Table Of ContentThe Rule
of the Friars Minor,
1209-2009:
Historical Perspectives,
Lived Realities
Volume 14 2010
Spirit and Life
Essays on Contemporary Franciscanism
Spirit and Life: Essays on Contemporary Franciscan-
ism serves as a vehicle for the publication of papers
presented at various conferences, symposia, and/or
workshops that seek to bring the Franciscan tradi-
tion into creative dialogue with contemporary the-
ology, philosophy, and history. The journal is an oc-
casional publication.
During the fftieth anniversary year of The Francis-
can Institute (1991), the publication of this journal
was a refounding of an earlier Franciscan Institute
Series entitled Spirit and Life, established in 1948 by
the Reverend Philotheus Boehner, O.F.M., one of the
co-founders and frst director of The Franciscan In-
stitute.
Copyright © 2010
Franciscan Institute Publications
Saint Bonaventure University
Saint Bonaventure, NY 14778
ISBN: 1-57659-212-X
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010922383
Printed in the United States of America
by BookMasters, Inc.
Ashland, Ohio
Spirit and Life
Essays on Contemporary Franciscanism
Volume 14 2010
The Rule of The fRiaRs MinoR,
1209-2009:
hisToRical PeRsPecTives, lived RealiTies
Series Editor:
Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M.
Volume Editor:
Daria Mitchell, O.S.F.
C on t e n t s
Introduction ............................................................................................ 1
Dominic Monti, O.F.M.
“‘Deservedly Approved by the Roman Church’:
The Context for Papal Recognition of Francis’s forma vitae.” ......... 3
William Short, O.F.M.
Revising the Earlier Rule: Carlo Paolazzi
and the Work of Kajetan Esser ...................................................... 33
David Flood, O.F.M.
The Early Franciscans at Work as a State-of-Nature Argument ......... 45
Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M.
Alms-Asking and Alms-Giving
as Social Commentary and Social Remedy .................................... 59
Jean François Godet-Calogeras
Clare and the Defense of Franciscan Identity .................................. 81
Michael W. Blastic, O.F.M.
Minorite Life in the Regula Bullata: A Comparison
with the Regula non Bullata ................................................................. 99
Pero Vrebac, O.F.M.
The Rule and Life .................................................................................. 121
Musiè Ghebreghiorghis, O.F.M. Cap.
Historical Perspectives, Lived Experiences........................................125
Matthew Beckmann, O.F.M.
The Evolution of Franciscan Life in Australia .............................. 133
Benedikt Mertens, O.F.M.
The Later Rule of 1223 and Franciscan Life
in Germany and Central Europe ................................................... 137
Ralph Parthie, O.F.M.
Lived Realities in the Province of the Sacred Heart ....................... 143
Balthazar Obico, O.F.M.
Beyond the Letter of the Rule:
The Spirit of Francis Alive in Asian Realities .............................. 149
Hugo Mejia, O.F.M. Cap.
Franciscan Values in Latin America ............................................. 157
Vincent Gabriel Furtado, O.F.M. Cap.
Practitioners of the Rule – India ................................................... 161
Philippe Yates, O.F.M.
Observing the Franciscan First Order Rule
in the UK Today ............................................................................ 167
Michael F. Cusato and Joseph P. Chinnici
Concluding Observations .............................................................. 175
Short BiographieS of the preSenterS
ScholarS of the rule
Michael W. BlaStic, o.f.M., is a friar of the Holy Name Province
of Friars Minor (New York City). He is an Associate Professor in the
School of Franciscan studies at the Franciscan Institute (St. Bonaven-
ture University) where he teaches courses in the areas of Franciscan
hagiography, early Franciscan texts and Franciscan philosophy. He is
also editor of Greyfriars Review. He received his Ph.D. in Historical
Theology from St. Louis University.
JoSeph p. chinnici, o.f.M., is a professor of history at the Francis-
can School of Theology (FST) and the Graduate Theological Union
(Berkeley, California). He received doctorate from Oxford. As a mem-
ber of the St. Barbara Province of Friars Minor (California), he has
written extensively on modern American religious history and also on
the Franciscan tradition. He is currently chair of the Secretariat for
the Retrieval of the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition (SFIT) for the
English-Speaking Conference of Friars Minor.
