Richard Rohr

Richard Rohr O.F.M. (born in 1943 in Kansas) is a Franciscan priest ordained to the priesthood in 1970. He is an internationally known inspirational speaker (best known for his recorded talks) and occasionally a writer.

Rohr was the founder of the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1971 and the "Center for Action and Contemplation" in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1986 where he presently serves as Founding Director.

Scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and justice issues, male spirituality, the Enneagram and eco-spirituality are themes that he addresses in his writing and preaching.

He is best known for his writings on spirituality and his audio and video recordings. His most popular recording is "The NEW Great Themes of Scripture".

Rohr is a contributing editor and writer for Sojourners Magazine.

Rohr participated in the 2006 documentary film .

Fr Richard Rohr is in good standing with both his Franciscan Provincial and his Archbishop, and he is trained in orthodox Catholic theology which is his reference point along with the Gospel.

Richard’s Responses to Common Accusations by His Detractors

The simplest thing to say to people who criticize me is that I am in good standing with:

-Rome (a recent letter from the Vatican, sent to my Provincial, cleared me of all heresy accusations)-my Franciscan Superiors-the Archbishop of Santa Fe

Those three levels should be enough for sincere and thoughtful people, but I know many want to believe the worst of me, and will do so no matter what I say; but we might as well give them the truth and let their conscience and the Holy Spirit lead them from there.

1. Do you support Call to Action?

I neither support it nor accuse it. I must have spoken at their conference in Milwaukee over 20 years ago, but do not usually accept invitations from Call to Action, because my vocation is to build bridges between Left and Right, and they tend to be totally identified with the Left--but someone better be doing that! People totally identified with the Right are seldom called heretics, even though St. Gregory the Great said that when we criticize one side we must also criticize the other or "we divide and destroy the Body of Christ".

2. Do you full accept the 2000 year teaching of the Catholic Church that contraception is always evil?

Of course not; God contracepts far more than we do, and it is not even close to being a 2000 year old teaching. But I do think there is much spiritual and psychological wisdom in Pope Paul VI encyclical, Humanae Vitae, and I encourage people to study it and learn from it.

3. Do you support women as priests?

Yes. The Christian Church is not a state run by thought police. Having a good idea is not opposed to the Gospel. If it is God's will, time will take care of it.

4. Do you fully support everything the Magisterium teaches?

I am on public record as to my orthodoxy, and formally trained in Catholic theology. What the official church actually teaches as de fide doctrine, and what the common person, even many priests and bishops, think it teaches--are often quite distant and distinct. For the last decade we seem to be suffering from what some call “creeping infallibility”, and making things dogma that have never been proclaimed as dogma.

5. Do you use the Enneagram as a teaching tool?

I have known it and used it since I learned it in 1973, and my book shows that it had Christian origins and Franciscan development as far back as Evagrius Ponticus (died 399), one of the Fathers of the Church, and Blessed Raymond Lull, OFM in the 13th century. It has never been condemned, but only warned against, some of which I agree with. Misuse of the Eucharist and the Bible has also been warned against, that does not make them bad. The Enneagram is a wonderful teaching tool, and has allowed me to save many marriages, groups, and relationships.

"'6. At a 2001 religious education meeting in Los Angeles did you state, 'Everything the Catholic Church offers in the way of its sacramental rituals and moral and doctrinal teachings is an obstacle to having a relationship with God?""

Of course not! How silly. That is slander and calumny (a false statement maliciously made to deceive) and not my opinion at all.

7. The website of Soulforce, a homosexual advocacy group, carries a letter said to be written by you (dated 2000) supporting their mission. Did you indeed write this letter?

I wrote a letter in 2000 and would still stand by everything I said there. Read the letter itself, calmly and thoughtfully, and you will likely agree yourself. Can we not move beyond simple dichotomies of total support and complete condemnation? Is there no such thing as qualified support? That is what I gave, and clearly according to Gospel values. Should we accuse Jesus of aiding and abetting prostitution, adultery, and drunkenness, when he said they were entering the kingdom before many others?

8. Do you really conduct 'Wild Man Retreats' where men sometimes take their clothes off and touch each other in certain parts of their bodies to release the demons?

I give five day rites of passage which are about the Paschal Mystery, prayer, and fasting, and are known to be life changing experiences for thousands of men. This accusation is ludicrous and even Rome agreed with me, as did my Provincial, and numerous men who have attended these retreats. This is libel, and such accusers should be sued, but the Gospel does not allow me to do that.

