Poverty and Prosperity:: Franciscans and the Use of Money

As the papers in this volume demonstrate, Franciscan poverty has and continues to develop and to elicit new forms in the life of the Church. This 2009 Symposium has raised many important questions and possibilities as to how Franciscans can and should use money that will be valuable for the Franciscan family to consider. Even so, the issues relating to prosperity still need further consideration. When one studies the history of the divisions of the Franciscan communities, it seems that they arise out of prosperity rather than poverty. How Franciscans respond to prosperity seems to play a significant role in how Franciscans respond to each other.