1: What inclined you to write A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church? What did you hope it would do?

The convoking of the Second Vatican Council in 1962 affected the Catholic Church in the USA in a profound way, coinciding as it did with the rise of a more highly educated Catholic lay population. My story is typical of that period of change. Having grown up in a poor, small-town, Catholic family and having received the best in education, I fell very much under the influence of that Council's spirit and attitudes, as I went on to be a Benedictine abbot here in the States and then head of the Benedictine Order in Rome during the pontificate of Pope Paul VI and finally archbishop of Milwaukee during that of Pope John Paul II. I was very much a part of that Council's implementation. Today there is much revisionist history written about that period and the intentions of the world's bishops who attended it. Thus, I wanted to pass on to the next generations the excitement of that dramatic change, some of its hopes and dreams, and how I absorbed them and lived them out personally in my role as a church leader. In doing so, I wanted also to describe my personal struggles with human sexuality and celibacy

2: Have the early responses been what you expected? Any surprises?

The early responses emphasized in a rather sensationalized way mostly my own personal struggles with sexuality and scrutinized how I handled the sex-abuse cases by priests in the years I was bishop, pulling these sections out of the context of the whole story of which they are a part; namely, the growth that took place in my own self-awareness. I did not expect this emphasis although I should have anticipated it.

3: Why did you choose the title A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church?

I picked the traditional medieval image of a pilgrimage to describe my life's journey situating it in an ever-changing and learning church. I selected Chaucer's Canterbury Tales as a framework. Although Dante is the greater poet, I did not recognize the church of today in his method of pigeonholing everyone. Chaucer is less judgmental and more accepting of human fragility, an attitude corresponding better to the reality of our day.

4: Your ecclesiastical calling has been as a Benedictine. Would you talk a bit about that and what it has meant to you (for you)? For your outlook in life?

The Benedictine spiritual outlook is highly "sacramental." That is, it sees so much of every-day life around us as a sign or symbol of the divine life that begins in baptism and reaches fulfillment only after death. For example, Benedict saw the abbot and the monks as an image of Christ and his adult disciples; he spoke of the tools of the monastery as an extension of the vessels of the altar; he saw Christ in the sick and the guests, the weak and the defenseless. I resonated with that spirit. One had to listen (the first word of his Rule for Monks) each day for God's voice, especially during the common daily prayers, thus developing an attentive attitude that gives the monk a unique way of looking at life's vicissitudes, at human relationships, at the needs of others, and, yes, at death itself.

5: You have over a long career observed and been party to so much in the life of the church. What are your hopes for the church at this time? What do you think are the main challenges facing it?

My hope is that the church will be ever-more attentive to the Holy Spirit acting in its members and in the world. To contribute to a global world, one must be listening to its hopes and anxieties. The church will be enriched if it is listening to all those voices out there, especially the hurting ones. In my own life, for example, I have seen the church enriched by becoming a part of the movement concerned about taking care of this planet we all temporarily inhabit. I see the church maturing as it proclaims the equal worth and dignity of every person on this globe regardless of race, education, skin color, sex, or age – from womb to tomb. I applaud the thrust toward abolishing capital punishment. I support all the peace efforts the various religious groups are making against war and for better understanding among all peoples. The great challenge for the Catholic Church at this moment, however, will be to learn to heal and be healed. As a body we Catholics are a fractious lot very much in need of healing. The question is whether we will have the humility it will take to admit we need the help of others to do so.

6: As a graduate of Juilliard School of Music who has also received a Ph.D. in Musicology – "with distinction" – from Columbia University in New York, it is clear that you are a very accomplished musician and musicologist. Can you talk a bit about the role of music in your life and in your calling? What place does music play in your life now?

Yes, music has been an essential part of my life. My experiences of God since my earliest memories were often entwined with musical aesthetic experiences. I never tried to separate the two. At the age of eighty-two, I can still say that music is essential to my life and to my spiritual well-being. Although arthritis keeps my technique from being the greatest and limits the amount of time I play each day as well as the difficulty of the works I attempt, learning new music is a part of my every day routine. Most importantly, a person my age often finds that appropriate words to describe one's feelings do not come at once. But music fills that gap – as it always did – and is cathartic. When I was abbot of my monastery in Latrobe, PA, in the sixties, the monks were wont to say: "If he is playing Mozart, knock on the door and you will find he will give you what you want. But if he is playing Rachmaninoff, wait for another day."