Franciscan Spirituality in the Modern Catholic Church

Eight hundred years have passed since Saint Francis walked this earth and he still serves as an example of humility, compassion, poverty and care for creation in the twenty-first century. This article will attempt to explain why Francis, and his followers, are still emulated in today’s Church. Of course, Franciscan spirituality is very much based on the God-Man who walked this earth more than two thousand years agio, which is perhaps why it has endured. But our world today, with all its problems, is why Franciscan spirituality is needed, perhaps now more than ever.

Vatican II

The modern Catholic Church, by most definitions means the Post Vatican II Church. John XXIII had a dream for the Church and this dream came to reality when he convoked Vatican II. I had just entered the Catholic church in 1959 so the early sixties were a time of great excitement for me, as we watched Vatican II come to life. It has often been described as “throwing open the windows of the Church.” With the Holy Spirit as our guide, one might argue that the Church windows were always open to the world, but in general, this was not perceived to be true. Although John XXIII did not live to see the full execution of what he started, Pope Paul VI 

Some of the sweeping and obvious changes were the change to worshiping at Mass in the vernacular language of each community and the increased role of the laity. But there was far more that came out of Vatican II, changes that I believe Saint Francis would have been delighted to see. Here was a group of people committed to “rebuilding” God’s Church as Francis was called to do seven centuries earlier when he received his call from the Christ on the Cross in the church of San Damiano.

Among the more important documents of Vatican II which still speak to us today, sixty years later, are Lumen Gentium, or The Dogmatic Constitution of the Church. 1 Section 7 of this document talks about the Body of Christ and section 10 talks about the Eucharist, a reflection of Francis’ love for and dedication to the Eucharist. Section 8 reminds us that Christ, “being rich, became poor” for our sakes. Although Christ was not rich in worldly possessions, this refers to the richness of being the Son of God, of being God; shades of Franciscan spirituality are certainly seen here since Francis, like Christ, was a “rich” man who cast aside all his worldly good to live like and serve the poor. Section 13 of Chapter II talks about all people being called to belong to the “new people of God.” This also brings to mind Saint Francis’ love for all people and his tolerance for all people, including those not of the Christian faith.

Chapter IV of Lumen Gentium was revolutionary for the Church, stating that the laity, through baptism, share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal functions of Christ. Saint Francis himself was not a priest, but a deacon, and as one of the results of Vatican II, we have reinstituted the office of permanent deacon, and have increased number of lay people serving in the Third Order of Saint Francis, lay Franciscans. Of course, Francis respected and valued his Bishop and all priests, and in fact it was his practice to greet the priests he met by kissing their hands because their hands were used to consecrate the host. In some cultures, this is still an accepted practice for lay people to greet their priests by kissing their hands. Francis, however, also encouraged lay people to serve the Church in whatever ways they could, pa practice highly encouraged by Vatican II. 

Other documents of Vatican II that reflect Franciscan Spirituality include Gaudium et Spes, The Church in the Modern World; Unitatus Redintegratio, Decree on Ecumenism; and Dignitatis Humanae, Declaration of Human Freedom.  These documents make it clear that they are intended not just for Christians but for all humanity. They assure the right to religious freedom for all people. And that the problems of the modern world are universal. This brings to mind Francis’s visit to Sultan Malik al-Kamir to attempt a peaceful relationship between Christians and Muslims during the Fifth Crusade. Francis was way ahead of his time, with his spirituality that embraced all people.

Pope Francis

The many documents of Vatican II are all worthwhile reading but let us move ahead to our Church today. Certainly, we reached a milestone when Jorge Mario Bergoglio took the name Francis when he was named Pope, the first pope to bear the name of Francis. This was an indicator to the world that this Jesuit was perhaps a dual citizen, bearing allegiance to both Ignatus of Loyola and Francis of Assisi. He certainly told the world he shared much in common with his namesake and several of his encyclicals proved that his own spirituality was strongly aligned with Franciscan spirituality. 

Probably the most famous of these is Laudato Si’, but also Fratelli Tutti and more recently Laudate Deum bear the imprint of Francis of Assisi.

