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About
This unique reflection was prompted by an invitation Matthew Fox received to speak on the centennial of Thomas Merton's birth. Fox says that much of the trouble he's gotten into - such as being excommunicated in 1993 from the Dominican Order by Cardinal Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict) - was because of Thomas Merton, who sent Fox to Paris to complete a doctoral program in philosophy. Fox found that Merton's journals, poetry, and religious writings revealed a deeply ecumenical philosophy and a contemplative life experience similar to that of Meister Eckhart, the fourteenth-century mystic/theologian who inspired Fox's own "creation spirituality." It is little surprise to find Fox and Merton to be kindred spirits, but the intersections Fox finds with Eckhart are intellectually profound, spiritually enlightening, and delightfully engaging. A religious and spiritual maverick details his personal and philosophical intersections with the legendary writer and monk Thomas Merton, revealing a new dimension to Merton's thought.
Matthew Fox was a member of the Dominican Order for 34 years. He holds a doctorate (received summa cum laude) in the History and Theology of Spirituality from the Institut Catholique de Paris. Seeking to establish a pedagogy that was friendly to learning spirituality, he established an Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality that operated for seven years at Mundelein College in Chicago and twelve years at Holy Names College in Oakland. For ten of those years at Holy Names College, Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict), as the Catholic Church's chief inquisitor and head of the Congregation of Doctrine and Faith, tried to shut the program down. Ratzinger silenced Fox for one year in 1988 and forced him to step down as director. Three years later he expelled Fox from the order and then had the program terminated. Rather than disband his amazing ecumenical faculty, Fox started the University of Creation Spirituality. Fox was president of UCS for nine years.
He is currently a scholar in residence with the Academy for the Love of Learning. He lectures, teaches, and writes and serves as president of the nonprofit he created in 1984, Friends of Creation Spirituality. He is the author of 28 books and lives in Oakland, California.
Matthew Fox was a member of the Dominican Order for 34 years. He holds a doctorate (received summa cum laude) in the History and Theology of Spirituality from the Institut Catholique de Paris. Seeking to establish a pedagogy that was friendly to learning spirituality, he established an Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality that operated for seven years at Mundelein College in Chicago and twelve years at Holy Names College in Oakland. For ten of those years at Holy Names College, Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict), as the Catholic Church's chief inquisitor and head of the Congregation of Doctrine and Faith, tried to shut the program down. Ratzinger silenced Fox for one year in 1988 and forced him to step down as director. Three years later he expelled Fox from the order and then had the program terminated. Rather than disband his amazing ecumenical faculty, Fox started the University of Creation Spirituality. Fox was president of UCS for nine years.
He is currently a scholar in residence with the Academy for the Love of Learning. He lectures, teaches, and writes and serves as president of the nonprofit he created in 1984, Friends of Creation Spirituality. He is the author of 28 books and lives in Oakland, California.