The homilist at the funeral of Kilian McDonnell, O.S.B., on Sept. 16, 2025, told a somewhat surprising story about the centenarian priest who had died a week before. In a recent encounter, he said, he had realized Father McDonnell was staring at him. “What are you thinking about?” he asked. After a long pause, Father McDonnell replied: “I’m thinking about what an uninteresting person you are.”

That the line got a laugh not only from Father McDonnell’s fellow Benedictine monks but from the congregation as well was a reminder of the beloved monk’s quirky personality—and the impact he had on so many over many decades. McDonnell, wrote his fellow monks in an obituary, “was an energetic man of cherished Irish wit, adventurous spirit, and gracious personality. He was most welcoming of everyone and enjoyed free-spirited conversation.”

Born in Great Falls, Mont., in 1921, McDonnell was raised in Velva, N.D. At the age of 19, he enrolled at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., as a seminarian for the Diocese of Fargo. He entered the Dominican novitiate at River Forest, Ill., soon after, but health problems forced him to drop out. (As his obituary said, “Father Kilian enjoyed ill health all his life.”) In August of 1945, he entered the Benedictines at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville. He was ordained a priest in 1952.

After several years of pastoral work in different parishes, McDonnell earned a licentiate in theology from the University of Ottawa in 1960. Three years later, he received his doctorate in theology from the University of Trier in Germany and was appointed to St. John’s as a professor of theology. He would stay there for 28 years.

McDonnell was instrumental in the founding of the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research in 1967. Even the notion of such ecumenical outreach would have seemed alien to most Catholics even a decade before. He also later served as secretary of the U.S. Presbyterian/Roman Catholic Consultation and on various ecumenical commissions between Catholics, Lutherans and Southern Baptists, and was a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

“Christ willed for his Church to be one,” McDonnell was quoted in his obituary. “If it isn’t one, then its effectiveness in preaching the Gospel is limited and wounded. It can’t do what it was founded to do.” 

Alongside his ecumenical work, McDonnell was devoted to the charismatic movement in the Catholic Church, and served for two decades as a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on the charismatic renewal among what were sometimes called “Pentecostal Catholics” in the postconciliar American church. His two most prominent book projects, Christian Initiation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit and the three-volume work Presence, Power, Praise: Documents on the Charismatic Renewal, dealt with the topic. 

“Fr. Kilian patiently and lovingly facilitated thoughtful and respectful conversations and relationships with Pentecostals,” wrote David Cole, the co-secretary of the International Catholic Pentecostal Dialogue, after McDonnell’s death. “As a theologian who understood the Charismatic Renewal, Baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the Pentecostal movement, Fr. Kilian actually knew Pentecostals better than they understood themselves! But through his kindness, his humility, and his winsome, whimsical personality, Fr. Kilian modeled how to not just talk about unity, but more importantly, how to live it out.”

A lifelong writer, Father McDonnell wrote or co-wrote 15 other books, and also served as an editor at Worship and a columnist for Sign. His publications also include more than 200 articles in academic and theological journals on topics such as ecumenism, ecclesiology, pneumatology, the Reformation and Trinitarian theology.

He wrote for America many times over the years, beginning in 1957 with an essay on the utility of psychiatry in seminaries. He followed that in 1960 with a reflection on ecumenicism four centuries after the Protestant Reformation. Other essays on ecumenical relations were joined by reflections on liturgy, Eucharistic exposition (he was in favor, thinking it had been too hastily abandoned in many locales after the council) and the psychological needs of priests. That last essay, from 1976, included his analysis of a four-day “charismatic retreat” in Steubenville, Ohio that included over 1,000 priests and bishops.

In 2007, he made his poetry debut in America with “Sarah’s List,” which was a finalist for that year’s Foley Poetry Prize. That poem wasn’t a one-off, but part of the fruit of a new publishing career McDonnell undertook more than eight decades into life. He published his first book of poetry, Swift Lord, You Are Not in 2003. Three years later brought Yahweh’s Other Shoe, and 2009 brought God Drops and Loses Things. In 2011, he published Wrestling with God, and 2014 brought Aggressive Mercy. In 2007, he was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award in poetry.

In God Drops and Loses Things, his poem about the return of Odysseus to his home offers a reflection on old age and faith. McDonnell writes of Odysseus’ old dog, 

who alone
can recognize his master in disguise
when he returns to Ithaca after twenty years.
The mutt, too weak to raise his head, too old to wag his tail, dies of joy.

Father McDonnell died on Sept. 8, 2025, at St. John’s, a week short of his 104th birthday. He was buried in the nearby monks’ cemetery. You can watch his simple yet beautiful funeral at St. John’s Abbey here.

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Our poetry selection for this week is “Sarah’s List,” by Kilian McDonnell, O.S.B. Readers can view all of America’s published poems here.

In other news, we are excited to announce a pilgrimage to Ireland in April 2026. Led by myself and America editor in chief Sam Sawyer, S.J., the trip, “The Land of Saints & Scholars: A Journey into the Heart & Soul of Ireland,” will be from April 19 to 28, 2026. Reserve your spot!

In this space every week, America features reviews of and literary commentary on one particular writer or group of writers (both new and old; our archives span more than a century), as well as poetry and other offerings from America Media. We hope this will give us a chance to provide you with more in-depth coverage of our literary offerings. It also allows us to alert digital subscribers to some of our online content that doesn’t make it into our newsletters.

Other recent Catholic Book Club columns:

Happy reading!

James T. Keane

James T. Keane is a Senior Editor at America.