SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI IN DIALOGUE WITH CULTURES

  Introduction

We observe a very strange phenomenon today: after the dissolution of the communist block, contacts among various religions have become more difficult than ever. We are seeing the rise of fundamentalisms and the closing in on themselves of groups not only of different religions as Muslims, but also of Christians, as for example those of the East Orthodox tradition. One gets the impression that cultures and religions instead of meeting in rich dialog clash because of diffidence and often rejection, as if one were afraid of the other and therefore rejects it.

Remaining in the field of Christian discourse, one notes that, for example, while the Russian Orthodox Church was the most open to ecumenical dialog during communism because this was the only possibility of openness to the free world and also because it played into the hands of communist regimes to have the church become the spokesman of their pacifist propaganda, now instead the Orthodox Church tends to turn in on itself and to refuse any dialog. Add to this the objective difficulties which have arisen from the so-called problem of “uniate-ism” which continues to poison relationships between Catholics and Orthodox. And so what was to have been the easiest way for the Catholics to approach the Orthodox has turned out to be the greatest obstacle.

There are also difficulties which arise from the invasion of the ex communist countries by protestant sects, movements and catholic religious Orders. The official Orthodox church of these countries feels threatened, rightly or wrongly, feels that these presences have the sole purpose of proselytizing, taking advantage of the poverty of their people and the lack of adequate organization of the orthodox churches.

Then there are some reasons of an ethnic and psychological order for rejecting the West on the part of the Orthodox churches (but also of the Muslim  and Hindu cultures). In practically all the countries of Orthodox tradition, orthodoxy has always represented the national conscience. The excess of nationalism in these countries carries with itself a rebirth of orthodoxy of a fundamentalist nature which tends to refuse everything that is not orthodox as foreign to the culture and tradition of the country. Recently processions organized by bishops and monks paraded through the streets of Athens. Hundreds of thousands of people waved the flag of Byzantium, the cross, the Greek flag and some banners with slogans written in English: «I am Greek Orthodox and proud of it».

And then there is a very important psychological and historical fact. It is true that religious Orders of the Catholic Church have sought to proselytize among the orthodox, and still today among other great religions. Just think of the Catholic presence in India where the Hindus, rightly or wrongly, feel threatened by the presence of the Catholic Church. The Orthodox look upon the religious Orders present in their country as we Catholics would consider with suspicion various representatives of Protestant sects coming from America to work among the people of our parishes. Even in realm of theology there have been periods in which orthodox theology took inspiration from scholastic theology, and that in its worst form.

This way, for example, the XVII and XVIII centuries in Russia are marked by a massive influx of catholic and protestant influence not only in theology but also in iconography and in liturgical music. All this created a confused and hybrid atmosphere in ecclesiastical circles and generally speaking in lives especially of the Muscovites.

Such was the influence of Catholic theology over Russian that it its four ecclesiastical Academies (Kiev, Moscow, Petersburg, Kazan') the teaching of theology was held in Latin just as manuals of dogmatic theology were written in Latin up to the middle of the XIX century!

Today the Orthodox are trying to regain consciousness of their own identity and traditions, refusing everything that smacks of western influence, in fact their theology and spirituality are often not creative (“propositiva”) but dialectically opposed to western Christian thought.

It is necessary to note another fact which lies in the subconscious of the orthodox world. The orthodox, and in part the protestant world, does not believe in the sincerity of the Catholic Church in the field of ecumenism, They find too many contradictions among the official documents of the Catholic Church and its practice. We can also affirm that the Orthodox are afraid of the Catholic Church, its organization and riches. They confuse the Catholic Church with the Vatican and often with the Vatican City and accuse it of secularization and worldliness; they look upon it not only as a religious power but also as an economic and political one. They are afraid that ecumenical dialog will be the Trojan Horse that will allow the Catholic Church to absorb the Orthodox Church. Whether these attitudes are right or wrong, the fact remains that they act upon the mind of the orthodox and condition their attitude with respect to Catholics and especially to western religious Orders. 

The situation in Muslim and Hindu countries is even more dramatic. Just consider the difficulties of Christians in Sudan, Algeria Indonesia and India.

Today our Franciscan Families work in new territories which are freer from the political point of view but which are often heavily conditioned from the point of view of ecumenism. Is our presence in these areas only for the sake of Catholics or, as Franciscans, can it also have meaning for non Catholics? What should the attitude of the Franciscan be when he comes into a non-catholic territory which is also prejudiced against the Catholics Church? Is it enough for the Franciscan to try to adapt to the civilization of these countries, to “inculturate” himself, so that his presence be accepted?

