A LEAVEN CALLED FRANCIS | KAIROS GLOBAL | SEPTEMBER 2026

Author: Fr George Valiapadath, Capuchin

Audio

Intro: Fr George Valiapadath, Capuchin, writes about how the Franciscan mendicants have impacted the Church and society.

This year we are celebrating the 8th centenary of St Francis' transitus. Pope Leo XIV declared a Franciscan Jubilee year with specific blessings and graces. It was on the eve of 4 October 1226 that Brother Francis of Assisi went home, singing. Therefore, this article will explore some of his specific contributions to the world and their impact.

Monks and Mendicants

But before that, a word about St Benedict and the Benedictines. St Benedict of Nursia lived in the 6th century. Known as the father of Western monasticism, he was a monk who wrote a rule for monks. Many men came to live the Benedictine life, and thus the numerous Benedictine monasteries all over Europe. St Benedict is considered the patron saint of Europe. Many sociologists credit him for the emergence of European civilisation. First of all, monastic 'scriptoria' hand-copied and saved ancient Greek, Roman, and Christian texts from destruction during the Early Middle Ages. Secondly, they imparted a civilisational foundation to Europe by promoting the rule of law, written constitutions, and structured governance within decentralised communities. Isolated monasteries became regional centres for schooling, literacy and community stability. The leading principle of St Benedict was Ora et Labora – pray and work. This widely inspired people all over Europe, leading them to agricultural innovations, reclaiming wilderness, draining and converting swamps into productive arable manors and spreading advanced farming techniques across the continent. Christians flocked to the monasteries and were influenced by the discipline of their lives. In short, Christian Europe owes much of its civilisational elements to St Benedict and the early Benedictines.

As I said, 'monks' are those who live in monasteries, which are institutionalised houses of consecrated men. They lived in their monasteries, praying and studying, and labouring in their own fields. Now a new form of religious life emerged in the High Middle Ages: the mendicant orders. They were called 'friars', chiefly the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites and Servites. Rather than owning property or land, mendicants lived their lives, labouring in others' fields and begging; relying on the charity of others. They renounced both individual and corporate ownership of property; travelled freely between cities, ministering directly to the urban poor and working classes. 

Mendicant Orders – A Need for the Time

Thirteenth-century Europe was at a dynamic peak of the High Middle Ages, marked by rapid urbanisation and foundational shifts in legal and educational domains. The Catholic Church, in general, and the popes in particular, reached the absolute height of their political authority over European states. Because the pope was at the centre of power and collected 10% tax (tithes) from the people, the Church, together with the state, became rich and pompous. Popes like Innocent III held vast political leverage, claiming authority over kings, intervening in state affairs, and asserting control over all local churches. Because of the benefices and endowments granted by rich landlords to monasteries, the traditional monastic life became marred by affluence and power.

Society saw a population explosion with the expansion of trade routes, bringing riches to many parts of Europe. King John of England signed the Magna Carta in 1215, limiting royal powers and setting a road map for constitutional governance. In the early 13th century, papal and royal decrees led to the establishment of universities, creating formal structures of higher education, for eg Cambridge University, Paris University, and Bologna University. The Church built magnificent stone cathedrals and churches featuring high-pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and large stained-glass windows. Burgos Cathedral in Spain, Amiens Cathedral in France, and Cologne Cathedral in Germany are remnants of those times.

The mendicant movement, I would say, was the need of the time and was certainly implanted by the Holy Spirit. 

The Mendicant Movement and the Church

In 1209, Francis of Assisi got the Pope’s oral permission to ‘live a life according to the Gospel,’ as he called it. But in 1215, Dominic from Guzman in Spain was the first to submit a written Rule and get it approved by the Holy See. Prior to these men coming forward to live the Gospel in radical poverty, something similar and much different was happening. There were two groups of people living in radical poverty, the Cathars (Albigensians) and Patarines. These were heretical groups who stepped away from the Church with a different teaching, criticising the Catholic Church for its wealth and living a life of poverty. Many were attracted to these groups. The two groups of friars, loyal to Catholic teaching and who opted to live radical lives centred on the Gospel, in fact countered the above heretical groups and brought back many who believed and followed them. This must be the first impact of the mendicant movement in the Church and in society.

