Many people imagine Saint Francis and his brothers as very romantic and easy going personalities always walking surrounded by singing birds. That they only walked in perfect joy and everything that they did was perfect and without any problem. Of all the pictures of saint Francis the one I like most is “San Francesco Dolente”, Saint Francis crying. I like this picture not because of the pain, but because it shows another side of Saint Francis and his reality. As our teacher Noel Muscat OFM said: that art is also a very valuable source for Franciscans. Saint Francis cried, because as he used to say: “Love is not loved”! It means that not everything is perfect in the world, not everything is perfect in the Church and of course not everything is perfect in our beloved Order of Friars Minor. If everything would be perfect we would not need law, we would not need the rule and we would not need Papal bulls! As Saint Augustine said “love and do what you want!”. We all know that Francis wanted to learn how to love and of course he loved every creature. He also wanted to teach the brothers God gave him, how to love. The basis of his teaching was and is the Gospel: “On every page his writings likewise are full of his desire to form his brothers in the gospel way of life”. (Brady:45). But unfortunately when the Order was increasing in numbers it was more and more difficult to keep them in order. So – the Order needed legislation. As time has gone by its development with all time’s challenges the Order has developed legislation and central influence to this legislation has been papal bulls.
The aim of this essay is to trace and give a short resume of the three Papal bulls: “Cum Secundum Consilium” (issued in 1220),”Quo Elongati” (issued in 1230) and “Ordinem vestrum” (issued in 1245), in order to see what had (and still has) an affect on the Order of Friars Minor.
“Cum Secundum Consilium”
After the General Chapter in1219 Saint Francis went on a mission to the East, Damietta: “Francis himself went on his journey to the East with a few other companions”. (Iriarte:19). In his place to govern the Order he left two brothers as his Vicars. About the situation in the fraternity since Francis left, writes Jacques de Vitry in his letter from Damietta in February/March year 1220 (when the bull still was not issued): “To our way of thinking, this Order is quite risky, because it sends out two by two throughout the world, not only formed religious, but also immature young men who should first be tested and subjected to conventual discipline for a time”. (ED I:581). Perhaps the Friars were not such a risk, but as we know at this time there were many heretical movements. “The main occupation of the friars at this time was preaching of repentance”.(Moorman:24). These poor brothers needed to be prepared.
The Pope came to help with this challenge with the bull “Cum Secundum Consilium”. As we see this bull was issued on 22 of september 1220 before the earlier rule was written and in the time it had a very big influence on it.
“With this bull, Papacy moved to correct what it saw as deficiencies in a yet highly unstructured religious brotherhood”. (ED I:560). As we see in the introduction to this bull in the “Omnibus”, there was no formation in the Order. Anyone could become a Friar. There was no structure and legislation about accepting new brothers. This situation “drew criticism from even enthusiasts of the new brotherhood. Further more, the total freedom of movement which characterised the itinerant life of the early brothers also came at the cost of undisciplined or idle brothers causing scandal rather then edification”. (ED I:560). Here we can see another problem of the time. Brothers were to free and they, perhaps, did not know what constituted the life of the Friar. This problem was “vagari extra obediencia or wandering outside obedience”. (Yates:32). Let us see what the bull says:
Protocol – Greeting addressed to the Friars : “to our beloved sons, the priors and custodians of the Lesser brothers”. (ED I:560). Here the Pope uses the word priors. In the earlier rule of 1221 chapter VI is about brothers who must not call themselves “priors”. (ED I:68).
In text:
Arenga, the Pope speaks about the principles of the bull, that everyone who wants to become a Friar must prove his vocation: “It is important that anyone proposing to undertake a higher way of life look before he leaps”. (ED I:560).
Naratio: The Pope bases his position on the tradition of other religious orders concerning the time of probation : “practically every religious order has wisely ordained that those who propose to undertake a life of regular observance should first test it and be tested in it for a certain length of time”. (ED I:561).
Dispositio: based on the tradition of other religious Orders the Pope makes a decision concrete to Franciscans to create time of noviciate: “we forbid you to admit to profession in your Order anyone who has not first completed a year of probation. And once he has made profession, let no brother dare to leave your Order”. (ED I:561). This decision remains in both rules of 1221 and 1223.
After this he adds a prohibition relating to wandering outside obedience: “We further forbid anyone to wander about clad in the habit of your Order outside obedience, corrupting the purity of your poverty”. (ED I:561).
Causula: Penalties concerning anyone could daring to change this document or oppose it.