The answer to these questions will be given to us by the attitude of St. Francis himself when faced with the world and more so with Muslims. It is interesting to note that more than 800 years ago, the Poverello took on an attitude with respect to others who were different, which only now we are beginning to discover but which is still extremely difficult to put into practice, because it presupposes a conversion of heart.

First of all we must examine what his attitude was with respect to the world and the populations with different religions and we will point out how  Francis was accepted by non-Catholics and we will ask ourselves why he, a Catholic, faithful to his Church, was accepted and loved by those who were neither Catholic nor even Christian.

Francis in the estimation of non-Catholics

The fact that Francis is the most loved and accepted of saints in the  Catholic Church by non-Catholics is certainly not without meaning. We'll stop to consider the confrontation with the world and the eastern Orthodox culture because that is the one that today presents difficulty in its relationship with others.

Saint Francis represents the happiest synthesis of the Latin and Greek spiritual world, and this because his Christian intuition, nourished at the source of all spiritualities, the Bible, assimilated even those riches which had remained intact in the Christian oriental world. This is the reason why St. Francis is «at home» in the Orthodox world, whether Slavic or Greek. In the words of Olivier Clement (alive), well-known French Orthodox theologian, «St. Francis is certainly the most popular and most loved western saint in Orthodoxy».[1]

The great Russian philosopher and theologian Nicolas Berdjaeff (1874-1948) saw in St. Francis «the most important fact in the history of Christianity after the life of Jesus Christ himself».[2] And again O. Clement who asserts that the great Orthodox theologian Vladimir Lossky (1903-1958) had a special devotion to St. Francis of Assisi and considered him as one of his intercessors. He spoke of him frequently to his children and one of the most important gifts he gave them was a life of St. Francis.[3]

Still speaking of the Russian Diaspora, of France, a Nikita Struve, excellent historian of the Russian Church in the XX century, in a preface to the Orthodox Messenger (Messaggero ortodosso), some years ago asked  that the holiness of Francis of Assisi be openly recognized by the Orthodox Church. Now, Nikita Struve was in our days one of those who affirmed in the clearest way possible, together with the monks of Mount Athos, the specific character of Orthodoxy and who have accented the differences which separate Orthodoxy from Catholicism. In the Greek world, it is particularly the intellectuals who are enamoured of Francis. Who contributed most to make St. Francis known in Greece was Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957), modern Greece's greatest novelist. Suffice it to name his novels, well-known also in the West, as Zorba the Greek, The last temptation, Christ the new crucified and others. In his search for the Absolute he had roamed the world, lived on Mount Athos, among the monks of Tibet and India. He was looking somewhere for sanctity. He wrote in his autobiographical book: «My first tormenting desire, he says, was the search for freedom. The second, which racks and torments me within, the immense desire for holiness».[4]

He first became acquainted with Francis and Franciscans in his native town of Iraklion in Crete where there was and still is a friary of Capuchins. Later, when he and his family moved to the island of Naxos, during the years 1897-1899, he frequented the school of the Holy Cross run by the Franciscans. When he later translated into Greek Dante's Divine Comedy, for whom he had unparalleled admiration, he memorized the eleventh canto of Paradise which represented one of the most sublime pages ever written about St. Francis.

After so much search for the absolute he finally landed in Assisi, where he remained for almost a year. It was precisely in that city, as he himself confesses, that he finally discovered «in Francis the absolute prototype of holiness». There he met J. Jörgensen and a rewarding friendship was created between them. The fruit of his sojourn in Assisi and of his encounter with the Danish writer was the translation of Jörgensen's St. Francis of Assisi into stupendous modern Greek. It was published during the second world war and is still reprinted. Later, Kazantzakis wrote one of his most beautiful books: The Poverello of God[5] which is an imaginary life of Francis, with very personal interpretations, but full of astonishing poetic freshness. The force of expression is such that it scandalizes, enraptures, makes you reflect but never leaves you indifferent.

In the meantime, to better understand what St. Francis represents for Nikos Kazantzakis we will translate some pages of the introduction to J. Jörgensen's St. Francis of Assisi, where he tells of his encounter with the Danish writer, then unknown to him. Presenting himself to him he says:

-I'm from Greece and have come to Assisi because I love St. Francis.