Let’s start with his groundbreaking Laudato Si’.3

The very title of Laudato Si’ is drawn from Saint Francis’s Canticle of the Creatures and Pope Francis quotes Saint Francis’ part of the Canticle praising our “Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs.” But Pope Franics then goes on to talk about how humans are harming the earth in ways Saint Francis could not have known because chemicals and pesticide, plastic bottles, and other various contaminants were not known in his day, but I do believe Saint Francis must be outraged by what he is seeing from his place with God, the one who saw that all His Creation was very good. I believe God and Saint Francis are as appalled as Pope Francis is by the destruction of this earth. 

Saint Francis must be very pleased with his namesake, adding this encyclical to the body of the Church’s social teaching. Sadly, many people ignore this and many other social teachings of the Church. As the Pope tells us, we live in a throwaway culture. Although the hippies of the 1960s warned us about this and encouraged “Reusing, Recycling, and Reducing,” the Pope now reminds us of how important this is. In fact, to the point our Mother Earth is in danger of losing her very life.

In this encyclical, Pope Francis also tells us how attacks against our earth are also attacks against the poor. According to the New York Times,4 the United States through its burning of coal, oil, and natural gas, with just over 4 percent of the world’s population, is responsible for almost a third of the excess carbon dioxide that is heating the planet. And the wealthiest 10 percent of US, households making more than about $178,000, were responsible for 40 percent of the nation’s human-caused, planet-heating pollution. The income of the top 1 percent alone – households making more than $550,000 – is linked to 15 to 17 percent of this pollution.

Who ends up paying the price for this pollution? The poorest countries and the poorest people in the wealthier countries. If you haven’t watched The Letter5, a movie about Pope Francis’ gathering of people from all over the world who are fighting the destruction of Brazil’s rain forest, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and the rising waters caused by climate change, you will see who is suffering from the polluted world we are creating—the poor. Clearly Pope Francis was guided by his interest in the spirituality of Saint Francis who called for protecting our Sister, Mother Earth and who heard the cry of the poor.

In Fratelli Tutti, On Fraternity and Social Friendship6, Pope Francis again cites Saint Francis and his trip to visit Sultan Malik el-Kamil in Egypt, during the Crusades. Pope Francis himself was a groundbreaker is fraternal openness of heart, He states in Fratelli Tutti, that when he was preparing to write Laudato Si’, “I had a source of inspiration in my brother Bartholomew, the Orthodox Patriarch, who has spoken forcefully of our need to care for creation. In this case, I have felt particularly encouraged by the Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, with whom I met in Abu Dhabi, where we declared that ‘God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters’ Franciscan spirituality, evidenced in being open to embrace all humans as Saint Francis embraced the leper, and opened himself up to possible martyrdom going into Egypt in the midst of the bloodbath of the Crusades is still alive today, Praise be to God. Pope Francis again talks about our throwaway world in Fratelli Tutti, this time in relation to throwing away people—the elderly, those with disabilities, the poor, the unhoused. He condemns both racial and religious persecution. While Saint Francis stood up against these things, he did not have to face the media which often incites this prejudice and persecution. Today’s problems enhance these evils and call us to be even more Franciscan in our approach by listening to God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the spirit of Saint Francis before acting on what we hear in the media.

When Pope Francis released Laudate Deum7, he again starts out by quoting Saint Francis about his love of all Creation. He goes on to say,  “Eight years have passed since I published the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, when I wanted to share with all of you, my brothers and sisters of our suffering planet, my heartfelt concerns about the care of our common home. Yet, with the passage of time, I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. In addition to this possibility, it is indubitable that the impact of climate change will increasingly prejudice the lives and families of many persons. We will feel its effects in the areas of healthcare, sources of employment, access to resources, housing, forced migrations, etc.”

Franciscan spirituality is also evident in the Pope’s care for the immigrants, housing, and access to resources. Immigration is a real hot button, especially in the United States. Media hype has distorted the real facts to the point where I read one media account that there are 80,000,000 “illegal” immigrants in the USA. Governors of several states are trying to shut down refugee welcome centers where immigrants are brought by US authorities, such as ICE or Border Patrol, after they have determined that these people meet the qualification to migrate to a country of more opportunity and escape dictatorships, danger, and hardships in their own countries. Although this appears to be a more modern-day problem, the Crusades caused many people to flee their countries and look for a life of more freedom, something Saint Francis certainly would have supported.

