The Meddlesome Priest

by Geri Roberts

Any Catholic who was alive in the later half of the twentieth century and read anything at all about the Catholic Church knew who Thomas Merton was. He was a contemplative Trappist monk and a walking power-house of Christian spirit. He was probably responsible for more conversions to the Catholic faith and vocations than any other person in history. He was the reason I came within a hair’s breadth of entering a Trappestine monastery. I didn’t become a nun but I did name my son after him. His books were influential and became enormous sellers all over the world. He was often compared to St. Augustine of Hippo because, like Augustine, Merton seems to have led a wild youth with a later conversion to Catholicism, and then writing about it all. Soon before his death in the late 1960s, Merton had been writing articles and letters critical of the United States and the Vietnam War. .

I am a cynical old lady who tries to question everything yet I have no doubt at all that Merton was a genuinely honest man who believed in what he wrote. How do I know this? Because on December 10, 1968 he was murdered by the Vatican. Surprisingly, the strong possibility that he was murdered is actually mentioned in Wikipedia. And a book was written by David Martin and High Turley: “The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton: An Investigation”.

A few years ago I was ordering a book by David Martin, “The Assassination of James Forrestal” when I noticed Martin’s other book on Merton. It was a shock With all my suspicions that the Vatican was responsible for many horrendous things, I had never even suspected THAT one. When it comes to conspiracy theories, the Vatican is truly a gift that just keeps on giving.

The official story was that Merton had stepped out of the shower and managed to electrocute himself with an electric fan. I recall reading this in the newspapers at the time. I didn’t question the story but was upset since I was always reading his books and I felt that I knew him. His death took place in Thailand and the attitude was that, well, oversea electric appliances could be dangerous. My father, who was an electrician, just said “I bet they killed him because he was getting ready to leave the Church.” I didn’t ask who “they” were. I just laughed because I thought he was joking. Now I know he wasn’t joking at all.

Oddities about the death weren’t discussed for a while. The Catholic Church is very good at covering up things, especially with its handy “vow of obedience” that the members of its orders have to take. But it emerged that Merton’s body had been found lying with the arms and legs arranged neatly, palms down, and covered with cuts and bruises, the fan lying across him and still running. There was, most tellingly, a deep and unexplained wound on the back of his head. Much like a bullet entry wound. However, no autopsy was ever performed and the body–get this—was flown back to the States on an AMERICAN MILITARY PLANE. Happens all the time to priests who write anti-government articles and then die mysteriously.

There are various rumors floating around the internet saying that Merton had committed suicide by electric fan because he had health problems and was in love with a young (female) nurse. Compared to what usually is revealed about Catholic priests, a love affair with an adult woman is a sign of glorious good health, in my opinion.

The consensus seems to be that Merton was murdered by the CIA because his antiwar writing was becoming embarrassing to the U.S. Government. A CIA assassin is supposed to have confessed on his deathbed to killing Merton. CIA assassins seem to do this a lot but I somehow doubt this has ever really happened. Not because CIA assassins don’t have anything to confess, but because it tidies things up so conveniently for certain guilty parties.

In the 1964 film Beckett, King Henry of England wails, “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” referring to the way Thomas Beckett was making Henry’s life a misery. The King seems not to notice a group of knights, the most dedicated of his brown nosers, grabbing their swords and rushing off to the Cathedral to whack Beckett. In the story Henry is rightly accused of being responsible for the murder.

But who really was responsible for ordering Merton’s death? I’m not adverse to pinning any crime on the United States government, but I can’t see them as being behind this one, although they could have helped out. I believe that Merton WAS planning to leave the Church and the Church, in a state of tumult after Vatican II, was bleeding priests and nuns out of every orifice. The departure of a figure like Merton, especially since he would certainly write about it, would cause grave consternation at the highest levels of the Church.

Merton had been seriously researching Eastern religions and finding much to admire. He was always having problems getting approval for his books and writings from his Abbot. Because of the sacrament of confession, other priests were of course aware of what he was thinking and planning. And there is circumstantial evidence that the Trappist order was aware of and therefore condoned the murder. It could not have been committed without involving them. And the head of the order, the abbot general of Citeaux, lives in Rome.

Also, the earnings from Merton’s books was substantial and, I believe, went to the Cistercian order as long as he was a member. That would change if he left. If he died while a monk the money came to them forever and ever since Merton seemed to have no close family since his mistress and son had been killed in the London Blitz before he entered the Church.

The Trappist order could lay these accusations to rest simply by permitting Merton’s body, which is buried at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, to be exhumed and examined by a forensic pathologist. But there is no indication that will ever happen.

Not a man to prevaricate, I can’t imagine that Merton would remain in a life in which he no longer believed. I think that the conference in Bangkok, where he was assassinated, was the first time he had been permitted to leave his monastery in a very long time. So he was closely watched. And the trip would have provided an opportunity to arrange an “accident.”

There is strong evidence that the Vatican did away with this “meddlesome priest” but will never be called to account. No surprise there. Recently I have been looking into the deaths of two other famous individuals who also were probably murdered by the Vatican. One is Albino Luciani, better known at Pope John Paul I. The other is Abraham Lincoln.

Stay tuned for updates! . .

Keywords: #Merton #Meddlesome #Priest