-I'm from the opposite end of Europe, answered the unknown Dane. I, too, love St. Francis and have come to venerate him. And why do you love St. Francis?

-For two reasons, I answered. First, because he was a poet, the greatest poet of the early Renaissance. He bent down and listened into the most humble and insignificant things, into that something of immortality, hidden: a melody. His biographer, Thomas of Celano, is really right when he says: "A very thin veil separated him from immortality". That's why he was able to listen into the melody on the other side of that veil. He called this melody God, and I, until now, call it poetry.

In the Introduction to The Poverello of God Kazantzakis wrote: «Love, pity, admiration for this hero are the sentiments which predominate in me, while I was writing this tale, truer however that the truth itself: often big drops of tears wet the manuscript and often a hand bearing the signs of a wound which renews itself eternally and eternally is inflicted upon it was moving in the air before me. While I was writing, I sensed its invincible presence everywhere, all around me. Because for me St. Francis represents the prototype of the dedicated man who, by an incessant and hard fight, succeeded in realizing the highest duty imposed on man and which is above truth itself, above ethics and beauty: to transform into spirit the matter which God has entrusted to him».[6]

Another famous person of Greece today, struck by the holiness of Saint Francis is Pannaghiotis Kanellopulos, one of the most esteemed intellectuals and politicians in Greece today. Former prime minister, he wrote a monumental work entitled History of the Spirit of Europe. In the first volume, dealing with St. Francis, he wrote: «it is possible that those who retired to the monastery of Mount Sinai or on Mount Athos are really holy, if they succeeded in living truly and in depth the meaning of the holy esitasti. Those however who (as St. Francis) ambled from town to town giving their sandals (if they had any) to others and their feet were reduced to bleeding in their search of lepers whose sores they washed, those who preferred to save others rather than themselves and had the strength of spirit to smile when they were beaten or stoned, or derided, continuing to love, these indeed were holier than the others. Their presence in the world was much more decisive for the unfolding of history... Today, after eight centuries of history, and being mindful the absolute model incarnated by Christ, we can affirm that Francis represents the most lovable human figure that Europe ever generated. His life and poetry are something unique in history. But then is it possible to distinguish Francis’ life from his poetry? His very life, as the immortal Fioretti present it are continuous poetry».[7]

Fotis Contoglou, the greatest Greek post-Byzantine painter of icons and at the same time a profound theologian of iconography used to repeat with an evident polemical sense that St. Francis was «the only genuinely “orthodox” saint of the Catholic Church».[8]

The acceptance of St. Francis by almost all non-Catholics is based on certain aspects of Franciscan spirituality which make the «Poverello of God» a man who belongs to humanity and who should characterize the activity of Franciscans everywhere but especially in those countries where the majority is non-Catholic and in addition where difficulty to dialog exist.

Francis lives the Gospel in poverty and minority

What Orientals throw up to Catholicism is that Catholicism has dulled the freshness of the Gospel by an infrastructure which smacks of worldliness. They look upon Catholicism of the Middle Ages but also today as a super organized gigantic organism with an abundance of means ready to absorb the cultures and traditions of others. Missionaries are supposedly the soldiers of the Pope sent to attack in order to subject other religions to him. Evidently these sentiments are often experienced on the subconscious level.

St. Francis is seen as someone who, because of his life style and teaching, is removed from this negative impression. The Poverello makes an impression upon non-Catholics because of his Gospel spirit and is accepted by all cultures because the Gospel is universal. As Paul VI affirms the Gospel is «independent in regard to all cultures» (Evangelii nuntiandi, 20).

Francis, not only in his Writings, always refers to the Gospel and wants his friars to live «according to the form of the holy Gospel»,[9] but also because of his life style is poor and humble; he doesn’t want to impose himself on anyone in a triumphalistic way and therefore e therefore doesn’t frighten anyone, the other doesn’t have to defend himself because Francis doesn’t want to take anything away from anyone since he himself doesn’t want to posses anything. Minority, poverty, simplicity, and authenticity are the only weapons with which he approaches the other. And then when you add to these sincere love which doesn’t want to conquer but give of self, then we have the liberating encounter with the other.

In this too he follows the example of Christ the Incarnate Word who in order to speak to men willed to empty Himself in the kenosis of the Incarnation and of the Passion and Death. This is why during the Synod of 1974 on evangelization the bishops of Africa and Madagascar affirmed: «The bishops of Africa and Madagascar believe that the so-called theology of adaptation is entirely superseded. They substitute it with the theology of Incarnation».[10] The meaning of the Incarnation, which finds its fullness in the paschal mystery, consists in affirming experientially and existentially that God is indeed with us, that He is part of our history, of every history. It is therefore impossible to canonize a history or a particular culture.

