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Article: 30 years after his death, noted monk Thomas Merton is remembered.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- December 9, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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TRAPPIST, Ky. _ On Dec. 10, 1968, at 10 a.m., a telegram reached the abbot of the Trappist monastery south of Bardstown, its terse message bearing the most alarming news.
Signed by an officer of the U.S. State Department, the cable read: ``Department regrets inform you following message received for you from American Embassy Bangkok Thailand: 'Informed by Abbott Weakland that Thomas Merton has died.'''
Thomas Merton dead? At 53 and at the peak of his spiritual and literary powers, Merton was, in all likelihood, the most famous Christian monastic since Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th century.
Millions _ from the most devout traditionalists to ...