Monks in the news

Readers of Thomas Merton's journals will remember him recounting the time in 1947 when his own monastery was so overcrowded -- mostly with war veterans trying to deal with PSTD -- that they sent a deputation of monks to establish a monastery in Utah. Today the Utah monastery is in bad financial shape, but they refuse to sell of part of it, despite the likelihood the land would pay them top dollar.

In February, some Tibetan monks were scheduled to perform their prayers at a Catholic church. Fundamentalist catholics became so theatened that they out-prayed them, and the monks packed up and left. The group that sponsored the performance sued the Catholics, but has now dropped the suit because the law they cited doesn't apply to religious groups.