Introduction

It is easy to identify serious social and environmental problems on the global and local levels. The violations of human rights, abortion, genocide, abandoned children, armament industries, drugs, and environmental pollution are just a few. However, solutions and the resolve to address these problems are difficult to find. The difficulties are compounded by voices from various traditions suggesting or demanding conflicting responses. Some voices are gentle, some violent. Our response needs to be authentic and Franciscan.

"-Pace e Bene!-" (Peace and All Good!) is a greeting used on all continents by millions of Franciscan men and women since the time of St. Francis to acknowledge peasants, rulers, saints and sinners alike. It has grown to be an unofficial motto of the Franciscan family. Intuitively and simply, "-Peace and All Good-" expresses the Franciscan approach to life. We ask what our wish and work for "-Peace and All Good-" mean today?

This document is an attempt of the International Inter-Franciscan Commission for Justice and Peace to write a consensus statement describing what we believe to be important characteristics of Franciscan approaches to work for justice, peace and the respect for creation. We gleaned ideas from many discussions among ourselves and others whom we met in our work. We share with you our ideas in the hope that our comments will stimulate reflection and further discussion.

Peace

Peace comes from the poor God who is revealed in Jesus Christ.

The Saints of Assisi radiated a joyful peace that has been universally recognized. This peace was not the result of their achievements, their physical well-being or security. In a very public manner they chose to move from their protected birthplace, the Commune of Assisi, to the precarious dwellings of the outcast lepers and the poor who were living on the margins of their society.

Their contemporaries recognized the saints' impoverished lifestyles as prophetic commentary on the Gospels and a critique of their society. The implicit social analysis expressed in their way of life was not motivated by humanitarian concerns alone, nor by philosophy nor a condemnation of the "-status quo-". Rather they were impressed by God's Incarnation. Jesus Christ, their poor and crucified Lord, was the giver of and reason for their peace. Their attempts to follow literally the Gospel-life of Jesus in utter simplicity became the foundation and rule of their life. Unlike similar "-evangelical-" or prophetic groups of their day, Francis and Clare were persistent in securing the confirmation and approval of the Universal Church for their personal inspirations and convictions.

Contemplation and experience gave to Francis and Clare images of God, revealed in Jesus who was non-violent, vulnerable and poor in the stable of Bethlehem; naked and abandoned on the cross; and food in the Eucharist. God's perfect meekness, humility and poverty gave Francis and Clare the impassioned desire to become "-perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.-"

Poverty is the lamp we use to pass through the portal of faith in order to enter the mystery of God in Whom we find true peace (St. Bonaventure). Over the centuries, interpretations of poverty have generated many arguments and reforms within Franciscanism. Most Franciscans see themselves as working on behalf of the poor; many work with and among the poor; and some have become completely identified with the poor in their lifestyle and work. Pursuit of God's "-perfection-" led Francis to espouse Lady Poverty and to the peace of "-perfect joy-". Throughout her life Clare insisted on the absolute necessity and privilege of Perfect Poverty for her company of Poor Ladies.

Goodness

God is not only poor but Goodness Itself reflected within creation

The Franciscan approach to life is marked by a recognition of the importance, beauty and goodness of Creation created by a good God for no other reason than love. We share this earth, its resources, our lives and work with all of God's creatures, who are our brothers and sisters. Unlike some who strove to domesticate and dominate nature, the two great saints of Assisi expected to live lightly on our Sister, Mother Earth, being a burden to neither the Earth nor to those who fed and clothed them.

Francis' practical theology and spirituality gave him a social analysis that all persons have responsibilities and equal rights before God. Franciscan awareness of the sacred value of the individual flowered in the thinking of John Duns Scotus. Each individual a person, a plant, a stone, an amoeba is precious. No creature, no part of creation, can be dismissed as insignificant. Each creature must attain full measure of its own individuality if the total expression of God's love is to be realized in creation.

Characteristics

The Franciscan movement began with the lives and the treasured stories of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi which give it permanent inspiration and direction. For centuries, hundreds of thousands of men and women have been guided by the Holy Spirit and inspired by the simple genius and practical theological wisdom of Clare and Francis. Generation after generation, brothers and sisters have developed and popularized the original Franciscan inspiration. This evolution of the spirits of Francis and Clare has had profound humanizing effects within Christianity, Western civilization, and other cultures.

