Letter of the Conference of the Franciscan Family on the occasion
of Pentecost 2005
INSTRUMENTS OF PEACE
1. "May the Lord give you Peace!" With this greeting, left to
us by St. Francis, we address all the sisters and brothers of the
great Franciscan Family and all man and women whom God loves (cf. Lk
2,14).
Our father St. Francis, in his Testament, confirmed for us that it
was the Most High Himself who revealed to him this particular
greeting: "The Lord revealed a greeting to me that we should say:
'May the Lord give you peace'" (Test 23). Today, united and obedient
to him, we also affirm it to all of you while we live in a world
lacerated by many wars, terrorism, social injustice, hunger and
natural catastrophes of almost apocalyptic proportions.
We offer this greeting above all to those men and women who openly,
though often in a very false manner, live in situations of
laceration in their own person,
family, fraternity or community and work place. We recognise in
the world and in present-day men
and women the urgent need for peace in the broadest sense of the
term, in its old sense of "Shalom" (cf. Is 9,5s; 48,18.19; 54,13; Mi
5,1-4; Lv 26,6; Pr 12,20): peace between peoples and countries,
peace between different cultures and religions; peace which
guarantees a dignified home and security, all what is needed to feed
and clothe oneself, the respect and dignity of the person, harmony
with the whole of creation, happiness of heart and with God Himself,
the giver of all life.
Our mission: to announce peace 2. Faithful to divine revelation wherever he went and every
time he spoke to the people in a sermon (cf. Mir 26; LegPer 67; 1Cel
23; 3Comp 26), Francis and the early Franciscan Family announced
this new greeting of peace, unknown up to then, in a world divided
by big and small wars, adhering, through it, to the very greeting of
the Risen Christ: "Peace be with you" (cf. Lk 24,36; Jn
20,19.21.26). But his desire for peace was often transformed into a
real and proper initiative in favour of a concrete peace, as the
extraordinary events of reconciliation between the Authorities and
Bishop of Assisi (cf. LegPer 84), of the pacification of the city of
Arezzo and other cities (cf. 2Cel 108; LFl 11), of the visit of
Francis to the Sultan (cf. 1Cel 57) and of the episode of Gubbio
(cf. LFl 21) give testimony. The greeting of peace and the
initiatives in favour of peace were an integral part of the self
understanding, of the style of life and of the mission of the first
Brothers and this led them to be recognised as a true peace
movement, so much so that Thomas of Celano himself presented the
early fraternity as a "Pacis legationem", a true message of peace
(cf. 1Cel 24).
3. This mission in favour of peace, announced through this
particular greeting, finds its very foundation in some constitutive
elements of the life and spirituality of Francis, of his Brothers
and Sisters. The mission of peace is born of a pacified heart, fruit
of an experience of pardon, mercy and gratuitousness. Francis also
based
the fraternal character of his movement (cf. LtMin) on it and
responded to it through the choice of a life of penance which, in
the discipleship of Jesus Christ, is fully oriented towards the
eschatological values of the Kingdom of God: justice and peace.
These are accepted each time as a gift from God, which causes peace
of heart to be found (cf. 1Cel 26). It is a gift, that of peace,
which was realised through Jesus Christ in the history of salvation
and was incarnated in the reality of a world in need of redemption
(cf. Rnb 23,1-4). It is through this, by contemplating the wonders
which God does in creation and works through His Son, that Francis
discovered the link between peace, salvation and redemption of man
and women, feeling that he was intimately united to creation and to
the supreme goodness of God. Our present-day salutation of Pax et
Bonum is based on this discovery.
Francis, in writing his Rule, gave origin to a style of life which,
through concrete and everyday attitudes, was capable of promoting
peace. Poverty and simplicity, which are born of unlimited
confidence in God, lead whoever accepts this style of life not to
wish to appropriate anything, neither places, or houses or even his
own will (cf. Rnb 7,13; Adm 2). With their hands free to embrace and
serve the lepers (cf. Test 1-3), it was not necessary for Francis
and his Brothers to procure any instruments of defence or arms to
defend what they possessed from others (cf. 3Comp 35). Free of all
pretensions and from every claim, the first Franciscan generation
did not see a rival, an enemy, in the other.
In a disarming way they recognised everyone as a brother or sister
in Jesus Christ.
