Archdiocese of Milan unveils interreligious ‘futuristic monastery’

MILAN, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — A new “inclusive and futuristic monastery” planned by the Archdiocese of Milan will combine Catholic worship spaces with interreligious and cultural facilities in the city’s former Expo district.

On May 11, the Archdiocese of Milan presented a new religious and cultural complex called the “Ambrosian Monastery.” The project was designed by Italian architect Stefano Boeri. According to the archdiocese and the project’s designers, the site will host a resident community and will include a church, a cloister, spaces dedicated to “dialogue” among different religions, and areas intended for cultural events and “reflection.”

“The Ambrosian Monastery presents itself as a space of spirituality, dialogue, and reflection, aimed at fostering encounters among faiths, cultures, and forms of knowledge in the 21st century,” the statement reads.

Architectural renderings presented during the press conference show a large modern structure with angular forms and extensive open spaces. The church building and the cloister are planned with triangular ground plans. Boeri stated during the presentation that the church would also “serve cultural purposes” in addition to religious functions.

Although formally dedicated to Saint Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, the monastery features numerous elements that make it a multireligious complex more than a genuinely Catholic place of prayer.

As reported by La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, the project also takes on a distinctly ecological character. In addition to the Library of Religions and the Cloister of Religions, it will include a “Garden of Religions,” where each monotheistic faith will be represented by a plant.

“One cannot help feeling a bit uneasy wondering which plant theologians and green designers will decide to assign to us,” quipped Italian journalist Tommaso Scandroglio.

As of now it remains unclear what kind of community — religious or otherwise — will reside within the monastery. It is also still uncertain whether the project has been funded entirely by the Archdiocese of Milan, only partially, or even through public funds.

The MIND district, where the monastery is set to be built, was developed from the area that hosted the 2015 World Expo in Milan. The district has since been promoted as a center for scientific research, technological innovation, education and business development. Archbishop Mario Delpini connected the monastery project directly to that broader urban vision during his remarks.

“This is how Milan tells its own story,” Delpini said. “The city lives and grows beneath the Madonnina,” referring to the golden statue of the Virgin Mary atop Milan Cathedral. He added that “there is no human life without transcendence” and “no coexistence, peace or common good without God.”

The building bears a distinctly Masonic imprint: according to Archbishop Delpini’s own statements, all religions are effectively treated as equally valid paths to worship God.

On February 16, 2024, the Archdiocese of Milan hosted a closed‑door meeting for dialogue between the Catholic Church and Freemasonry, attended only by selected journalists and invited guests. Present at the meeting were the three Grand Masters of the main Italian Masonic obediences — Stefano Bisi (Grand Orient of Italy), Luciano Romoli (Grand Lodge of Italy ALAM), and Fabio Venzi (Regular Grand Lodge of Italy) — together with Archbishop Delpini himself, the controversial Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, and the Franciscan theologian and canon lawyer Zbigniew Suchecki.

There was also Bishop Antonio Staglianò, then-president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, who delivered a lengthy address downplaying Catholic doctrine in order to highlight a supposed — yet nonexistent — affinity between Catholicism and Freemasonry.