Documentary film, panel discussion to tackle monastic interreligious dialogue Jan. 25
January 13, 2016
"Strangers No More," a documentary film about monastic interreligious dialogue, will be shown at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, in the Centenary Room (room 264) of the Quadrangle Building at Saint John's University. A panel discussion with Benedictine monastics involved in interreligious dialogue will follow the screening.
The program, sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, is free and open to the public.
Benedictines and other Christian monks and nuns have been involved in interfaith dialogue for many years, particularly since the 1965 publication of the declaration on interfaith relations at the Second Vatican Council. They meet and share life experiences with members of other religious traditions, especially with Buddhist monks and nuns.
"Strangers No More," produced by Lizette Lemoine and Aubin Hellot of Films du Large in Paris, highlights the work done by the international monastic organization Dialogue Interreligious Monastique/Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (DIMMID) for over 40 years. The film focuses on Christian monks and nuns in dialogue with Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims.
Panelists for this program are the Rev. William Skudlarek, OSB; the Rev. Michael Peterson, OSB; and S. Hélène Mercier, OSB. Skudlarek, a monk of Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, is secretary general of DIMMID and associate editor of Dilatato Corde, an international journal rooted in the Christian monastic experience of interreligious dialogue.
Peterson, also a monk of Saint John's Abbey, is chaplain at the College of Saint Benedict and the president and chairman of the board of North American Papal Commission for Monastic Interreligious Dialogue.
Mercier, a sister of Saint Benedict's Monastery, St. Joseph, is director of Initial Formation and of Women in First Monastic Profession at her monastery and the executive director of the North American Papal Commission of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue.