Lovers of the Place

In Lovers of the Place, Abbot Francis Kline provided a fresh vision of the monastic life as one form of the Christian vocation that must find its place alongside other expressions of Christian life. He firmly believed that as monasticism renews itself for the church, it will in turn renew the church. Kline invites all the baptized to a participation in the monastic charism loose in the church at large.

Francis Kline, OCSO, (1948-2006), entered the Cistercian monastery of Gethsemani in 1972. after studying music at the Juilliard School in New York, majoring in organ. Following theological studies at the Pontifical Athenaeum Saint'Anselmo in Rome, he was ordained priest at Gethsemani Abbey in 1986. Four years later he was elected abbot of Mepkin, Gethsemani's third foundation, and continued to serve as abbot until he was born into Eternal life on 27 August 2006.