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Richard Rohr Richard Rohr Richard Rohr, OFM, (born 1943) is an American author, Richard Rohr spiritual writer,[1] and Franciscan friar based in Albuquerque, OFM New Mexico.[2] He was ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church in 1970. He has been called "one of the most popular spirituality authors and speakers in the world."[3] Contents Life and ministry Published works Nonfiction Contributions References External links Born 1943 (age 75–76) Kansas, United Life and ministry States Occupation Author · spiritual Rohr was born in Kansas in 1943. He received his master's writer · Franciscan degree in theology in 1970 from the University of Dayton.[4] He friar entered the Franciscans in 1961 and was ordained to the Nationality American priesthood in 1970. He became founder of the New Jerusalem Period 1972–present [5] [6] Community in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1971 and the Center for Subject Theology Action and Contemplation (CAC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1986[7][8] where he serves as founding director and academic dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation.[9][10] The curriculum of Rohr's school is founded on seven themes developed by Rohr and explored in his book Yes, And....[11] In his 2016 book The Divine Dance, Rohr suggests that the top- down hierarchy approach of western Christianity since Constantine has held ecumenical traditions back for centuries, and that the future of people of faith will have to be awakening to Webcast with Rohr a bottom-up approach.[12] Rohr maintains what he would call prophetic positions, on the "edge of the inside" of a church that he sees as failing to transform people, and so increasingly irrelevant.[13][14] In a critique of Rohr published in the New Oxford Review, Fr. Bryce Sibley writes that Rohr asserts that God holds both the masculine and the feminine together rather than either or binary dualistic thinking and criticizes ecumenical religious rituals that focus on rules rather than the paramount centrality of relationship with God, and neighbor.[15] In 2000, Rohr publicly endorsed Soulforce, an organization which challenges religion-based LGBTQ oppression through nonviolent protest.[16] In a 1999 essay, and afterwards, Rohr welcomes and affirms God's love for LGBTQ people, emphasizing that God asks the same of people in homosexual relationships as God asks of heterosexual ones: "truth, faithfulness, and striving to enter into covenants of continuing forgiveness of one another".[17][18] In his teaching on Scripture, such as in his book Things Hidden, Rohr describes the biblical record as a human account of humanity's evolving experience with God, "the word of God in the words of people".[19] Rohr's book Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self suggests Jesus' death and resurrection is an archetypal pattern for the individual's movement from "false self" to "true self", from "who you think you are" to "who you are in God".[20] Rohr's 2014 book, Eager to Love, explores the key themes of Franciscan spirituality, which he sees as a "third way" between traditional orthodoxy and heresy, a way of focusing on the Gospel, justice, and compassion.[21] Rohr emphasizes "alternative orthodoxy", a phrase the Franciscan tradition has applied to itself, referring to a focus on "orthopraxis" — a belief that lifestyle and practice are much more important than mere verbal orthodoxy,[22] which in itself is much overlooked in Catholic preaching today.[23][24] The Perennial Tradition,[25] or Perennial Philosophy, forms the basis of much of Rohr's teaching; the essential message of his work focuses on the union of Divine Reality with all things and the human potential and longing for this union. Rohr and other 21st century spiritual leaders explore the Perennial Tradition in the Center for Action and Contemplation's issue of the publication Oneing.[26] Some of his views have been criticized as outside the pale of orthodoxy, as in a review of his book The Divine Dance by evangelical theologian Fred Sanders on The Gospel Coalition website[27] and by Aquinas & More Catholic Goods which refuses to carry his books.[28] Influences on Rohr outside of Christian sources include Buddhism and Hinduism, Gandhi, Carl Jung, Spiral Dynamics, and Integral Theory.