This is even more evident when you keep in mind how Francis considers mission.  

The missionary ideal of Francis

The exemplar of the Incarnation-kenosis is already common in the theology of mission. The approach to evangelization of cultures depends on the theology of mission which one professes. Formerly, mission was considered a conquest. Missionaries set out for the conquest of the erring, to keep them from falling into hell. Mission was spoken of as implantatio Ecclesiae and commercial and military outposts were set up in the foreign countries.

Vatican Council Il has changed this mentality. It spoke of dialog, recognizing in other religions and cultures good and holy elements and seeds of the Word. Mission is rooted the way in which the Trinity comes into the world: « The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father. This decree, however, flows from the "fount-like love" or charity of God the Father who, being the principle without principle" from whom the Son is begotten and the Holy Spirit proceeds through the Son, freely creating us on account of His surpassing and merciful kindness and graciously calling us  moreover to share with Him His life and His glory, has generously poured out, and does not cease to pour out still, His divine goodness. Thus He who created all things may at last be "all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28), bringing about at one and the same time His own glory and our happiness.”[11]

This mission of God has universal importance. Gaudium et spes affirms: «For, since Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery» n. 22).

The Church is the sacrament of God set up in the midst of the nations, she is a living prophecy of the loving dialog between God and humanity, her mission is to be the living mercy of God in the midst of the world. The missionary is a prophet who, disarmed, calls people to conversion, so as to discover the love of God and, if necessary, as Christ, to give his life for love.

The desire of Francis to go among men stems from one of his key experiences. One day, in the church of the Porziuncola, Francis hears the Gospel text of the mission of the apostles (Mt 10, 5-14) or of the mission of the 72 disciples (Lk 10, 1-10).

«One day when the Gospel text about the entrusting to the Apostles of the mission to preach was being read in that church, our Saint, who had understood only its general meaning, asked the priest after Mass to explain the passage to him. The priest commented it for him point by point, and Francis, hearing that the disciples of Christ should not possess either gold, or silver, or money, nor carry a knapsack, or bread, or walking-stick on their way, nor have fancy shoes nor two tunics, but simply preach the Kingdom of God and penance, immediately cried out exultingly: “This is what I want, this is what I ask for, this is what I long to do with all my heart”!» (1 Cel 22: FF 356).

Francis wants to present himself to the world stripped, rich only in the word of God. When other companions join him, Francis, by means of a symbolic gesture, divides them into four groups of two's and says: «Go, dear brothers, two by two into the various parts of the world and announce to all people peace and penance for the remission of sins; and be patient under persecution, certain that the Lord will carry out his plan and will keep his promises. Answer with humility to those who question you, bless those who persecute you, thank those who offend and calumniate you because in exchange the eternal kingdom is being prepared for us» (1 Cel 29: FF 366).

Even though we're dealing with an interpretation of the mind of Francis, the fact is meaningful that the early Franciscan community is aware that it must present itself to men as Christ, by preaching peace and penance. The behavior of the friars minor should be disarming, characterized by humility and non-violence even though they may have to suffer violence.

The Poverello presents himself as herald of peace and penance not only to Christians but also to Muslims.

In the Chapter of Pentecost of 1219, Francis brings the problem of the mission to Muslims to the attention of three thousand friars. To give a good example, he decides to leave together with a few friars for Egypt where, after boarding one of the many ships that were bringing  reinforcements to the Crusaders who were laying siege to Damietta, he arrives in June 1219. Observing the crusaders, he realized that this was not a matter of a just war, and therefore tried to convince Cardinal Pelagio Galvani, leader of the Crusade, and the soldiers to ask for an armistice and accept the offer of peace from the Sultan Malekal Kamil (1218-1238). We know that they did not listen to Francis and that the Christian army suffered a heartrending defeat, leaving 6,000 dead on the battlefield. After this defeat, Francis wants to go to the Sultan, an event which Giacomo da Vitry describes for us.

