Monks in the news

In the U.K., a new hit reality series is set in a monastery. Not that producers have brought in a bunch of 20-somethings and made them undergo a monastic immersion; apparently, the subjects are real aspirants.

Also in the U.K., 1000 monks and nuns descended on Parliament to agitate for more aid to the poor.

An Australian travel writer visits an Ethiopian monastery, a Korean writer retreats closer to home, and an American journalist visits one of the largest American Roman Catholic monasteries, St. John's Abbey in Minnesota.

Finally, here's a review of Journey Back to Eden: My Life and Times Among the Desert Fathers, in which an American monk visits coptic monasteries in Egypt and the Sahara.