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Henri Le Saux
Swami Abhishiktananda
+December 7, 1973
Commemorative articles in Vol. XIII, No. 2 of
Dilatato Corde
The Origins, Organization, and Activities of DIM•MID
The impetus for creating a special monastic organization to promote and coordinate interreligious dialogue came from a letter the late Cardinal Sergio Pignedoli, president of what is now the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, sent to the Benedictine Abbot Primate Rembert Weakland in 1974.
In his letter, Cardinal Pignedoli asked the monastic orders in the Church to take a leading role in interreligious dialogue because, as he put it,
Historically, the monk has always been the most representative figure of homo religiosus and thus represents a point of attraction and reference for Christians and non-Christians. The presence of monasticism in the Catholic Church is in itself a bridge spanning all religions. If we were to present ourselves to Buddhism and Hinduism, not to mention other religions, without the monastic religious experience, we would hardly be credible as religious persons.
Cardinal Pignedoli’s request led to the establishment, in 1978, of European and North American sub-commissions for interreligious dialogue within the Alliance for International Monasticism (A.I.M.), an organization that had been founded more than a decade earlier. A.I.M. had already sponsored several conferences to help monks and nuns in mission lands better understand the cultural and religious setting in which they now lived. One of those meetings, the one held in Bangkok in 1968, is especially remembered because it was there that the Trappist monk Thomas Merton, one of the pioneers of monastic interreligious dialogue, died accidentally.
In 1994, Abbot Primate Jerome Theisen arranged for the establishment of an independent general secretariat for interreligious dialogue. Although the secretariat was set up within the Benedictine Confederation, it would also serve the two branches of the Cistercian order. To emphasize the international character of this secretariat, it was called Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. Hence, the acronym DIM•MID.
Regional and linguistic commissions of DIM•MID have been established in Europe, North America, Australia, and Korea to promote interest and involvement in interreligious dialogue. In 2011 a multi-lingual on-line journal was founded. The name of the journal, Dilatato Corde, comes from a passage in the Prologue to the Rule of Benedict: “For as we advance in the religious life and in faith, our hearts expand (dilatato corde)and we run the way of God's commandments.” The journal provides a forum for individuals to describe and reflect on how their hearts have been expanded and their Christian faith deepened by knowledge of other religions, interreligious friendships, and understanding, and even adopting, spiritual practices from other religious traditions. If you want to be notified when new articles and announcements are posted, email the Associate Editor at wskudlarek@csbsju.edu and request that your email address be added to the list.
DIM•MID focuses on dialogue with monks and nuns of other religious traditions, whose monastic way of life, it should be noted, predates Christian monasticism by about a thousand years. A “Spiritual Exchange” program between Japanese Zen Buddhist monks and nuns and Christian monastic communities has been ongoing since 1979. A bi-lingual documentary film, “La voie de l’hospitalité” “Strangers No More,” highlights these exchanges, which have been a significant way for European monastic communities to offer interreligious hospitality
In recent years, DIM•MID has broadened its understanding of monastic interreligious dialogue to mean dialogue with other spiritual practitioners about their religious experience and observances—what the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue refers to as the fourth form of dialogue. Based on this way of understanding monastic dialogue, DIM•MID has formally entered into dialogue with Muslims, whose religious practices, especially the observance of set times for prayer each day, are strikingly “monastic.”
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 October 1, 2024 Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, OSBCam, a member and former prior of the monastery of New Camaldoli in Big Sur, California, is the new Secretary General of DIM•MID. He succeeds Fr, William Skudlarek, OSB, of Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, who held that position since 2007. April 3, 2024r Notker Wolf, former Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation, died unexpectedly on April 3, 2024, as he was traveling from Italy to his monastery in Bavaria. A staunch supporter of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. he took part in many of the meetings it sponsored, especially those with Shi‘a Muslims. An overview of his life and ministry was given on DOMRADIO.DE. A link to the obituary prepared by his monastery, Saint Ottilien, will be posted when it appears online. June 2023 The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue has begun a series of brief videos to which consultors to the Dicastery have been asked to contribute their "Stories of Interreligious Dialogue." The published videos can be viewed here. The Dicastery will be publishing the videos progressively, two at a time in the coming months. June 6-8, 2022 The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue convened a plenary session in Rome June 6-8, 2022. The theme was “Interreligious Dialogue and Conviviality.” The Decastery’s summary report on that meeting, in English, French, Italian, and Spanish, can be found here. Photos can be found here. One of the presentations was on “Conviviality in Monastic Interreligious Dialogue.” It was given by William Skudlarek, OSB, Secretary General of DIM•MID, by means of a pre-recorded video. June 16, 2022 Pope Francis received a delegation from Thailand composed of thirty-three prominent Buddhist monks of both the Theravada and Mahayana schools, together with 60 lay Buddhists and several representatives of the Thai Catholic Church. They came to Rome to participate in a conference entitled Friendship between Buddhists and Christians for a Culture of Encounter, at the Pontifical Urban University. Read the Vatican News report. Photos and the Pope’s address in Italian R.I.P. Sr Pascaline Coff OSB Sr. Pascaline Coff, 94, one of the founders of the North American Commission of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue, died on Thursday, December 16, 2021, at Our Lady of Rickenbach Monastery in Clyde, Missouri. Read more November 26, 2021 Christian-Muslim dialogue needs a foundation in everyday friendship, French Dominican says By Kevin J. Jones, Catholic News Agency Progress in Christian-Muslim dialogue ultimately must come from Catholics and others who deliberately make efforts to befriend and understand Muslims,... Read more February 1, 2021 February 8, 2020 July 4, 2019 The Holy Father appointed President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue HE Mons. Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, MCCJ, Titular Bishop of Luperciana, until now Secretary of the same Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. (Daily Bulletin of the Vatican Press Office) November 20, 2018 October 25, 2018 September 13-14, 2018 Promoting mercy, mutual understanding, and spiritual companionship were among the recommendations for future directions for interreligious dialogue at a conference held at Georgetown University. Read full press release. September 14, 2018 By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service July 5, 2018 May 14, 2018 From the Facebook page of Ealing Abbey, London: We received a shock this morning when we found Abbot Timothy Wright O.S.B., emeritus of Ampleforth, had passed away in the night, probably from a heart attack. We found him when we checked at 7.30 am. After breakfast some us went in to honour his body and to pray for him. 3 gennaio 2018 26 décembre 2017 1 October, 2017 [Version en français] 2 September 2017 3 mai 2017 January 15, 2017 January 2, 2017 October 28, 2016 October 12, 2016 September 2016 July 14, 2016 Go to News Archive for earlier items. |