Michael f. cuSato, o.f.M., a member of the Sacred Heart Province
of Friars Minor (St. Louis, Missouri), received his doctorate in medi-
eval religious history from the Université de Paris IV – Sorbonne in
1991 under the direction of André Vauchez. Director of the Francis-
can Institute and Dean of the School of Franciscan Studies at St. Bo-
naventure University, he is a specialist in the history of the Franciscan
movement in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries and the
author of numerous articles on the subject.
DaviD flooD, o.f.M., is a former member of the research faculty at
the Franciscan Institute, now living and working in his home province
of St. Joseph in Montréal, Canada. A renowned and pioneering schol-
ar of Franciscan history, he is the author of ffteen books, numerous
articles and several critical editions of texts on early Franciscan history.
He received his Ph.D. in history and philosophy from the Universität
Köln (1965).
Jean françoiS goDet-calogeraS, professor in the School of Francis-
can Studies at the Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure University, re-
ceived his doctorate in classical philolophy and medieval studies at the
Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. He has published articles
on and translations of the early Franciscan documents, in particular
on the writings of Francis and Clare of Assisi. In the 1970s and early
1980s, he participated in the elaboration of the new Rule of the Third
Order Regular of St. Francis. He is also General Editor of Franciscan
Studies.
DoMinic v. Monti, o.f.M., a friar of the Holy Name Province of
Friars Minor (New York City), received his Ph.D. in Church history
from the University of Chicago in 1979, under the direction of Ber-
nard McGinn. He is the translator and editor of two volumes in the
Works of St. Bonaventure series published by the Franciscan Institute
and numerous articles on various facets of medieval Franciscan history.
He currently serves as Provincial Vicar of his province.
WilliaM J. Short, o.f.M., is a member of the St. Barbara Province
of Friars Minor and professor of Christian spirituality at the Francis-
can School of Theology and Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley,
California. He received his STD from the Pontifcal Gregorian Uni-
versity in the feld of medieval hagiography and now concentrates pri-
marily on the translation and interpretation of early Franciscan texts.
He is one of the three primary editors of Francis of Assisi: Early Docu-
ments and has been commissioned by the Order to prepare a revised
English translation of the writings of Francis, based on the new critical
Latin text by Carlo Paolazzi.
practitionerS of the rule:
MattheW BeckMann, o.f.M., belongs to the Province of the Holy
Spirit of Friars Minor (Australia-New Zealand) and is currently sta-
tioned in Brisbane, Australia. He has previously worked in the Justice
and Peace ministry (with particular emphasis upon immigration con-
cerns) as well as in formation and education. He is working towards his
Master of Arts in Franciscan Studies at the Franciscan Institute.
vincent furtaDo, o.f.M. cap. is a Friar Minor Capuchin and a
member of the Most Holy Trinity Province, Karnataka-Goa-Maha-
rashtra (India). He was elected the frst Provincial Minister of this
newly formed province in 1998, serving until 2001. Chosen as Pro-
vincial Vicar in 2004, he became Provincial Minister once again at the
Chapter of 2007, in which position he currently serves.
MuSie gheBreghiorghiS, o.f.M. cap., is a graduate of the Franciscan
Institute (1978) and is now serving as Eparch of Emdeber (Latin Rite)
in Ethiopia. Prior to his consecration, he was rector of the Philosophi-
cal and Theological Institute of the Capuchins at Addis Ababa.
hugo MeJia, o.f.M. cap., is a Capuchin Franciscan who hails from
Lima, Peru. After his formation and ordination, he worked for seven
years in the Capuchins’ General Curia in the Offce of Statistics. At
the same time, he studied Franciscan spirituality at the Antonianum
in Rome. Returning to Peru in 2008, he was appointed director of the
Ciudad de los Niños, a house that cares for the poor children of the
area.
BeneDikt MertenS, o.f.M., is a member of the Fulda Province of
Friars Minor (Germany) and a graduate of the Franciscan Institute
(2000). After spending a number of years in French-speaking West
Africa, he returned to Europe to complete work on his doctorate at
the Universität Freiburg im Breisgau. He lives at the College of St.
Isidore’s in Rome where he is editor of the Archivum Franciscanum His-
toricum and Analecta Francescana.
