SOLIDARITY AND RESPONSIBILITY.

The Friars Minor in the Current Crisis Dear brothers, May the Lord give you peace! On the occasion of the feast of our father St. Francis, we want to share some thoughts about the current financial and economic crisis. This crisis goes beyond the boundaries of developed economies and fits into the wider crisis of underdevelopment that affects more than two billion people forced to live in extreme poverty. Our intention is not to treat the whole problem which is very complex, but rather to encourage one another to ask, personally and collectively:

what responsibility do we have or feel we have in this difficult situation? How do we Friars Minor experience the situation of the world, in particular the general crisis which affects so many families? How can we live today, in a faithful and meaningful way, our choice of poverty, solidarity and witness, so as to give dignity and opportunity to those negatively affected by the crisis? The suffering of so many, especially the most vulnerable,
is a source of concern for us, who are eager to continue to be friars of the people. Not only an economic and financial crisis In many ways the current crisis is unlike those that have gone before. Its main cause is linked to the system itself, to the way it was organized and to the principles and motivations that lie at its base. Recent years have witnessed the growing dominance of finance over the real economy. This dominance has extended itself to politics as well, almost making it a slave of finance. The crisis, besides causing inequality in income, has also brought about volatility and lack of transparency in markets due to the influence of the financial sector. This process has led to a loss of trust and credibility in markets, values which are essential to their proper functioning and existence. It has created the illusion of constantly increasing financial gain and has generated a hybris linked to the seduction of being able to separate profit from work in the growing divorce between finance and the real economy. Given the presumption of power accorded to the financial sector, the vacuum created in the markets by the erosion of trust and transparency has been filled by greed, and greed has become the prerogative of financial capitalism. The expansion of profit has become the goal shared by most of corporate management, and reduction of personnel is used, not infrequently, as a lever for the profit of shareholders alone.

For many millions of people the crisis means unemployment. They no longer have an income and anxiously watch cuts in government benefits, leading to the danger of deep social exclusion. The increase in food prices has also forced many millions of people, especially in the poorest countries, into a situation that threatens their very survival. The current crisis - along with global poverty, hunger, war, and the destruction of nature is not a merely technical or situational problem, but touches on the anthropological and ethical dimensions of our existence. We must question both utilitarianism, the pursuit of personal gain at all costs, and rampant consumerism. These activities shape todays dominant culture and promote selfinterest at all turns. They follow a paradigm of rationality expressed by relations based on the principle of equal exchange, that is, to give in order to receive. However, the crisis amply testifies to the negative results of utilitarian choices, such as the ineffectiveness of so many policies that are merely technical in nature, in an attempt to escape the crisis. A reflection based on our spirituality Overcoming the crisis and changing the world require a change of direction that gives new meaning to our lives and envisions a different model of development. Our Gospel-based Franciscan spirituality offers valuable insight for this task: The Gospel is Good News for life, and thus the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known - it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing (Spe Salvi, 2). To believe in the Gospel, therefore, means to look for the why of this crisis, to discover the attitudes and behaviors that caused it, to question the way we live, to undergo conversion and to become Good News for those who suffer. The center of Christian life is love. God is love. The great commandment of love for one another demands that we acknowledge our responsibility towards those who, like ourselves, are creatures and children of God. Being brothers and sisters in humanity and, in many cases, also in the faith, should help us to recognize in others a true alter ego, infinitely loved by the Lord. If we cultivate this way of seeing others as our brothers and sisters, then solidarity, justice, mercy and compassion will naturally well up in our hearts (Benedict XVI, Message for Lent

2012, n. 1).
The love that is lived out and revealed by Jesus leads us to have a preference

for the poor and suffering, and includes the pursuit of justice which is one of the
signs of the Kingdom. For Jesus, sent to bring Good News to the poor (cf. Lk

4:18, Mt 11:5), the existence of marginalized and excluded people was a scandal. If we see poverty as a scandal, we should be led to take an active and public stance in favor of poor countries and social sectors (cf. GGCC 96 2). All goods belong to God who gives them for the good of all. Francis was convinced that all goods, spiritual and material, are of God: they do not belong to us. Scripture often recalls that the earth belongs to God (cf. Lev 25:23; Ex 9:29; Ps 24:1), and teaches that humanity cannot consider anything its own because every good belongs to God (cf., Rnb 17, 18). We have received them as administrators to place them at the service of all. This vision of Francis agrees with the teaching of the Fathers on the universal destination of goods, a position taken up once again in the postconciliar social teaching of the Church. Restitution. For Francis, sharing or solidarity is a logical consequence of his concept of ownership. For him, God is the sole owner of all goods and God distributes them generously to all people (cf. 2 Cel 77). The use of things is determined by necessity: things belong to those who have need of them. For Francis giving away his coat to the poor is simply making restitution, a gesture understood as justice; he felt he was a thief if he did not share what he had with those who needed it most (cf. 2 Cel 87, 92). What can we do? For us, the current crisis may be a call of the Spirit, a time of grace to change our view of the world and to act in solidarity. It cannot leave us indifferent, but must trigger in us, in both our local and provincial fraternities, a careful evaluation of our lifestyle, of the concrete way we live sine proprio, of the economic organization of our institutions and of our ability to share with the poor and the marginalized. Looking first at the internal life of our fraternities, should not the current socio-economic emergency awaken in each Friar a willingness to live gratuitousness and reciprocity? How do we justify personal bank accounts or keeping for ourselves income (wages, pensions, offerings, etc.) that belongs to the fraternity and should also be shared with those most in need? Are we being honest with society by paying taxes? Do we adhere to labor legislation in regard to our workers? At the provincial level, do we believe that establishment of a Common Fund, maintained by all the fraternities for mutual support, is a concrete form of solidarity between us and of reciprocity between the fraternities, and which might also be a way to share with the poor?