[11] Published works Nonfiction Wild Man's Journey: Reflections on Male Spirituality (Saint Anthony Messenger Press, ISBN 0-86716-279-1, 1986; Revised edition 1996) Why Be Catholic?: Understanding Our Experience and Tradition (with Joseph Martos) (Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 1989) ISBN 978-0-86716-101-4 Simplicity, Revised & Updated: The Freedom of Letting Go (1991, reissued by Crossroad Publishing Co, U.S.; 2nd New edition of Revised edition, 2004) ISBN 978-0-8245-2115-8 Near Occasions of Grace (Orbis Books (USA), 1993) ISBN 978-0-88344-852-6 Quest for the Grail: Soul Work and the Sacred Journey (1994, reissued by Crossroad Publishing Co, U.S.; New edition, 1997) ISBN 978-0-8245-1654-3 The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective (with Andreas Ebert) (1995, reissued by Crossroad Publishing Co, U.S., 2002) ISBN 978-0-8245-1950-6 Jesus' Plan for a New World: The Sermon on the Mount (with J. Feister) (St Anthony Messenger Press, 1996) ISBN 978-0-86716-203-5 Radical Grace: Daily Meditations (with John Bookser Feister, Editor) (1993, reissued by St Anthony Messenger Press, 1996) ISBN 978-0-86716-257-8 Job & the Mystery of Suffering (1996, reissued by Gracewing, 2006) ISBN 978-0-85244- 308-8 The Good News According to Luke: Spiritual Reflections (Crossroad Publishing Co, U.S., 1997) ISBN 978-0-8245-1490-7 Hope Against Darkness: The Transforming Vision of Saint Francis in a (St Anthony Messenger Press, 2001) ISBN 978-0-86716-440-4 Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer (Crossroad Publishing Co, U.S.; 2nd Revised edition, 2003) ISBN 978-0-8245-1995-7 Adam's Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation (Crossroad Publishing Co, U.S., 2004) ISBN 978-0-8245-2280-3 Soul Brothers: Men in the Bible Speak to Men Today (with art by Louis S. Glanzman) (Orbis Books (USA), 2004) ISBN 978-1-57075-534-7 From Wild Man to Wise Man: Reflections on Male Spirituality (with Joseph Martos) (St Anthony Messenger Press, 2005) ISBN 978-0-86716-740-5 Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality (Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 2008) ISBN 978- 0-86716-659-0 Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent (Franciscan Media, 2008) ISBN 978- 1-61636-478-6 The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See (The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2009) ISBN 978-0-8245-2543-9 [29] Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent (Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 2010) ISBN 978-0-86716-987-4 A Lever and a Place to Stand: The Contemplative Stance, the Active Prayer (Paulist Press, 2010) ISBN 978-1-58768-064-9 Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps (Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 2011) ISBN 978-1-61636-157-0 Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (Jossey-Bass, 2011) ISBN 978-0- 470-90775-7 A Companion Journal to Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (Jossey- Bass, 2013) ISBN 978-1-118-42856-6 Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self (Jossey-Bass, 2013) ISBN 978-1-1183- 0359-7 [30] Yes, And...: Daily Meditations (Franciscan Media, 2013) ISBN 978-1-61636-644-5 Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation (Franciscan Media, 2014) ISBN 978-1- 61636-757-2 Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi (Franciscan Media, 2014) ISBN 978-161636-701-5 What the Mystics Know: Seven Pathways to Your Deeper Self (The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2015) ISBN 978-0824520397 A Spring Within Us: Daily Meditations (Center for Action and Contemplation, 2016) ISBN 978-1-62305-037-5 The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation with Mike Morrell (Whitaker, 2016) ISBN 978-1629117294 [31] Just This: Prompts and Practices for Contemplation (Center for Action and Contemplation, 2017) The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For and Believe (Convergent Books, 2019) ISBN 9780281078622 Contributions Foreword in Roots of Violence in the U.S. Culture: A Diagnosis Towards Healing by Richard Alain (Blue Dolphin Publishing, 1999) ISBN 978-1-57733-043-1 Foreword in Meal Stories: The Gospel of Our Lives by Kathleen Casey (Thomas More Association, 2000) ISBN 978-0-88347-495-2 The Franciscan Opinion in Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ, ed. by Brad Jersak and Michael Hardin (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008) ISBN 978-0-8028-6287-7) 25 Books Every Christian Should Read, Julia L. Roller, ed. (HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2011) ISBN 9780062098665 Hungry, and You Fed Me: Homilies and Reflections for Cycle C, Jim Knipper, ed. (Clear Faith Publishing, 2012) God for Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Lent and Easter, Greg Pennoyer, ed. (Paraclete Press, 2013) ISBN 978-1612613796 Naked, and You Clothed Me: Homilies and Reflections for Cycle A, Jim Knipper, ed. (Clear Faith Publishing, 2013) Sick, and You Cared for Me: Homilies and Reflections for Cycle B, Jim Knipper, ed. (Clear Faith Publishing, 2014) "Sadness" in The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine, (October 11, 2004).[32] References 1. Paul Elie (May 21, 2018). "The Spiritual Nearness of Wim Wenders's "Pope Francis: A Man of His Word" " (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-spiritual-nearness-of-wi m-wenderss-pope-francis-a-man-of-his-word). New Yorker. 2. Tippett, Krista (April 13, 2017). "Richard Rohr — Living in Deep Time" (https://onbeing.org/p rograms/richard-rohr-living-in-deep-time-apr2017/). The On Being Project.
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