Kilian McDonnell, OSB

Theological Consultant

Kilian McDonnell, OSB has been a monk/priest of St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, MN since 1945. For the larger portion of his life Kilian McDonnell has been active as a professional theologian, and a university professor. He received his StD from the theological faculty of Trier, Germany. He has been involved in theological ecumenical discussions nationally and internationally. Between 1972-1992 he served as the Catholic co-chair of the International Dialog between Classical Pentecostals and Roman Catholics. For some fifteen years he was a consulter to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Vatican ecumenical office. He has been a member of the international dialogues with the Disciples of Christ, and with the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and of the national dialogues with the Lutherans and with the Presbyterians. In 1967 he founded and became the executive director of The Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research (renamed the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research in 2005). At the present he serves as its president.

He has been a Theological Consultant since 1973. His early theological reflections on the Charismatic Renewal such as the Malines documents and co-wrote Christian Initiation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit: Evidence from the First Eight Centuries with Fr. George Montague.

He began writing poetry seriously at the age of 75. His latest book of poetry is entitled Wrestling with God.