(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is scheduled to travel to Assisi on Friday, October 4,
the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. During his one-day pilgrimage to the city
where St. Francis was born, the Pope will follow in his footsteps stopping to pray
in Churches, Chapels and other places that were meaningful in the life and conversion
of the beloved Saint. Amongst these is the Sanctuary of St. Damiano where Francis
heard God asking him to go out and rebuild his Church, the magnificent upper Basilica
of St. Francis with Giotto’s paintings of his life, the tiny “tugurio” - or hut -
where Francis and his companions lived in total poverty, the “Eremo delle Carceri”
where Francis prayed and made penance in close contact with nature, the tiny Portiuncula
Chapel where Francis began his journey of faith and where he died on October 3 1226,
his place of burial in the lower Basilica of St. Francis. The Pope will also
meet with the poor, the disabled and the sick, and he will lunch at the Caritas soup
kitchen with dozens of poor people who go there every day for assistance and care. Assisi
of course is home to a large Franciscan family, all of whom all looking with joy and
with expectation to Pope Francis’s visit to the city of St. Francis. Vatican
Radio’s Linda Bordoni chatted to Franciscan friar Joseph Rozansky, International Director
of the Franciscan office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation. She began by
asking him what his reaction was when the newly nominated Cardinal Bergoglio announced
he had chosen Francis as his name.
Listen to the interview…
Fr. Rozansky
recalls the episode that saw Cardinal Hummes turning to Bergoglio during the conclave
and saying: “remember the poor when you are Pope”. But regardless of that – Fr. Rozanky
points out – “his way, his manner, during his first public statements, showed why
he chose the name”. And he points out: “Francis is very popular because of the way
he always “grabs the bull by the horn” in many ways; he was always very willing to
say what the truth of the matter was”. So for me – says Fr Rozansky – “from the beginning
that was part of the reason he chose the name. Little by little the other details
are coming out like the issue of how we treat poor people, of what’s happening in
their lives – or people in general for that matter – the whole pastoral approach of
who we are and what we do, the whole ecological issue - environmental justice”.
Fr. Rozansky points out that next year is the 35th anniversary
of Francis being named patron of ecology “so what we are trying to do is prepare a
reading of what that means for today, because obviously Francis wasn’t an ecologist
or an environmentalist, but at the same time he loved creation because that spoke
of God’s hand, and it seems to me that is the approach that Pope Francis is taking”.
Father Rozansky also speaks of his happiness with the way the Pope “is living up to
the name, getting people involved and working on a lot of the issues that for us,
Franciscans, are important, and were important to him when he was in Argentina”.
How
are Franciscans looking forward to the visit?
“Obviously for us Assisi and
its environs are important. But for many different reasons: many people see Assisi
as a place of pilgrimage and it depends a lot on how we understand pilgrimage. I’m
hoping – just as he did not long ago when he went to visit a center for refugees in
Rome, he had some very pointed things to say to religious in general, he asked “what
are you doing with your empty convents” he said “you shouldn’t be turning them into
hotels” – for me that was great because we had just been doing a reflection on the
ethical use of resources. So I think, getting back to Assisi, he could really throw
a challenge to us, I hope he does…(…) because it could be for nostalgic reasons that
you want to go places like the “carcere” or walk in the steps of St. Francis, but
it seems to me we need to retrieve the meaning of those places, what they meant for
Francis and what they meant for his life. So for me: when I see the Pope going to
Assisi, I hope he will be like his namesake, what he does will challenge us to think
more about the gospel, the gospel values and what we are called to do… you need to
see and you need to act…”.
“For me, looking to Assisi and to what the Pope
will be doing there, I would really like this to be a moment for us to step back and
say: “how well are we living the values that we proclaim, our vows, etc., because
they are really a call to know the world that we live in and take up the challenges
that we see around us today”.
And Father Rozansky continues: “What is it about
Francis that after 800 years he is still so popular?” Speaking of a reflection on
the subject he was asked to do a while ago, Father Rozansky reveals “I came up with
the three “P”s: that he was Polite, he was Persistent and he was Practical. Polite
– you could use courteous too; persistence: Francis didn’t give up on things; most
of all he was practical: concrete – when God told him “you have to change your life,
Francis left his house, left his city and embraced the lepers, literally! When he
was praying before the crucifix of St. Damiano and he heard God tell him to rebuild
his Church, Francis went out and got building materials and began by repairing the
Portiuncula Chapel. And again, in his testament he talks about the Lord telling him
to use the greeting of peace: “May the peace of the Lord be with you”. He does and
he tells his brothers to do the same thing. And he really goes out, talks to people
about the need for peace: Francis address the issue in concrete ways. (…) He was
saying: “I know the conflict that you face in your life, we have it in all levels
of our society and I challenge you to change that, to live in a different way so that
you can find ways to be peaceful”.