Western Spirituality: Historical Roots, Ecumenical Routes

Matthew Fox holds a doctorate in the history and theology of spirituality from the Institut Catholique de Paris. He was a member of the Dominican order for 34 years. Seeking to establish a new pedagogy for learning spirituality that was grounded in an effort to reawaken the West to its own mystical tradition as well as interacting with contemporary scientists, Fox founded the Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality that operated for 7 years at Mundelein College in Chicago and 12 years at Holy Names College in Oakland. Because of this program, Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) expelled Fox from the Dominican order and the program was aborted. He founded the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland to continue his work, but it closed in 2007. He is the author of over 30 books including Original Blessing, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, A Spirituality Named Compassion, The Reinvention of Work, The Hidden Spirituality of Men, Christian Mystics, The A.W.E. Project: An Educational Transformation for Post-Modern Times, and Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times.