The Anastasis Dialogue

If you're looking for some interesting topics with lively debate, I'd recommend stopping over at The Anastasis Dialogue. It's a blog of the monks at Holy Resurrection Monastery in southern California. Some of our parishioners visited recently and enjoyed their stay immensely. Wherever there is a comment field or forum available, there will also be the polemicist - though I see more real listening going on than I have seen on other sites.


Here's their mission statement:

Welcome to the latest ecumenical endeavour of Holy Resurrection Monastery. We have always been convinced that Eastern Catholic monastics have a special responsibility to work for the re-union of the Churches, especially those Churches with which they share their tradition of prayer, theological reflection and ascetic practices. Not only is this idea one we hold firmly, it is actually a demand made of us by our own Church, and made with special forcefulness by the late Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter, Orientale Lumen.

There are a number of monastic ventures around dedicated to building bridges between ecclesiasial communities and faiths. The Benedictine and Cistercian families in particular have institutionalized this work in such important organizations as the Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique and in the special vocation of the monastery of Chevetogne in Belgium. The monastic family of Holy Resurrection Monastery (including the sisterhood of Holy Theophany Monastery in Olympia, Washington) with the blessing of our hierarch, His Grace Bishop John Michael (Botean), and the encouragement of a number of other prelates both Catholic and Orthodox, is now beginning to embark on our own, more humble, version of these ministries.

Hence, The Anastasis Dialogue, a way to bring together Catholics and Orthodox, especially in the English-speaking world, to explore their common monastic heritage with a view to finding common ecumenical ground.

This blog is the first step in beginning this askesis or podvig as we see the work of ecumenical dialogue. For us, ecumenism is not an "apostolate" in the sense that it is simply a thing to do in order to support the inner religious life. Rather, it is a necessary and organic overflow of our internal life of prayer, work and fasting.

What we will do here, is gather our thoughts on the Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, news from home and abroad and provide a place where all this can be digested and discussed by our wider community of friends. All this is designed to support the next stage in the work of this Anastasis Dialogue which is likely to include sponsorship of seminars and lectures, retreats and other work in partnership with such organizations as the Orientale Lumen Conferences, Society of St. John Chrysostom and so forth.