Both Francis and Dominic founded orders for the laity, which were generally called the Third Order. Many married men and women of their times became members of these Third Orders, living lives of prayer, charity and simplicity.

According to biographical accounts, in 1221 when Francis convened what he called ‘a chapter of mats’ in Assisi, more than 5,000 friars from across Europe gathered. Historians and sociologists observe that these mendicant groups, together with their contemplative counterparts – who attracted young men and women from many noble families – shook up the thinking of wider society and, in effect, dismantled the prevailing feudal system.

Since we are now in the Franciscan year, I will for the most part focus on Francis and his impact on the Church and wider society.

The mendicants were the first missionary orders. The religious orders before them lived monastic lives. St Francis was the first to write a separate chapter on missionary life in his Rule. He sent his brothers two by two to different parts of Europe and elsewhere to preach conversion and peace. 

St Francis had particular focus in his spiritual outlook – the three Cs: crib, cross & ciborium. His mendicant spirituality was centred on the mystery of incarnation (crib), the mystery of redemption (cross), and the mystery of sanctification (Eucharist/ ciborium). In 1223, Francis celebrated Christmas on a hill called Greccio, with a crib in the presence of an ox, a donkey and a few sheep - the first nativity scene in the history of Christianity. The three-time daily practice of praying the Angelus has roots in early Franciscan spiritual life. Taking inspiration from St Francis, St Bonaventure instructed that the evening bell be used to meditate on the mystery of the Incarnation.

In the midst of the Crusade, St Francis met with Sultan Malik al-Kamil and sought peace and permission for Christians to make pilgrimages to the Holy Land. The Sultan arranged permission for St Francis to make a pilgrimage to the Holy places. When he went there, he prayerfully journeyed along the way Jesus did to Calvary, carrying the cross. Later on, when peace was established in the Holy Lands, the Franciscans were entrusted with the custodianship of the Holy places, and this continues to date. Francis' devotion to meditating on the passion of Jesus later developed into the Way of the Cross. Devotion to the crucifix and the custom of installing crosses in churches and homes evolved through the influence of Franciscans. They also popularised devotion to the Holy Eucharist and the 40-hour Eucharistic. 

An important impact of Francis is the positive Catholic attitude towards all of creation. St Francis was able to relate to every animate and inanimate being in a brotherly/sisterly manner. While the world at large believed the material world evil, St Francis perceived every creature, lovingly created by God, to be good. Creation, since it bears a divine imprint, could never be evil. This positive attitude gives rise to an obligation to be fraternal and demands our care. Another brilliant insight of Francis is the sister-brother-hood of humanity: that all people are brothers and sisters. 

Franciscan orders 

The most significant impact St Francis had on the Church was the three orders he founded: the Friars' Order, the Nuns' Order and the Order for the Laity. Taken together, the three branches of the Franciscan friars: OFM, OFM Conv., and OFM Cap., have around 25,000 friars today, worldwide. There are about 400 separate active and cloistered women's religious congregations under the Franciscan family, numbering about 200,000. The Secular Franciscan Order (OFS), originally known as the Brothers and Sisters of Penance, was founded by St Francis in 1221. There are roughly 350,000 active lay members globally who live out the Franciscan charism in their daily secular lives. 

These great multitudes of people who live out the Franciscan charism, together with the countless people who love St Francis beyond all ecclesiastical and cultural boundaries, are the active leaven that is transforming the world – the real Franciscan impact upon human history.

A Capuchin Friar for the last four decades, Fr George Valiyapadath writes for various publications in India. He holds a master’s in communication and has a special interest in spirituality. He is currently assigned to a Capuchin house amidst the Native American people in Montana, USA.