Francis of Assisi Heritage and Heirs: Eight Centuries Later

Contents

Table of ConTenTs Abbreviations ........................................................................v Introduction ...........................................................................1 HeriTage I. The Life of the Gospel of Jesus Christ ..............................5 The Essential Content of the Rule .................................6 The Word Gospel According to the Rules and Francis’s Other Writings ...........................................................7 Living the Gospel Today .................................................8 A Gospel for All .............................................................10 II. Francis of Assisi, a “Theologian”? ..................................11 What is a Theologian? ...................................................12 Is Francis a Theologian? ...............................................14 The Main Lines of Francis’s Theology ..........................18 Francis’s Theology and the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition ..................................................................20 III. Three Perspectives on Francis’s Message ....................23 The Experience of God ..................................................23 Spiritual Freedom .........................................................27 Poverty and the Poor .....................................................36 Heirs I. References to Franciscan Identity Throughout Eight Centuries ........................................43 The Rule: the Official Canonical Basis ........................ 44 The Image of Francis as an Inspiration and a Model: “the Ideological Basis” .......................47 The Medieval Image of the Thirteenth-Fifteenth Centuries: Alter Christus Stigmatized, Angel of the Sixth Seal ............................................48 From the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century: Francis, a Contemplative and Ascetic Hermit .....................50 Nineteenth-Twentieth Centuries: Francis of the “Romantics” ......................................51 The Francis “Who Is To Come”: The Current Turning Point .....................................53 II. The Mystery and the Problem of Franciscan Poverty Yesterday and Today .....................................................55 Three Viewpoints on Poverty ........................................55 The Socio-economic Point of View ...........................56 The Biblical Teachings ............................................57 The Franciscan Vision and Practice of Poverty .....62 Theory and Practice of Poverty In the History of the Order .....................................67 The Current Situation ..................................................70 The Challenges ..............................................................72 III. Post-Conciliar Transformations in Franciscan Life ....75 General Context of the Church and the World ............76 The State of the Franciscan Family .............................77 Research and Aspirations from the Base .....................79 Official Stages ................................................................83 Evaluation and Challenges ...........................................87 IV. The Fundamental Values of Franciscan Identity .........94 An Area which carries the Identity: the Franciscan Family ............................................95 The Strong Points of Franciscan Identity ....................99 ...