«We were able to see him who is the first founder and teacher of this Order, whom all others obey as their superior general: a simple unlettered man, but dear to God and men, whose name is Francis. He was filled with such an excess of love and fervor of spirit that when he came to the Christian army encamped before Damietta, Egypt, fearless and armed only with the shield of faith, he wanted to go to the encampment of the Sultan of Egypt. Along the way, he kept repeating to the Saracens who had taken him prisoner: «I am a Christian, take me before your lord». When he was brought before him, observing the appearance of this man of God, the Sultan, cruel beast of a man, was changed into a gentle man and for many days listened to him with great attention, while Francis preached Christ before him and his soldiers. Then, for fear that some of his men might convert to the Lord and pass over to the Christian army because of the persuasive force of his words, he had him accompanied back to our camp with honor and protection, and while they were taking leave, he asked him: «Pray for me, so that God deign to show me what law and faith is more pleasing to him».[12] Regarding this story, a scholar of Francis notes that: «From the words of the French prelate, it becomes unequivocally clear that Francis did not want nor had he any armed protection of safe-conduct; during the course of military operations, he went forward, moved solely by the ardor of faith and in a missionary spirit. The Muslims, too, were brothers to whom the true way of salvation was to be shown, which only Jesus Christ can give».[13]

We have another testimony from the Leggenda Perugina where the ecumenical spirit of Francis and the way he wanted to put it into practice appears evident. In May of 1217 he undertook a trip towards France, and passing through Florence met Cardinal Ugolino.

«The papal representative was very happy at the arrival of Francis. When he had heard from him that he intended to go to France, he forbade him that trip: “Brother, I don't want you to cross the Alps, because there are many prelates and other dignitaries in the Roman curia who would willingly bring harm to your Order. I and other cardinals who love your movement protect it most willingly and help it, provided that you do not leave these lands”. Francis replied: “My Lord, I feel sad to have to remain in these provinces after having sent my brothers to far-away and foreign regions”. The bishop answers with a tone of reproof: “And why did you send your friars so far to die of hunger and other tribulations?”. The Saint answered him with great impetus of spirit and in a prophetic tone:  “My Lord don't think that the Lord has sent friars solely for the good of these lands. I tell you in truth the God has chosen and sent the friars for the spiritual advantage and the salvation of the souls of the men of the entire world; they will be received not only in Christian lands but also in pagan lands. So long as they observe what they have promised the Lord, God will give them what is necessary both in pagan as well as Christian lands”. Ugolino was greatly edified by these words, recognizing that he was telling the truth. Nevertheless he didn't allow him to continue on to France. The Saint sent friar Pacific with other friars, while he returned to the valley of Spoleto»  (FF 1638).

The way the friar minor must «inculturate himself» when, "by divine inspiration" he goes among infidels is described by Francis in chapter XVI of the Regola non bollata: «The friars then who go among the infidels, can carry on spiritually among them in two ways. One way is for them to avoid quarrels and fights and to be subject to every human creature for the love of God (Cf. 1 Pt 2,13) and to profess that they are Christian. The other way is for them to announce the word of God when they see that this is His pleasure. And all of the friars, wherever they are, should remember that they have dedicated themselves and have abandoned their bodies to our Lord Jesus Christ. And for love of Him the must expose themselves to enemies, both visible and invisible, because the Lord says: “He who shall lose his soul for my sake will save it for life eternal”».

For Francis preaching or even social programs to push infidels towards baptism do not have first place, rather the style of life of the «friar minor»: The friars, always, but especially when they find themselves in extreme situations and among people who are against them, should not fight or quarrel but be among them an example of fraternity. On the contrary, far from wanting to impose themselves on others, they should be subject to others even to every human creature. Faithful to the sound of the name of minor, the friar should be the smallest with regard to all and should always take the last place.

The profession of faith and preaching come after the testimony of a life lived in fraternal harmony, in an attitude of reconciliation and unconditional subjection to men. Not to go against others, in a belligernt and confrontational way, but to go among men in an open way, available for service, dominating self so as to be able to work in a conciliatory way, to live in fraternity before all, to be subject to men of other customs and cultures and religions, without denying one's own faith, this, in synthesis is the way to «inculturate oneself» according to Franciscan mission. This means non-violence, the rejection of triumphalism, availability for peace, the courage of faith, the availability for dialog which includes also martyrdom.