Articles and writings

* [http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/18765.htm Interview with Richard Rohr]
* [http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0888.asp Eight good reasons for being Catholic]
* [http://www.johndear.org/articles/theQuestionofJesus.htm Foreword by Richard Rohr to 'The Questions of Jesus']
* [http://www.americancatholic.org/messenger/jan2001/Feature3.asp Epiphany: You Can't Go Home Again]
* [http://www.malespirituality.org/images/Networking%20-%20Jesus%20in%20Manger.PDF Jesus in the Manger: A Story of Transformation]
* [http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/resources/rg/2006/04_Oct-Dec/astonished2.php Awakened and Astonished]

Quotes

“Everything the Catholic Church offers in the way of its sacramental rituals and moral and doctrinal teachings is an obstacle to having a relationship with God.”--- [http://www.recongress.org/2001 Religious Education Congress, Los Angeles.]

"I think also the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_church Catholic Church] rituals themselves have become awfully churchy, maybe too pretty. The classic rites of initiation, rites of passage for young males are blood, semen, ashes, beatings, nakedness...they're real down there. There's nothing pretty about it. I'm not saying it's naughty or bad, but the male psyche responds to this gutsy-ness and you see it as soon as they get out in the woods - they create it. They want it, they need it, they desire it."----Richard Rohr's talk, The Men's Movement: Homoeroticism and Homophobia. [http://www.newwaysministry.org New Ways Ministry] Symposium IV. 1997.

"The question for us is always 'how can we turn information into transformation?' How can we use the sacred texts to lead people into new places with God, with life, with themselves?"

"We have for too long been reading sacred texts from our dualistic consciousness, split from the very mystery that the story of the birth of Jesus seeks to reveal."-Jesus in the Manger: A Story of Transformation

"Jesus is the universalist par excellence, always making the outsider the heroes of his stories: the non-Jews appear as those with more faith and more compassion, the sinners become those who are saved, the women better than the men, and as he continually puts it, 'the last will be first'."-Awakened and Astonished

"At last we have a group of dedicated Christians who are willing to use disciplined and Christian means of nonviolent protest against its church's failure to live the Gospel.... Our gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered brothers and sisters have been left outside of his realm of grace for far too long. We can do so much better, and we will."- Letter of Endorsement to Soulforce, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organization.

External links

* [http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/15480.htm Summary of his book "Everything Belongs: the Gift of Contemplative Prayer "]
* [http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/21059.htm Summary/Review of his book "Things Hidden: Scripture As Spirituality"]
* [http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/dailyreflection.html?page=complete Daily Reflection from Richard Rohr]
* [http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/ Center for Action and Contemplation]
* [http://www.soulforce.org/article/464 Fr. Richard Rohr's Letter of Endorsement for Soulforce, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organization]

Written works

* "Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality" (2008)

*"The Franciscan Opinion," "Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ" (ed. by Brad Jersak and Michael Hardin) (2007)

*"Simplicity: The Art of Living" (1991)

*"Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer" (1999 and 2003)

*"Hope Against Darkness: The Transforming Vision of Saint Francis in an Age of Anxiety" (with John Bookser Feister) (2001)
*"The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective " (with Andreas Ebert) (2001)

*"Experiencing the Enneagram" (with Andreas Ebert) (1992)

*"Enneagram 2: Advancing Spiritual Discernment" (1995)
*"The Wild Man's Journey: Reflections on Male Spirituality" (with Joseph Martos) (ISBN 0-86716-279-1) (1992 and 1996)

*"From Wild Man to Wise Man: Reflections on Male Spirituality" (with Joseph Martos)
*"Why Be Catholic?: Understanding Our Experience and Tradition" (with Joseph Martos) (1989)

*"Discovering the Enneagram: An Ancient Tool a New Spiritual Journey" (with Andreas Ebert) (1990)

*"The Good News According to Luke: Spiritual Reflections" (1997)

*"Jesus' Plan for a New World: The Sermon on the Mount" (with John Bookser Feister) (1996)
*"Radical Grace: Daily Meditations" (with John Bookser Feister, Editor) (1995)
*"The Great Themes of Scripture: New Testament" (with Joseph Martos) (1988)

*"The Great Themes of Scripture: Old Testament" (with Joseph Martos) (1987)

*"Job & the Mystery of Suffering" (1996)

*"Near Occasions of Grace" (1993)

*"Grace in Action"

*"Quest for the Grail" (1994)

*"Soul Brothers: Men in the Bible Speak to Men Today" (with art by Louis S. Glanzman)
*"Breathing Underwater: Spirituality and the 12 Steps"

*"Simplicity, Revised & Updated: The Freedom of Letting Go" (1991)

*"Adam's Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation"
*"Roots of Violence in the U.S. Culture: A Diagnosis Towards Healing" by Richard Alain with foreword by Richard Rohr

*"Meal Stories: The Gospel of Our Lives" by Kathleen Casey with foreword by Richard Rohr

See also

*Progressive Christianity