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I met the Dalai Lama and all he wanted to do was talk about Thomas Merton. This isn't too surprising in that we were interviewing him as part of a documentary about Merton. Nonetheless our meeting was scheduled for five minutes but fifteen minutes later His Holiness was still talking enthusiastically about his time with Merton. It seemed as if they had spoken yesterday rather than 45 years earlier. Theirs is obviously a friendship that has retained its power over the years. As His Holiness said, "I myself consider him a close friend, a most special friend, a spiritual brother."
Yet in this centenary year of his birth there have been scores of Merton conferences and celebrations. A documentary, "The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton", on the last year of his life has premiered and is soon to air on PBS stations. There's even a feature film underway. For many the capper was Pope Francis placing Merton in the company of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Dorothy Day, hailing the four as exemplary Americans he most admired.
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An International Missionary Outreach Dedicated to Evangelizing the Lost By Sharing The Gospel According to the Scriptures
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