In vv. 12-15 Francis quotes the words of Christ who predicts persecution and even death to his disciples because of their fidelity and love of Him, the Teacher who first followed the way of abasement, even unto death (cf. Mt 5, 10; Gv 15, 20; Mt 10, 23; Mt 5, 11-12). The language of Francis and his choice of certain words of Jesus prove that he has no illusions. When the friars minor assume Jesus as their point of reference and the goal of their meditation, they must be willing to dedicate their own lives. And he who obliges himself exposes himself. Chapter 16 of the Regola non bollata presents very clearly the possibility and the risk of martyrdom. The availability for martyrdom, required not only of those who go “among the Saracens” but of «every friar wherever they may be» (v. 10) .

For Francis, persecutors, even those who inflict death, are to be considered «friends», since they are the reason for  our reaching eternal life: Our friends, therefore, are all those who unjustly cause us trouble and difficulties, ignominy and injuries, suffering, martyrdom and death, and we must love them because, for what they have inflicted on us we have life eternal.[14]

For Francis then martyrdom is an essential part of the friars minor’s following of Christ.

Francis doesn't exclude anyone from his missionary concern, his heart is open to all men, always however as an authentic small humble and useless servant.

Francis not only wants the friar minor not to be confrontational with those who are different but on the contrary that they be subject even unto martrydom but, greatly anticipating ecumenism, he himself doesn't hesitate to adopt the customary usages of «infidel» Muslims, thereby recognizing that there are common elements between the different religions. In his Letter to the rulers of peoples he writes: «And you must acknowledge so much honor to the Lord among the people entrusted to you, that every evening the announcement be made, by a town crier or other sign, to give praise and thanks to the Almighty Lord God by all the people» (LetReg 7: FF 213). In this desire of Francis to call for the daily praise of God by a town crier scholars see the influence of the Islamic use of the salat. Indeed on the occasion of his missionary voyage of 1219-1220, he was impressed by how the people followed the invitation to prayer stressed during the day by the Muezzin and raised their praise to God. For him the praise of God was to unite Christians and Muslims.

Likewise, in his Letter to the entire Order we find mention of the custom of the Muslims and of Oriental Christians to prostrate themselves when they pronounce the name of God: «Hearing His name, adore Him with fear and reverence bowing toward the ground: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Most High is his name, which is blessed for all ages» (LetOrd 4: FF 215).

No one is excluded from the interest of the humble and fervent Francis. In the second half of the 23rd chapter of the Regola non bollata, after addressing all the states in the Church, with passion he turns to the entire world: «all you small and great and all peoples, tribes, races and languages, all the nations and all people of every part of the earth, who are and who will be, all of us friars minor, useless servants, humbly pray and supplicate you to persevere in the true faith and in penance, because no one can be saved in any other way» (FF 68).

The friar minor, after the example of the founder, as far as he is able will reach all people, even the most difficult and distant from his own culture and religion. He won't try to exercise any type of violence on them, he won't try to trick them with false external inculturations. Instead he will try to present himself for what he is: a true friar minor, humble and armed only with love. As God’s messenger he will preach peace and harmony and, if the occasion presents itself, he will know how to shed his blood for love. Perhaps in this way he will also proselytize, but certainly it will be a living revelation of the mystery of the kenosis of Christ through which He saved men even those who do not recognize him directly.  

Conclusion

Certainly the way in which Francis presented himself to men and dialoged with them and with their culture is not easy for us to apply today. Yet it is the only method which he wanted his followers to follow. Missionary techniques, theological preparation, knowledge of languages and the customs of the people we are sent to work are necessary but not decisive.

We have a treasure other Orders do not have, that of being disciples of Francis, the universally accepted Saint, but also of being «friars minor». This is our weakness from the human point of view, but it is also our strength and our treasure from the point of view of faith. We can say with St. Paul «When I am weak that is when I am strong».

The humble, poor unpretentious Franciscan, who presents himself to others, loving them even in their religious and cultural differences, who preaches peace while being peaceful and disarmed in all his being, who loves all creatures even inanimate ones and therefore is a true «ecologist», who approaches others without triumphalistic pretensions, without the will to do violence to the consciences of others under the pretext of preaching the truth to them, and who on the contrary is ready to accept from others what they have of good and places himself along side of them as a minor brother, this Franciscan will be loved and respected even by one who is not even a Christian.

Before being announced by word, Christ will be preached by the way the friar minor bears himself. Dialog with others will be an encounter not only of words but of hearts and if, notwithstanding everything we feel ourselves rejected and yet continue to love those who do not accept us, even then our presence in those places and in the midst of those people will not be useless. It is precisely in such cases that we will show the most disconcerting face of Christ, that of his kenosis, namely that which has saved men, all men, even those who do not want to accept us.