Baltazar oBico, o.f.M., is a graduate of the Franciscan Institute
(1986), currently serving his province of San Pedro Bautista of Friars
Minor in the Philippines as its Provincial Minister. He lives in Quezon
City.
ralph parthie, o.f.M., is a member of the Sacred Heart Province of
Friars Minor (St. Louis, Missouri). He most recently served as Vice-
President for Mission and Ministry at Quincy University. As of June 1,
2009, however, he became a member of the Inter-provincial Novitiate
team at Cedar Lake (Indiana).
pero vreBac, o.f.M., lives in Sarajevo and is a member of the Holy
Cross Province of Friars Minor (Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia). A
graduate of the Franciscan Institute (2004), he serves in the program
of ongoing Franciscan formation, giving retreats and coordinating two
projects of the Franciscan Family: implementation of the CCFMC and
translation of the Franciscan sources into Croatian.
philippe YateS, o.f.M., is a member of the English Province of Friars
Minor. He is Principal of the Franciscan International Study Centre
in Canterbury, Secretary for Formation and Studies and a commission
member for the revision of the statutes of the Antonianum Pontifcal
University. He received his doctorate in canon law from the Anto-
nianum in Rome and is a specialist of the history of the Franciscan
Recollects.
the rule of the friarS Minor,
1209-2009:
hiStorical perSpectiveS, liveD realitieS
Michael f. cuSato, o.f.M.
introDuction
th
In the Spring of 1209, on April 16 according to a long-standing pop-
ular tradition within the Franciscan Order, the penitent Francesco di
Bernardone and a group of companions who had been drawn to his
way of life in the contado outside the city of Assisi, arrived in Rome at
the Lateran Palace to present to Pope Innocent III for his blessing the
way of life which, inspired by God, they had developed together and
which, they believed, was how they were to follow in the footsteps of
Jesus, imbued with his life-affrming values. Their journey was more
than successful: the brothers’ way of life received the approval and
encouragement of the pope. And the approval of their Rule granted le-
gitimacy and potential longevity to their gospel project. The approval
of the Rule thus serves as the offcial founding of the Order of Friars
Minor.
This year in Assisi, friars from around the world representing
the Franciscan Order in its manifold and varied expressions, from all
branches of the First Order, celebrated this same event of approval
th
and, through it, the 800 anniversary of the founding of the Order of
Friars Minor. It was a gala celebration lasting about a week.
Here at St. Bonaventure University we embark on a smaller but
no less joyous celebration. Our project is more modest but perhaps a
bit more audacious since we have as our aim to bring together, in one
place, for a brief but intense period of time, two groups of men who,
2 Michael Cusato
because of sharply different life-orientations, do not often dialogue
with each other: scholars of the Rule and practitioners of the Rule
– that is, on the one hand, those who study the Rule as professional
historians and textual scholars and, on the other hand, those who have
been given by the Order or by their provinces the diffcult responsibil-
ity of developing and modeling a concrete praxis of how that medieval
Rule can be and ought to be lived in the world today in vastly differ-
ent cultural contexts. Hence, we have gathered together six presenters
whose names are probably already rather familiar: you have read them;
they have taught you in person or through their writings. But we have
also brought together ten representative voices from around the globe
to share with us how the Franciscan Rule is being lived today, with
all its joys and challenges. The names of these presenters may be less
familiar to you but their testimony is no less important; indeed, far
from it. We will hear testimonies from Peru, India, Ethiopia, South
Africa, the Philippines, Australia, Croatia, Germany, England and the
United States. And, at the end of our time together this weekend, on
Sunday morning, having listened to each other, both groups will inter-
face with each other, sharing – we hope – what each has learned from
the testimony of the other. Together, perhaps, we will have a keener
understanding of the rule and life which many of us here have em-
braced by the grace of God and want to authentically live in the grace
of God. We are not here to answer all questions; but rather to begin
to hear how the attempt to live this life lifts up the most important
questions and how scholarship can be helpful in this journey. And so
let us begin!
The faculty, staff and students of the Franciscan Institute, spon-
sor of this event, are privileged to welcome you to this remarkable
celebration. In the name of St. Bonaventure University, Sr. Margaret
Carney, one of the most cherished and articulate voices on the Fran-
ciscan charism on either side of the Mississippi River and, currently,
president of St. Bonaventure University, is also delighted to welcome
you.
