Monasticism and Ecumenism: the Monastic Community of Bose

The paper outlines the history and the spirituality of the Monastic Community of Bose, founded in 1968 in Italy by fr. Enzo Bianchi (b. 1943), in the broader context of the ecumenical movement and of the monastic renewal of the twentieth century, when monasticism rediscovered its vocation to unity, as an epiclesis to the Holy Spirit so that all may be one (Jn 17,22). In particular, the article considers the monastic spirituality of Bose, its roots in the tradition of the monastic Fathers both Eastern and Western, its peculiar ecumenical vocation and ecumenical service.