Through work (cf. Rnb 7,1-9), through wishing to insert themselves
among the poor and excluded (cf. Rnb 9,2), through the rejection of
money (Rnb 8,1-12) which was a new and brutal form of capitalism of
that time, Francis and his Brothers gave prophetic witness to the
possibility of a different way to co-exist and of a civil and
ecclesial society enlightened by the Gospel of Jesus.
This new gospel life also brought with it a new way to express
oneself. The vocabulary of Francis stayed clear of warlike
expressions about the heroic undertakings of conquest of his time in
order to introduce and propose once again, on the basis of the
Bible, concepts such as that of not appropriating (cf. Rnb 7,13), of
not judging (cf. Rnb 11,1.10), of behaving spiritually (Rnb 16,5 ss.)
and others which promoted peace even through language. In this way
his very style of life became a true and proper way of
reconciliation with God, with neighbour, with oneself and with the
whole of creation.
An itinerary for peace 4. A careful reading of our sources not only presents us the
early movement of the "Minors" as a true and proper message of peace
and reconciliation, but it allows us to identify some essential
attitudes in order to carry out a process of peace and
reconciliation even today in a situation made inflexible through
discord and struggle (cf. LFl 21) by:
maintaining God at the centre of activity;
proceeding always with strength and wisdom in communion;
identifying the true causes of violence and calling them by
their real name;
promoting conversion and reconciliation of all parties;
seeking to heal and restore relationships rather than
resolving disputes;
re-establishing justice as the basis of real peace;
recognising that all social relationships are asymmetrical and
that every situation of conflict implies an imbalance and an evil
use of power;
remaining disarmed (cf. Memoriale Propositi, 16);
rejecting the demonising of one of the parties and recognising
all as brothers and sisters;
facing up to conflicts actively, being exposed personally to
danger and allowing oneself to become involved.
These attitudes present a real and proper path for promoting
peace to us and require acting without arrogance or force. Such
behaviour is only possible, however, on the basis of unconditional
confidence in God. Only by maintaining His Spirit and His Authority
at the centre of one's activity can the attempt at reconciliation
and pacification have any hope of success. Accepting such a service
in favour of peace is not without its dangers or difficulties. The
Franciscan, therefore, does not walk alone, but in vital and mutual
communion with the worldwide Fraternity and the Church, a communion
which gives support and encouragement. Proceeding in unity, the
Brothers and Sisters can and must recognise, with prophetic courage,
the true
causes of every form of violence and call them by name. The violence
cannot be hidden or minimised. Only by knowing how to recognise and
by accepting to heal the evil, can a process which will lead to
conversion and reconciliation of all the parties involved be
initiated and, in the end, it must be sought to re-establish justice
as the basis for constructing true peace, because only in this way
can the mediations used to achieve reconciliation have a lasting
future.
Purifying the memory 5. The memory of the beginnings of the Franciscan Family as a
movement of penance and as a message of peace inevitably leads us to
recognise humbly that our history has not always corresponded to
that vocation and that the Franciscans have not always given witness
to the greeting of peace revealed to Francis through their life.
Instead, ambiguities and the taking of sides in the face of unjust
and violent situations have often been shown. We cannot deny that at
different times they themselves were the cause or even the promoters
of injustice and violence. The recalling of this shadow in our
history is necessary for a real and proper purification of our
memory in view of an authentic gospel process. With our lamented
Pope John Paul II we affirm that such a memory of
failures "is very useful for correctly understanding and carrying
out the authentic request for pardon, based on the objective
responsibility which Christians share as members of the Mystical
Body, and which spurs today's faithful to recognize, along with
their own sins, the sins
of yesterday's Christians, in the light of careful historical and
theological discernment. Indeed, because of the bond which unites us
to one another in the Mystical Body, all of us, though not
personally responsible and without encroaching on the judgement of
God who alone knows every heart, bear the burden of the errors and
faults of those who have gone before us. The recognition of past
wrongs serves to reawaken our consciences to the compromises of the
present, opening the way to conversion for everyone" (Homily, The
Day of Pardon, 12th March 2000). It is only by true conversion and
faith in the Gospel (Mk 1,15) that we can rediscover peace of heart
and become true messengers of peace for our world. Conversion of
heart is the possibility of not being won over by evil, but
overcoming it through good (cf. John Paul II, World Day for Peace
Message, 1st January 2005). Since, therefore, peace is a good to be
promoted through good (Op. Cit. 1), the Franciscans should renounce
every kind of violence in order to "leave the vicious circle of evil
for evil" (Op. Cit. 1).