Just to be clear, even though Pope Francis was the first to be named after the great Francis of Assisi, Franciscan spirituality was evident in other popes as well. Pope Benedict XVI addressed the Meeting for Peace in Assisi in 2011.8 He recalled in his comments that Pope John Paul II first invited representatives to gather in Assisi to pray for peace in 1986. He cites also that three years later the Berlin wall was torn down. Perhaps someday the wall erected by the United States will come down as well, since Pope Francis has called on us to build bridges, not walls. Benedict reminded us that the new faces of violence are terrorism and hostility against religions. These may be closely tied, but again bring us back to Franciscan spirituality, open to all religions, and speaking out for peace over violence. Francis himself was shattered by his experience with war. And perhaps that is why he spoke out for peace so strongly. 

Other Modern Theologians

Other theologians of today have also followed in the footsteps of Saint Francis in areas such as moral theology. For example, Jose Antonio Merino, mentioned in The Franciscan Moral Vision: Responding to God’s Love,9 talks about how Franciscan spirituality speaks to us today. He says that John Duns Scotus’ moral theology shows us not only how to live, but how to live with others. Another Franciscan mentioned in this volume, Orlando Todisco, offers a Franciscan approach to addressing today’s economic difficulties by returning to Franciscan values.  And Johannes Freyer has united the Franciscan moral vision as a source for contemporary ethics. Nairn lists numerous other theologians of our time who fall back on the Franciscan spirituality of focusing on divine love and goodness, rather than focusing on human weakness and sin. He mentions Servais Pinckaers who asks us to draw on Francis’ lifelong devotion to divine love, rather than focusing on the legalistic moral framework centered on human fulfillment. Many times, I hear parishioners say that the Church is too legalistic and should return to Jesus’ idea of not coming to destroy the law but to fulfill it.  Nairn credits Bonaventure and Duns Scotus with formalizing what Francis simply lived. As he says, “Bonaventure took the intense mystical and ecstatic religious experience of Francis and turned it into a profound theological vision of the world and its creatures.” I think we need the law, but must always remember the spirit of the law, as Francis did.

Another modern theologian and Franciscan, Ilia Delio, asks us to revisit Franciscan spirirutlaity.10 She also draws on Duns Scotus’ ideas about the Incarnation being first and foremost a product of God’s love for humankind, and secondarily to redeem humankind. She goes on to relate that Francis grasped the integral connection between Christ and Creation and the cosmological context of Christology. She cites Roger of Marston and Wiliam of Ware, both Oxford scholars, who also held that Incarnation would have taken place “apart from sin.” And she quotes Duns Scouts, “the predestination of anyone to glory is prior by nature to the revision of the sin or damnation of anyone.” She further points out the work of Zachary Hayes, who tells us that Incarnation is willed for its own sake and not for the sake of any lesser good. And she recalls Bonaventure’s statement that the doctrine of exemplarism is a doctrine between God and Creation centered on the fact that the Word of God is the basis for all that exists. The primacy of Christ was at the heart of Franciscan spirituality, and still drives many modern theologians who expand on Francis’ spirituality to make it relevant in our world today. As Hayes says, “God creates so that Christ may come into existence. It makes the modern-day thinkers value Creation, including themselves, as an important part of God’s Creation and Christ’s Incarnation.

One final modern theologian that I think is vital is Norbert Nguven-Van-Khanh, OFM. In his article, The Teacher of His Heart,11 he reminds us that Saint Francis was the first to receive the Stigmata, the marks of the wounds of Christ on his own body. Like the early fathers of the Church, Augustine and Ignatius of Antioch, Francis felt deeply the primacy of Christ, and was both a preacher and a theologian. Francis writing frequently refers to Christ as our Lord Jesus Christ. Nguven-Van-Khan reminds us that while Francis’ writings he refers to God (the Father) 150 times but also refers to Christ as God 15 times. Francis’ recognition of the primacy of Christ is evident in his writings and his life. In his Admonitions he refers to Christ as Creator. While to us it may seem inappropriate to identify Christ as Creator, clearly Franics saw Christ as Creator because he was both God and man.  I often think we get too caught up in teachings about and the person of Jesus of Nazareth, forgetting that he was present at Creation and existed before time and Creation.

