How did you find this page? Did you do a search for ‘Franciscan’ and somehow ended here. What were you hoping to find? Francis is different things to different people.
Whenever I mention St. Francis I usually get the response “Oh, he is the one with the animals.” True there are many stories of Francis and animals, but there are lots about other Saints too. It my be that you have come here thinking more about Ec
ology, after all Francis has been made Patron Saint of Ecology – I hope somebody has told him! Whatever your reason for visiting it is true to say that Francis was interested in the world around him and that included the animals and the environment, but that is not to say he was an environmentalist as we would know it today. He was not a vegetarian and he certainly did not go round trying to save the planet, the truth is he was more concerned with saving souls from hell.
Francis lived in a world that was changing. The feudal system was breaking down; townsfolk were fighting their Lords and even each other. The Church was amassing wealth at an alarming rate alienating itself fro
m the ordinary people in the process. Francis was involved in all of these things.
That is the real challenge for Franciscans today. We are concerned for the environment not becuase of Francis but because, like him, we hate to see God’s creation abused. We are concerned about the wars which surround us and bring in their wake poverty and famine. We are concerned about a Church that is pulling itself apart and spending its time ‘navel gazing, while out in the real world there are those that desperately need both our support and the knowledge of Christ we can offer.
OK, I may well mention animals from time to time; I will certainly mention the environment, but forgive me if I tend to concentrate on peace, social justice and encouraging people on their Christian walk – I think that is what Francis would want me to do.
Tags: ecology, poverty, Social Justice, war