The difficult path of peace 6. After a "dark century" of fierce wars, brutal
dictatorships, grave and unjust social disparity between north and
south of the world and the cold war, the beginning of the new
millennium was full of hope and even of enthusiasm for a more
peaceful and more just time. But already the first years of this new
century are showing us the fragility of the coexistence of humanity
and new splits are being opened up which threaten world peace and
the restructuring of a just equilibrium between nations. A almost
apocalyptic catastrophe then showed us, through all its violence,
that man has even lost his harmony with creation. Today we find
ourselves faced by a series of problems which, in our global world,
are all connected to in a certain sense: the ecological, such as the
extinction of some species, the climatic changes and the pollution
of the environment are often linked to grave social problems, such
as the heavy indebtedness of so many countries, which, in turn, are
the cause of further problems such as poverty,
hunger, unemployment and emigration. There are, then, the structures
of sin which trigger off the spiral of violence. Among these is the
institutional and military structure which often oppresses
defenceless citizens, when it is not spurring them on to fling
themselves against other peoples, creating innocent victims and
often arousing, as a reaction, uncontrollable forms of terrorism. We
then recall the various fundamentalisms, nationalisms and a new
imperialism which are today at the origin of the collision between
cultures and religions. In addition, there is international crime
which, feeding on the drugs and arms trade, brings death to many
corners of our world. The ruthless rules, finally, of a market
which, in the name of freedom, subordinates the value of life to
that of the economy, giving privilege to a few and marginalising
many, often condemning the weakest in particular to a future without
hope: women, children, the old and sick. At times it seems that the
seeds of peace are really suffocated by the interests of political
and economic power, by the structures of injustice and personal sin.
What does peace mean, then, in this uncivilised and militarised
world? What does peace mean in a world where a consumerist and
accumulative system reigns? What does it mean to speak of peace for
the men and women who live in a war zone? What does it mean to speak
of peace for those who have lost everything?
In the Franciscan spirit, faced by all these situations, we cannot
remain passive or merely moved to tears, we must feel that we are
called to follow the footprints of Jesus Christ, who came "to bring
the Good News to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to
the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the
Lord's year of favour" (Lk 4,18).
Francis embraced the plan of God for His creatures considering them
a family of sisters and brothers (cf. CantC). He never called
himself simply "Francis", but always "Brother Francis". Being a
"brother" revealed the feeling that he was in relationship with
every creature and that his mission was to heal the relationships
with docile humility (cf. CantC 10-11; 3Comp 14,58). The activity
for peace is linked to this proclamation of the Good News of the
Gospel (cf. Eph 6,15) and addressed to all irrespective of their
social state and sex, of their race and religion. For the Church,
remaining faithful to the Lord Himself, the promotion of peace in
the world is an integral part of the mission through which it
continues the redemptive work of Christ on earth (cf. The Compendium
of the social doctrine of the Church, n. 516). As missionaries of
the Gospel, and faithful to the Church, we wish to renew our
tradition of being messengers of gospel peace today.
Promoting good 7. Since peace begins to be lived as a profound value in the
intimacy
of each person in order to be then extended to our families,
fraternities and communities until it involves all the ambiences in
which we live, our personal reconciliation with God, ourselves, our
brothers, sisters and all creation will be necessary in order to
create a true and proper culture of peace (cf. The Compendium of the
social doctrine of the Church, n. 495). Even though this is a very
personal and intimate moment, such reconciliation must also include
our structures, our style of life, our work and our mission so that
all may truly serve in the construction of peace, justice and love.
Only through a credible conversion of our hearts, personal
structures, style of life, way of planning, thinking and working,
will we become fruitful workers for peace. Our commitment to peace
will then, in a particular way, require proceeding with that
fraternal spirit which cha-racterises in a special way our form of
life and will not allow some brothers and sisters with a particular
and prophetic vocation to become engaged on their own in favour of
peace, justice and integrity of creation.
8. We propose, on the basis of this personal conversion, a
vision of peace as the overcoming of personal and structural sin,
the overcoming of suffering, pain, anger and of deep wounds through
reconciliation. We, as witnesses to the Good News, wish to engage in
our mission in the world in favour of this process of
reconciliation, which requires us to distinguish activity against
evil, violence and
injustice from activity in favour of peace and justice, excluding
every form of violence in order to make real reconciliation
possible. Our mission of peace cannot be based on an attitude
characterised by being "against", but must be nourished by the
constant search for the good in life. This acting in favour of good
includes the unmasking of the causes of evil and the courageous
condemnation of every form of unjustified violence, because to speak
about evil and injustice without unmasking the institutions, systems
and sins responsible for injustice and evil would be more than
hypocritical. Only when the causes of discord, wars, injustice and
the small and big human sins will have been prophetically
identified, will a profound recovery from all wounds be possible.
