When "open dialogue" is a ruse

In his recent address before Congress, Pope Francis invoked the spiritual legacy of Thomas Merton and in particular his "capacity for dialogue and openness to all." This ostensibly fond recollection of Merton is emblematic of the kind of talk that has endeared many liberals, Catholics and others, to Pope Francis: papal language that instills hope for eventual doctrinal change in the Catholic Church on pressing social issues, change ushered in by the pontiff's love of open dialogue with "the other."

For all Merton’s devotion to open dialogue, it would be useful to also recall his abundant disdain for dialogic style over substance. Shortly before his death in 1968, Merton addressed an interfaith gathering of monks in Calcutta. “There must be scrupulous respect for important differences,” he said,

and where one no longer understands or agrees, this must be kept clear—without useless debate. There are differences that are not debatable, and it is a useless, silly temptation to try to argue them out. Let them be left intact until a greater moment of understanding.