Franciscan men and women have a history of responding in practical ways to acute social problems, motivated by beliefs inherited from St. Francis: his conviction about the absolute Goodness of God and creation, the primacy of Love, the Incarnation and its Christocentric implications. The early ban on weapons for members of the Secular Order helped to collapse the feudal system in Europe. Franciscans were responsible for establishing some of the first pharmacies in Europe, initially to meet the needs of infirm pilgrims flooding into Assisi. To protect the poor who were being crippled with huge unjust interest payments on loans, friars in Italy organized the "-Mons Pietatis-", a financial society which was the precursor of the modern banking system. Countless Franciscan men and women have opened their homes to homeless young people, giving them the protection and education not provided by their societies. In countries where the poor could not afford health care, Franciscan women and men responded in practical ways by establishing hospitals and health care systems.

Francis was possessed by a great mission. He was the Herald of God and of God's message of Peace. The message of God's love burned so strongly within Francis that it could not be contained. Like the heralds of his day, who preceded their lords announcing their arrival, Francis travelled from village to village proclaiming the Goodness and Peace of God. According to Francis, the Gospel is to be proclaimed primarily by our witness of Gospel life, not only by words. When it is appropriate and we are prompted by the Spirit of God, we take the opportunity to explain to others the reasons for our belief, never becoming argumentative. For Francis the most perfect form of evangelization was martyrdom, in which we are united with Jesus, the perfect Evangelist, giving our lives completely for the Gospel message of God's love.

In such writings as "-The Canticle of Creatures-" and the "-Rule for Hermitages-", as well as in the interaction among the Lesser Brothers, the Poor Ladies and the Penitents, we see that from the very beginning the Franciscan movement combined feminine and masculine energies and talents. Historically and theoretically, Franciscan life implies mutual respect, co-operation and collaboration among men and women.

Francis' Great King was the same, yet very different, God of the Christians of his day. When the Church was waging a Holy Crusade against its enemies, the Saracens, Francis' interpretation of Gospel life and its demands were revolutionary. He was non-violent, creative and active in his approach to conflict. He was not passive. He took the initiative as an arbitrator and sought opposing parties for dialogue to achieve reconciliation. Francis was quick to dialogue with the wealthy Sultan, who was considered an enemy of Christians, and with the Wolf feared by the people of Gubbio. The friars were instrumental in bringing together the Bishop and Mayor of Assisi, not by shaming them with a public scolding, but by singing the Canticle of Creatures to them.

During a period of deep discouragement Francis wrote "-The Canticle of Creatures-". At that time he continued to experience perfect joy although he was ill, suffering the physical wounds of Jesus and the psychological discouragement of disappointment in his brothers. His joy in pain was not masochistic but was an honest acknowledgement of his pain and injury, accompanied by the surprising joy of being sustained in that injury. There had to be a grace, or Someone, supporting him in his suffering. Francis' joy came with the recognition that God's Spirit was sustaining him in his most painful situations. The Holy Spirit, the "-General Minister-", helped Francis to understand rather than be understood, to console rather than be consoled, to love rather than be loved. Franciscan joy is not a naive denial of human suffering and problems. It is a conviction that despite all that is bad in life, God's Spirit is always within us, in others and in Creation. Joy kept Francis from growing bitter in the midst of suffering and disappointment.

Conclusion

St. Francis and St. Clare had ways of gradually modifying and absorbing violence by love. With open eyes and affectionate respect for all classes of people, they chose to be poor among the poor. Rather than dwell on the negative and evil within their societies, they chose in prophetic ways to emphasize the positive with constructive action.

Franciscans have conscious and unconscious traditions of reading signs of the times revealed in the needs of the poor. Responses to these needs have been practical, often small, steps which have helped to unravel oppressive cultural systems.

Today, our collective and personal challenge is to develop these traditional Franciscan charisms according to our particular circumstances and cultures. While addressing the root causes and not merely the symptoms of problems, we must work diligently to devise constructive practical remedies.

With determined education and practice, we must take advantage of new instruments available to us for bringing about "-Peace and All Good-" within our societies. We hope that our Franciscan formation programs, both initial and continuing, will contain biblical, religious and moral reflections on justice, peace and the integrity of creation, as well as offer familiarity with the social, psychological and political sciences. We urge a more public and collective witness of our work and advocacy on behalf of peacemaking, concern for the poor and the care of creation.

With all people of goodwill we share an important obligation and challenge to respond to the problems of our planet and its societies. Given our tradition, our numbers, our education, and our moral influence within different societies, does not the international community have a right to expect the Franciscan Family to have considerable positive impact on the world's problems? "-From those, to whom much has been given, much will be expected.

Assisi, 12 December, 1993
 

Index to "Peace and Justice" articles