Today is the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order. The actual pontiff, Pope Francis, also bears the same name as the Poverello did. What is the similarity between them?
When, in 1994, I was graced to follow a Franciscan study course at the Catholic Institute in Floriana, I realised that both medieval hagiography and Christian spirituality referred to Saint Francis as ‘alter Christus’, another Christ.
Throughout his life, the young man from Assisi sought to live the modus vivendi of Christ.
As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said when speaking about the saint in a catechesis completely dedicated to him: “Francis’… ideal… [was] to be like Jesus, to contemplate Christ in the Gospel, to love Him intensely and to imitate His virtues.
“In particular, he wished to ascribe interior and exterior poverty with a fundamental value, which he also taught to his spiritual sons.”
His distinct way of approaching God was through holy poverty.
In fact, in one of his writings called The Salutation Of The Virtues, Francis neatly referred to holy poverty as the one that “confounds cupidity and avarice and the cares of this world”.
After personally experiencing the liberating effect of rejecting his former worldly life together with his father’s wealth, Francis went on to suggest his personal iter to those who, like him, wanted to live fully the transformative truth that is found in Psalm 34:8: “Taste and see that the Lord is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!”
In chapter 6 of his rule 1223, the saint said: “The friars are to appropriate nothing for themselves, neither a house, nor a place, nor anything else.
“As strangers and pilgrims (I Pet. 2:11) in this world, who serve God in poverty and humility, they should beg alms trustingly.
“And there is no reason why they should be ashamed, because God made Himself poor for us in this world. This is the pinnacle of the most exalted poverty and it is this, my dearest brothers, that has made you heirs and kings of the kingdom of heaven, poor in temporal things but rich in virtue.
Both St Francis and the Pope have a common vision, namely a poor Church that favours the poor
“This should be your portion because it leads to the land of the living. And to this poverty, my beloved brothers, you must cling with all your heart and wish never to have anything else under heaven, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Deeply influenced by the Patriarch of Assisi’s humility and his loving concern for the poor of his time, namely the lepers, Pope Francis embraced the same spirit of poverty in his personal and pastoral ministry as Peter’s successor.
To begin with, Pope Bergoglio purposely chose to dwell in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than the luxurious papal apartments of the apostolic palace, in which his predecessors lived comfortably.
Moreover, the Argentinian Pope has decisively favoured simpler vestments, starting, of course, by renouncing to put on the traditional papal mozzetta upon his election.
Pope Francis’ love of poverty has been apparent since the conclave that elected him as the supreme pastor of the Universal Church.
Indeed, when he was elected, his friend, the Archbishop Emeritus of São Paolo and Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy Cardinal Claudio Hummes – himself a Franciscan – after hugging and kissing Pope Francis, told him: “Don’t forget the poor!”
Pope Francis later reflected: “And those words came to me: the poor, the poor.
“Then, right away, thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi. Then I thought of all the wars, as the votes were still being counted, till the end.
“Francis is also the man of peace. That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi.
“For me, he’s the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation; these days we do not have a very good relationship with creation, do we?
“He is the man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man.”
Both the saint and the Pope have a common vision, namely a poor Church that favours the poor, a just society, whereby the suffering ones receive privileged attention, and reconciliation with God, with people and also with the environment they live in.
Is this a calling?