96 PART TWO: AN EMPIRICAL ACCOUNT the wake of the Council along similar lines, ranging, however, from traditionalist via innovational to ultra-innovational. The latter has a problematic relationship with church hierarchy similar to the ultratraditionalists, which results, in the eyes of the magisterium, from an overly liberal interpretation of Vatican II rather than a conservative rejection of it. Both ends of the spectrum risk losing appreciation and (formal) recognition.232 Palmisano situates Bose, which has a prominent place in her research, as well as Taizé in the category of innovational New Monastic Communities.233 Even though Taizé was founded as an exclusively Protestant community, it was built on similar ideals as the other NMCs and emerged in the run-up to the Council. The young community had already reached out to the Roman Catholic Church early in its history, culminating in Brother Roger and Brother Max attending the Council as ecumenical observers. With Catholics joining the community as full members from the late 1960s onwards, the community would become part of the Catholic monastic landscape, too. Palmisano contests the idea that tradition and innovation oppose each other. Rather, she notes: “Monasticism is an exemplary case to demonstrate that tradition cannot help being something re-invented to correspond to the understanding of a specific group at an exact historical moment.”234 She concludes: “In a nutshell, identity and metamorphosis are an integral part of monastic dialectics.”235 Still, she admits that NMCs constitute a significant breach with the classical ordo monasticus, placing themselves outside that paradigm. They “freely approach the ‘great tradition’ by choosing which elements to keep, adapt, transform, substitute or reject.”236 This makes the new communities hard to position vis-à-vis traditional monasteries. Palmisano rightfully devotes an entire chapter to this question entitled: “Between ‘Pretenders’ and ‘Heirs’: The (Re)invention of Tradition in NewMonasticism.”237 She concludes: By using [the expression] ‘(re)invention of tradition’ I mean to propose that NMCs – situating themselves so disruptively outside the Ordo monasticus – insert the heritage of monasticism into a new interpretative framework, attributing to that heritage a cultural significance which is relevant to the present, plausible and credible 232 Palmisano, 13–17. 233 Palmisano, 14. 234 Palmisano, 27. 235 Palmisano, 28. 236 Palmisano, 28. 237 Palmisano, 97–128 (Chapter 4).
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