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Virtues and Vices: A Franciscan Approach
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virtues anD vices: a franciscan aPProach kathryn getek I begin in gratitude to Sister Indefinite Article; this is a Franciscan perspective on virtues and vices. Therefore, it is merely one possible intersection between the tradition of virtue , which stretches back far beyond even the earliest Christian sources, and the inspired tradition that emerged out of the lives of a few men and women amidst the Assisi hills at the turn of the thirteenth century. Virtue ethics, the former of these two, is a moral method with multiple points of entry. Here, I am most interested in placing a Franciscan approach in conversation with the virtue tradition as it has developed upon the foundations of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. Virtue takes up an “ethics of being” in addition to an “ethics of doing.” The moral starting point is found in the questions of Who am I? Who ought I to become? How ought I to get there?1 The crucial building blocks of our moral lives are not limited to discrete actions which may be right or wrong, but also include our habits and dispositions which we might describe as good or bad. Of course, action and disposition are interrelated ; a good person will seek to do the right action. Virtue ethics calls our attention to the cultivation of habits as a central practice of moral development. As will be clear, virtues and vices were significant elements in the theological landscape 1 See Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue:A Study in Moral Theory (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame, 1981). KATHRYN GETEK 68 of Francis and his successors. In fact, I attempt to develop some guideposts for a distinctively Franciscan virtue ethic. This paper proceeds in three main sections. First, I examine works of two Franciscan writers: St. Bonaventure, thirteenth century theologian, philosopher, and minister general of the Franciscan order; and John of Caulibus, fourteenth century friar and preacher. With a focus on the latter, I explore Franciscan virtues and vices based on the exemplary virtue of Christ. Second, I consider the relationship between these and the traditional cardinal virtues, suggesting a series of correspondences between the two and considering the role of the Aristotelian mean. Third and finally, I examine the end of Franciscan virtue and conclude with four points of reflection to develop the key moral contributions of a Franciscan approach to virtues and vices. i. Bonaventure anD cauliBus on the virtues of christ christological vs. anthroPological virtue If we were to take up a definite article and search for the Franciscan virtues, the difficulty of the quest would be immediately obvious. A website for Australian vocations to the Order of Friars Minor speaks of the Franciscan virtues of peace, joy, and compassion.2 Franciscan Penance in the Confraternity of Penitents names poverty, humility, littleness, love, simplicity, faith, self-sacrifice, and peace.3 The vaults of the Lower Basilica of San Francesco illustrate the virtues of obedience, chastity, poverty, prudence, and humility. The appearance of Francis as a model for Dante in The Divine Com2 National Vocations Directory,“Franciscan Friars – OFM;”http://www. catholicozvocations.org.au/directory/religious/franciscan_friars.html; Internet , accessed February 20, 2008. 3 Franciscan Penance in the Confraternity of Penitents; http://www. penitents.org/franciscanpenance.htm; Internet, accessed February 20, 2008. [44.222.149.13] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 15:01 GMT) VIRTUES AND VICES: A FRANCISCAN APPROACH 69 edy features the two virtues of poverty and humility.4 The multiple permutations of Franciscan virtue witness to the fact that there is likely no criteria by which we can identify the comprehensive and definitive set of Franciscan virtues. I propose, however, that there is good reason for this.While the Thomistic synthesis treats virtue according to a well-ordered anthropology of human powers and appetites,5 Franciscan virtue instead relies most fundamentally on Christology. In Christ, there is endless virtue and goodness rather than a discrete system of human powers to be perfected. Thus, we find no clear delimitation or sufficient structure by which we can definitively identify Franciscan virtues. I contend that Franciscan virtue and vice are not only derived from Christology but from a characteristically Franciscan interpretation of the Incarnation of Christ and Christ’s work of salvation . It is an interpretation grounded in the suffering of Christ, the one who “made himself poor in this world”6 and “Who bore the suffering of the cross to save His sheep.”7 To explore this Christological virtue of the Franciscan tradition, I briefly consider...