LOUISVILLE — Brother Thomas Merton — the Kentucky monk-author who inspired many with his writings on spirituality — died 33 years ago Monday.

        However, fellow monks and admirers have not forgotten the spiritual leader.

        On Sunday, about 200 people gathered at the Bellarmine University campus in Louisville to dedicate a new bronze statue of Brother Merton in hopes of en couraging new generations to learn from his example.

        The statue, set on a wooden hillside near Our Lady of the Woods Chapel, depicts Brother Merton in a casual pose.

        Designed by Laconia, Ind., artist David Kocka, the statue has “all of those wonderful attributes of Merton, even that little mischievous humor that he had,” said Lisa Scherer, who has long drawn inspiration from Brother Merton's writings. She commissioned the statue in honor of her late husband, Bob Scherer, a Bellarmine alumnus.

        Brother Merton was a Trappist monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani near Bardstown from 1941 until 1968. He was accidentally electrocuted at age 53 on Dec. 10, 1968, by a faulty fan while attending an interreligious conference in Thailand.

        Living in a monastery where silence reigned, Brother Merton wrote on spirituality, social justice and other topics in dozens of books, many of which remain in print.

        Before blessing the statue with holy water, the Rev. Damien Thompson, the current abbot of Gethsemani, said Bellarmine was a fitting location for the memorial because Merton himself chose to donate his papers to the Catholic school upon his death — forming the basis of an archive that now has 40,000 items and draws scholars from around the world.

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Kentucky Digest
Thomas Merton statue unveiled at Bellarmine