Thomas Merton, the noted Trappist monk who bridged different cultures in a quest for peace in the 1960s, is the subject of the fifth annual Thomas Merton Black History Month Lecture this coming Tuesday, February 15, at Bellarmine University.

The lecture, “Religion and Racism: Thomas Merton's Insights for the Twenty-First Century,” features guest lecturer Sr. Jamie Phelps, O.P., a professor of systematic theology and director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies of Xavier University of Louisiana.

Phelps has edited two books, Black and Catholic: The Challenge and Gift of Black Folk, as well as Stamped in the Image of God: African Americans as God’s Image in Black (coeditor). She has published more than 50 theological articles on evangelization, enculturation, Christology and spirituality.

The lecture begins at 7:00 P.M. in Frazier Hall and is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Paul Pearson, director of the Thomas Merton Center, at pmpearson@bellarmine.edu.

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Photo: Courtesy Merton Center