Monks in the News
By Margaret Lyons in News on May 12, 2004 8:56PM
Buddhism is all over the news in Chicago this week. First, two Laotian monks have asked the courts to prevent their evicton from their monastery in rural Kane County. A circuit court judge set July 19 as the trial date to decide if Khen Kataviravong, 78, and Phenethong Keoviseth, 40, can continue to live at the monastery. The two were apparently involved in an attempt to oust the temples executive director, who has now accused them of having refrigerators and neglecting their spiritual duties.
A bit closer to home, monks from a Thai Buddhist monastery on 75th Street in Bridgeview are afraid that village officials will seize their land via eminent domain to build a parking lot for the new Chicago Fire stadium on 79th and Harlem. The Wat Dhammaram temple and meditation center has been at its present location since 1983.