The current crisis, which forces many families to tighten their belts and others to deprive themselves of the necessary, should lead the Friars to a strict examination of conscience regarding a lifestyle that may have become too comfortable, or an overly liberal use of more sophisticated technology, or of habits of life that are clearly bourgeois and consumerist (cf. GGCC 67). How can we instill courage and hope in the new poor if we ourselves cannot manage to do without many unnecessary needs? The austerity brought about by the crisis should also cause us to reconsider the use of liquid assets (e.g., accumulation of money, cf. GGCC 82 3, and our trust in Divine Providence?) and of property (many of our buildings are empty). How many evicted families, homeless migrants and charitable institutions could make use of our many unused places! And where do we deposit our money, in what banks? Do we know how they are using our savings? Do they promote economic, social, and cultural projects that respect human rights and safeguard creation, or do they promote activities contrary to our ethical principles? Our solidarity and sharing should not only be generous, but also intelligent and creative. If we look at our past, we notice that the time of Observance was a particularly fruitful time, because the friars knew how to manage the tension of internal renewal with that of the renewal of society, thus giving rise to the marvelous Monti di Pieta, the first instance of microcredit in history. Ethical finance, microcredit, social cooperatives and fair trade, found throughout the world, are intelligent forms of solidarity that, if supported, can free many people from poverty while respecting their dignity. They are not mere charity, but promote the organizational ability of the people who benefit. It is urgent to promote the personal and communal formation of the Friars so that they might understand socio-economic dynamics well. This is especially true in regard to Treasurers and Guardians. The management of financial resources cannot rely on common sense alone. It must be an effective tool for responsible citizenship, one that seeks the common good and overall development. In our pastoral work, we need to raise awareness and educate those with whom we interact (parishes, schools, groups, movements, etc.) and give priority to the weak and needy. In our communities we need to adopt a key phrase from the Acts of

the Apostles. It states that they had everything in common. This will ensure that
our parishes, shrines, and convents become places of welcome and gathering, where volunteers can meet the poor and show solidarity. We also want to ask

ourselves and you, brothers, a more radical question: are we still able to be

scandalized by so much poverty and injustice in the world, or do we take refuge behind the easy statement that the problem is beyond us and therefore we cannot do anything about it? Is this not a way to put our conscience to sleep? As the sea
is made up of countless small drops, so in the socio-economic sphere: our little drop can contribute to a sea of solidarity and kindness. The choices we make in the areas of consuming, saving, and sharing are important additions (or subtractions) to building an economy of solidarity that serves every person and all peoples. For this reason we need to be aware that this new economy will not be the result of economic policy decisions alone, but will also arise from our lives and actions. If a transparent and communal economy nourishes fraternal communion, then an economy of sharing will truly make us brothers of the poor and the least. This is certainly a testimony that provides an alternative for society, namely, to be free from blind individualism and self-interest, and to be open instead to concrete solidarity and justice. Taking this path seems the best way to honor our Father and Brother Francis. Rome, September 17, 2012, Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis Your brothers of the General Definitory: Br. Jos Rodrguez Carballo ofm (Min. gen.) Br. Michael Anthony Perry, ofm (Vic. gen.) Br. Vincenzo Brocanelli, ofm (Def. gen.) Br. Vicente-Emilio Felipe Tapia, ofm (Def. gen.) Br. Nestor Incio Schwerz, ofm (Def. gen.) Br. Francis William Walter, ofm (Def. gen.) Br. Roger Marchal, ofm (Def. gen.) Br. Ernest Karol Siekierka, ofm (Def. gen.) Br. Paskalis Bruno Syukur, ofm (Def. gen.) Br. Julio Csar Bunader, ofm (Def. gen.) Br. Vincent Mduduzi Zungu, ofm (Def. gen.) Br. Aidan McGrath, ofm (Seg. gen.)

Prot. 103224
SIG. MINISTRI GENLIS. TOTIUS ORD. FRATR. MINORUM

San Francesco Stigmatizzato, Olio di Ivo Batocco www.ofm.org