic practice of coming together several times a day for common prayer (the opus Dei) parallels the Muslim practice of daily ritual prayer (salāt). Finally the monastic practice of lectio divina, the meditative reading of Sacred Scripture as God’s word directed to the reader, is echoed by the Muslim conviction that in and through the Qur’ān, God speaks to each individual.

Monastic interreligious dialogue is grounded in the virtue and practice of hospitality—an expansive and non-judgmental welcoming of all people and the cultural and religious traditions they bring with them. In his Rule for Monasteries, Saint Benedict begins his chapter on the reception of guests by saying, “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ. . . . Proper honor must be shown to all, especially to those who share our faith and to pilgrims” (53:1-2).

Benedict most likely knew nothing of Hindus or Buddhists, and he predated the Prophet Mohammad by a century. Nonetheless, his insistence on receiving all guests—and the implication that among the monastery’s guests to be properly honored will be those who do not “share our faith”—inspires contemporary monks to welcome the followers of other religious traditions, especially fellow monastics and spiritual seekers, confident that we all have gifts to give and receive.

An excellent overview of how monks worldwide are encountering and learning from other spiritual traditions is provided by “Strangers No More,” a recent documentary film on Monastic Intereligious Dialogue that can be found in the Videos section of the DIM•MID website, dimmid.org

William Skudlarek, a monk of Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, is Secretary General of Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique•Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (DIM•MID) and managing editor of its on-line journal Dilatato Corde. He is the author of Demythologizing Celibacy: Practical Wisdom from Christian and Buddhist Monasticism (Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 2008).