The earlier and later rule for the Friars Minor begins with a promise of obedience; Brother Francis promises obedience and reverence to the Lord Pope Honorius and his canonically elected successors and the Roman Church, and the rest of the brothers are obliged to obey Francis and his successors. (Rule of 1223, Chapter One). This can often imply a necessary introduction, customary in medieval church writing formularies, or a pious introduction to obedience. However, in Francis’ deep understanding of surrender, there is a reflection that the Church and its ministers could offer guidance and that the brothers would do well in surrendering to this wisdom. The wisdom to see that God has put people in our lives to help us just when we need their perspective.

We find ourselves in a time when all authority is questioned. No organization, whether sacred or secular, is to be trusted or believed. Politicians, police, parents, priests, and popes have all fallen to the demythologizing of authority. In many instances, the unprecedented access to knowledge has helped to erode confidence in institutions and people. One must wonder if the simple message of obedience of St. Francis has a prophetic role for us today.

In the Roman Catholic Church in recent decades, we have experienced popes who have emphasized very different aspects of Church teaching. Some would have us believe that one or the other of these was less “Catholic” or less “Orthodox” than the other. Some would go so far as to condemn the views of one pope or another as leading the Church away from the magisterial teaching or the teaching of sacred scripture. These views are antithetical to the humility of St. Francis, who believed that those in authority were placed there by God and we, in true understanding of our place, could learn from them. Of course, this humility was learned not just from popes, bishops, or priests but also from the beggar, the leper, and the lowliest of created things. A radical humility of knowing one’s place in the world and that one had a role to play, not to become the producer, director, and all the leads (with homage to the AA Big Book).

In the world today, we have been too easily led into camps. We must have allegiance to a political party, a label, and a movement. We must be liberal, conservative, or even apathetic. We find it difficult to realize that we can learn from the most grievous sinner. To realize that others, like ourselves, are complex and sometimes contradictory. It is cumbersome to have to analyze the words of politicians and pundits to find that some make sense and others do not, even if we align ourselves with a particular faction. Can we, instead, act like Francis and listen, see, forgive, and learn from all people?

Nobody today is exempt from scrutiny. There is no place to hide virtually or physically. Nor should we hide. Our secrets do not help us; they hurt us and those around us. However, this level of scrutiny and public revelation should help us to learn that all people fall short of the goal and that even the holiest of saints had moments of doubt, irritability, and sin. The most well-intentioned of people can fall prey to the allurements of power, privilege, and prestige. And that these failures do not diminish the good that they have done and the good that they are. If we hold our leaders to a standard of that about event he saints, then we have failed to learn about the very nature of ourselves and creation.

Can we, as people of the Church, offer a different vision? Can we be so radical as to suggest that we can learn from each other? Can we see a tiny light of wisdom in our enemies' or rivals' words and actions? Can we begin to speak to each other as equals and truly find the face of God in the faces of our arch-enemies? Francis had the hope, well reflected in his writings, that we could accept ourselves as creatures of the creator, nothing more, nothing less. In this, we can live in radical humility and obedience to Pope Innocent, his lawfully elected successors, brothers, sisters, and all creation surrounding us.

Robert Campagna, OFM
Minister Provincial
Province of the Immaculate Conception
Order of Friars Minor