Gregory K. HILLIS. Man of Dialogue: Thomas Merton’s Catholic Vision. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2021. Pp. 297. $24.95 pb. ISBN 978-0-8146-8460-3. Reviewed by Jeffrey MARLETT, College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY 12203.

Over fifty-one years after his death, Thomas Merton (1915-68) remains a popular yet enigmatic force in American Catholic life. Fans celebrate his spiritually profound and honest writings, critics dismiss him as a failed celebrity monk. Hillis’s book remedies these selective assessments. He covers Merton’s life from before his conversion to Catholicism, through his career as a Trappist monk and popular author, and his death in Bangkok in 1968. Hillis deftly balances his comprehensive grasp of Merton’s written works, especially his private journals, with the spectrum of Merton studies.  Some of these posit a narrative of Merton gradually moving away from his Catholic faith, and decidedly so in his trip to Asia where he unexpectedly died. Hillis rejects this: “we misunderstand Thomas Merton if we see him as someone who felt he had to venture away from his Catholicism in order to speak to issues that became important to him, or as someone who negated or watered down his own Catholicism in order to engage in dialogue with non-Catholic traditions” (10). So instead of a declension narrative which bemoans or criticizes Merton’s presumed loss of faith, Hillis demonstrates how Merton’s burgeoning interests flowed from his Catholic faith.

With this orientation Hillis examines Merton’s conversion, his priestly ordination, his role as novice master at the Trappist monastery, his Marian piety, his peace and anti-racist activism, and his interest in interreligious dialogue. In particular, Merton’s eucharistic spirituality figures prominently in his desire to reach out in dialogue with others (224-38). Hillis notes the roots this vision had in Merton’s own First Communion (29-30). Merton’s Eucharistic devotion and spirituality deepened when he taught at St. Bonaventure University in western New York, which in turn prompted him to visit the Trappist monastery in Gethsemane, Kentucky (45-9). His conversion brought him contact with Catholic philosopher Daniel Walsh whose holistic vision of Catholic intellectual life shaped Merton’s appreciation of Thomism and, more importantly for Hillis, an aversion to the then-common tendency to divide into theological camps (31-2). Walsh prepared the convert Merton to seek a unified Catholic theological world view, even in the politicized aftermath of the Second Vatican Council. Ordained a priest in 1949, Merton’s celebration of Mass obviously shaped his Eucharistic-centric spirituality. Others in his position, living in a monastic community separated from the world, might turn away even further spirituality. Coupled with his innate curiosity, Merton’s eucharistically-shaped world view fueled his desire for greater dialogue. Celebrating Mass bridged the physical separation and linked him, Merton believed, with an array of conversation partners. These eventually included Muslim and Buddhist interlocutors. When dialogue faltered or was thwarted, celebrating Mass offered Merton solace (56-66).

In the 1960s Merton, from a cloistered monastery, weighed in publicly on several issues confronting American life, such as the Civil Rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam war. Merton’s commitment to nonviolence inspired many, including future congressman John Lewis (169-70). He engaged in a brief and intense affair with a woman in the summer of 1966. His fateful trip to Asia in 1968 included a transcendent moment at a Buddhist shrine (274-8). Critics ever since have targeted one or more of these events as proof of Merton’s supposed loss of faith. Hillis counters frankly: “Merton doesn’t allow for that kind of simplistic assessment” (218). To the very end, Merton viewed his interreligious dialogue work as he did his previous endeavors: from the perspective of being a Catholic monk (279).

Throughout his account Hillis does not hide his own subjective experiences of Merton’s legacy. Teaching in nearby Louisville, Hillis frequents the Gethsemane monastery and visits Merton’s grave every time. Given the items left behind there, other visitors do, too (219-20). Hillis likewise draws attention to the ways in which Merton’s diverse Catholic dialogic activities prefigured Pope Francis’ pontificate. Francis mentioned Merton, along with Dorothy Day, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr., in his 2015 address to a joint session of Congress. Hillis finds Francis’ pontificate-defining commitment to dialogue within the Church as well as with the wider world a confirmation of Merton’s own pursuit. Critics distrust both, Hillis, for roughly the same reason: diluting tradition and Catholic identity. In response, Hillis draws attention again to Merton’s Eucharistic focus (5-6, 221-4). Merton’s Catholic faith, which he acquired in conversion, produced the fruits of his activism and dialogue. They did not dilute his beliefs.

Do we need another Merton book? Yes, we need this one. Hillis’ clear, measured tone makes this book accessible without compromising intellectual rigor. The book will figure prominently in future academic studies of Merton as well as group discussions in classroom or parish. A compassionate teacher and scholar, Hillis writes clearly without jargon to allow Merton’s own words to illuminate the argument. We all will benefit from Hillis’ efforts here.