The path to reconciliation will be difficult without such a
recovery. We Franciscans wish to achieve this recovery from wounds
through fraternal and charitable dialogue, a respectful dialogue
which knows how to appreciate every person, culture and religion by
promoting the good, the beautiful and the true present in the other.
We wish to initiate this dialogue in our own fraternities and
communities, in our families, between our Franciscan Institutes, in
the Church, between different cultures and religions, in the diverse
countries where we are present, exposing ourselves to danger by
assuming all the possible consequences and by participating in the
mission and passion of Christ (cf. Rnb 16,10-11). In a particular
way we wish to initiate this dialogue in the places of conflict,
tension, despair, intolerance and marginalisation. Through our
dialoguing we wish to give witness to that saving dialogue with
humanity which God Himself brings forth in His Son Jesus Christ and
in the power of the Holy Spirit.
At the service of love 9. We wish, on the basis of our rich tradition and through
our disposition to dialogue, to re-found ourselves in the
spirituality of pardon, mercy and gratitude in
order to overcome, through that real peace which only Jesus Christ
can give us (cf. Jn 14,27),
the little wars of daily life and the big wars of the world; to
re-found ourselves in the spirituality of fraternity and
equality in order to overcome intolerance and the many forms of
discrimination and marginalisation through the law of love (cf. Jn
15,9-17 ); to re-found ourselves in the spirituality of simplicity
in order to overcome consumerism and the many forms of abuse against
life and creation through esteem and benevolence towards all forms
of life.
In finding again the deep roots of our Franciscan vocation we will
not only find peace in our own hearts, in our fraternities,
communities and families, but we can also become fruitful workers
for peace and reconciliation in this world. Remembering our
particular vocation as Franciscans to be messengers of peace in this
world, let us encourage and stimulate the gift of being prophets of
a new style of co-existence based on love and familiarity and,
therefore, on non-violence, justice and the integral care of our
mother earth (cf CantC); let us defend the right to life on all
levels and the possibility of access to the essential resources for
all; in a particular way we should suffer with and wish to be close
to the innumerable victims of this world.
On the basis of this prophetic dimension of our vocation we raise
our voice in favour of disarmament on all levels (cf. The Compendium
of the social doctrine of the Church, n. 508s); we denounce the use
of children and adolescents as soldiers in armed conflicts (cf.
op.cit. 512) and every form of discrimination and exploitation of
women; we condemn every form of terrorism; we protest against every
form of colonialism or military and economic imperialism; we reject
fundamentalism and the tendency towards integralism; we struggle
with pacific means against the structures and authors of every kind
of slavery and suppression. Finally, we beseech our father St.
Francis and our mother St. Clare, the great promoters of peace and
wellbeing, and Mary, Queen of Peace, to grant us the capacity to
live in this world as faithful servants of the Spirit of Jesus, our
peace (Eph 2,14).
Rome, 15th May 2005
Solemnity of Pentecost
Fr. Jos� Rodr�guez Carballo
Minister generalis OFM
Fr. Joachim Giermek
Minister generalis OFMConv
Fr. John Corriveau
Minister generalis OFMCap
Fr. Ilija �ivkovi?
Minister generalis TOR
Encarnaci�n Del Pozo
Ministra generalis OFS
Sr. Carola M. Thomann
Praeses CFI-TOR
Abbreviations
Sacred Scripture
Eph Ephesians
Is Isaiah
Jn John
Lev Leviticus
Lk Luke
Mi Micah
Mk Mark
Pr Proverbs
Franciscan Sources
1Cel First Life by Thomas of Celano
2Cel Second Life by Thomas of Celano
3Comp Legend of the 3 companions
Adm Admonitions
CantC Canticle of Creatures
LegPer Legend of Perugia
LFl The Little Flowers of St. Francis LtMin Letter to a Minister
Mir The Mirror of Perfection
Rnb Unapproved Rule
Test Testament of St. Francis
CONVENTO DEI SS.COSMA E DAMIANO - VIA DEI FORI IMPERIALI, 1 - 00186
ROMA - ITALIA
TEL. (+39) 06.6920441 - FAX. (+39) 06.6784790
