Rory McEntee, Ph.D.

Rory McEntee is an author, philosopher, educator, and contemplative activist. As a close friend and mentee of the late Brother Wayne Teasdale, Rory helped to found the Interspiritual Movement, traveling and participating in dialogues with world spiritual leaders, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis. Rory served as administrator for the Snowmass InterSpiritual Dialogues—a 30-year project convened by Father Thomas Keating, engaging contemplative leaders from multiple faiths in intimate dialogue and contemplative practice.

As a leader in the new monastic movement, Rory is Co-Founder, President, and Executive Director of the Charis Foundation for New Monasticism & Interspirituality, which supports various projects in interspirituality and new monasticism, including the Charis Snowmass Dialogues, Charis Circles, Charis Meditation, the Thomas Keating Interspiritual Seminars, and Charis Interspiritual Formation.

As a scholar, Rory has a Ph.D. in Theological and Philosophical Studies in Religion from Drew University, as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. (ABD) in Applied Mathematics from the University of Southern California. His current research and writing concentrates on questions of democracy, contemplative spirituality, university life, religion, decolonial practice, and social justice. Rory also has interests in evolutionary theory, the nature of language, mysticism, consciousness studies, and philosophy. Rory has taught at Drew University and Kean University, and facilitates contemplative retreats around the country. Rory is author of The Sacred/Secular Binary: Challenging the Divide in University Culture and Democratic Societies (forthcoming, 2024), and co-author of The New Monasticism: An Interspiritual Manifesto for Contemplative Living (w/ Adam Bucko, Orbis Books, 2015), and has published many essays on interspirituality, new monasticism, and the academic discipline of “theology without walls.” Rory also has experience as a teacher and administrator in secondary education, where he taught math and physics, and served as department head and vice-principal. On any given day, you might catch him snowboarding, trekking the Himalayas, meditating, and playing basketball.