One of the striking prayers of Francis part of which today is often recited during the Stations of the Cross. “We adore You, Lord Jesus Christ, in all your churches throughout the whole world and we praise You because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.”

Francis’ humility is also reminiscent of the Christ who washed his apostles’ feet, and we still repeat this practice on each Holy Thursday. Yes, Franciscan spirituality is still alive in the modern Catholic Church and even beyond. 

Richard Rohr, a popular modern theologian seeks to renew Franciscan spirituality at his Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, NM. And Anthony Carrazzo, OFM also carries on Franics’s tradition. He edited a book by various Franciscan theologians today relating how Francis’ spirituality is still sought after, particularly by Roman Catholics.  You may want to pick up this book to learn more about contemporary Franciscans.

As Catholics we are grateful and revere Saint Francis for all he did for our Church, in his time and in ours. Another book you may want to pick up to help you understand his relevance today is The Franciscan Language for the 21st Century. 12

Although Saint Francis is a Catholic Saint, and was always true to his Church, I feel compelled to write a little about how admired and emulated he is in the Protestant word as well, and beyond Christianity. 

Although Lay Franciscans have existed from the time of Francis himself and have always lived out the teachings of Christ and Brother Francis, they have never brought much attention to themselves. They have lived out their charism more by their life than by their writings and preaching, as Saint Francis did.  As Jose Cristo Rey Garcia Paredas, CME said, “mission needs vision” 14 and Franics laid out the vision for his brothers, priests, sisters, and kay people to fulfill his mission. Today, I believe this is still true as Lay Franciscans are becoming active in carrying out Francis’ work in a more visible way. First there is an Order of Ecumenical Franciscans who believe that Francis and Clare are relevant for all walks of life, and all religions, Citing St Paul’s exhortation that there is neither Greek nor Jew, slave nor free, woman nor man, they strive to bring together those who choose the active life, the contemplative life, and the eremitical life. There is also an Order of Lutheran Franciscans, and the Catholic Secular Franciscan Order, all of whom believe that Saint Francis is a source of peace and unity among all, a peace and unity that our world so needs today. So, if you are not called to religious life, you might want to consider a secular order of Franciscans as a way to live out your commitment to Franciscan spirituality.

1 Promulgated by Pope Paul VI, Lumen Gentium, Vatican City: The Vatican. 1964.

2 Edited by Walter M. Abbot, S.J., The Documents of Vatican II, New York: Angelus Press. 1966. 

3 Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, Vatican City: The Vatican. 2025.

4 New York Times. New York: June 1,2017

5 The Vatican, The Letter, released 2022

6 Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, Vatican City: The Vatican. 2020.

7 Pope Francis, Laudate Deum, Vatican City: The Vatican. 2023.

8 Pope Benedict XVI, Pilgrims of Truth, Pilgrims of Peace, Assisi: The Vatican. 2011.

9 Nairn, Thomas A., The Franciscan Moral Vision: Responding to God’s Love, St Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute. 2013.

10 Delio, Ilia, OSF, Revisiting the Franciscan Doctrine of Christ. Washington DC: Sage Journals Theological Studies. 2003.

11 Nguven-Van-Khanh, Norbert, OFM, The Teacher of His Heart: Jesus Christ in the Thought and Writings of Saint Francis, St Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute. 1994.

12 Edited by Carrazzo, OFM, In Solitude and Dialogue: Contemporary Franciscans Theologize, St Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute. 2000.

13 Short, William, OFM, The Franciscan Language for the 21st Century, Aston, PA: Neumann University, AFCU Journal: A Franciscan Perspective on Higher Education, vol. 1, no. 1. 2004. 

14  Jose Cristo Rey Garcia Paredas, CME, Eco-Theology: Only Wholeness is Sacred: Towards a New Theological Vision, Academia article, 2023