Eschatol: date ant place. “Given at Viterbo, the twenty – second day of September, in the fifth year of our pontificate”. (ED I:561).
”Quo Elongati”
If we want to understand the reason why the Pope issued this bull we need to look at the general chapter of 1230. This Chapter reached the zenith of discussions about observing the rule. “The internal tension, which was increasingly centred on the meaning of fidelity to the Rule, broke out sharply at the Chapter of 1230”. (Iriarte:32). The question was about observing the rule by the letter or not. The main question was: is the Testament of Saint Francis binding in conscience or not? “However, the ministers as a whole were convinced that the solution could not come from within the Order, but would have to be sought by involving the supreme authority. (Iriarte:32). And they were right, because since the approbation of the Rule, it had become an official part of the canon law of the world-wide Church. “The rule no longer belonged to Francis, it did not belong to the Order, it now belonged to the universal Church as part of its body of law and could not be changed except by the Popes, but now that it had been issued in a bull they were loathe to change anything. (Yates:42). “An embassy, therefore, was sent by the chapter to Pope Gregory to obtain an explanation of the Rule. Besides the Minister General there were Saint Anthony, Brother Gerard Rusinoll (penitentiary of the Pope), Brother Haymo (afterwards Minister General), Brother Leo (afterwards Archbishop of Milan), Brother Gerard of Modena, and Brother Peter of Brescia.” (Eccleston:80). As we see quite holy people and solid men went to the Pope to get an explanation of the Rule. Pope “Gregory made known his decision on 28 September 1230, in the bull Quo elongati”. (Moorman:90). Let us look at the bull itself to see Pope’s decisions and explanations:
Prologue: In the prologue the Pope address the bull to the government of the Order and to all brothers of the order.
First in Arenga concerning the principles: “Still, because the darkness of human weakness beclouds the splendour of spiritual understanding, occasionally the anxiety of the doubt presents itself, and thus difficulties that are almost insurmountable begin to pile up”. (ED I:570).
The Pope explains the circumstances of this bull in Naratio, that brothers recently came with difficulties on the interpretation of the Rule, and recalls that Francis in his testament did not want anyone to explain it. Based on the fact that Gregory IX knew Saint Francis he begins an explanation and the first interpretation of the Rule: “For as a result of the long-standing friendship between the holy confessor and ourselves, we know his mind more fully. Further more, while we held a lesser rank, we stood by him both as he composed the aforesaid Rule and obtained its confirmation from the Apostolic See”. (ED I:571). As we know Pope Gregory IX before he was elected Pope was the Cardinal protector of the order of Friars Minor and when Francis wrote the Rule he counselled him. We can see the evidence for that in this bull.
The first problem is the testament of the Saint. Is it binding in conscience? The Pope in his Dispositio says that in the testament we can see Francis’ personal “longings and holy desires” (ED I:571). To remove all anxiety from the brothers the Pope declared “that you are not bound by the Testament”. (ED I:571).
Another major problem is: are the brothers bound by the counsels of the Gospels as well as by its precepts? The pope gives a short answer, that the brothers are not bound by the precepts. They need to observe only those precepts which are in the Rule. For the rest the brothers are bound only in “the same way as the other Christians.” (ED I:572).
Not simply another, but I would like to use the Word eternal problem or question for the brothers is money. The Pope explains the quotation of the Rule where Saint Francis forbids “in any way receive coins or money, either personally or trough an intermediary”. (ED I:102). The Pope himself says that it is an eternal problem: “Since they desire to observe this prohibition always, they seek a clarification”. (ED I:572). And here the Pope’s decision is strict. He does not deny this prohibition, but solves the problem by using the term amici sipirituali – spiritual friends, or the agents drawn from the third Order. If brothers want to make payment they need to go to these spiritual friends and ask them to make payments. But brothers still cannot touch money. About immovable property he says, that it belongs at all times to the donors, to real owners. For the movable property the Pope gives right to poor use – usum pauperum.
One more explanation the Pope gives is the case of brothers who commit a mortal sin. Because in the Rule is written: “If any of the brothers, at the instigation of the enemy, sin mortally in regard to those sins about which it may have been decreed among the brothers to have recourse only to the provincial ministers, such brothers must have recourse to them as soon as possible, without delay”. (ED I:573). To this question the answer is that brothers need to go to the provincial ministers only in the case of public sins. In other cases provincial ministers need to find a confessor for the brothers for private sins.
In the light of the bull a brother who wanted to preach still needed to go to the minister general for approbation: “Let the brothers who are judged ready for examination be sent to him; or let accompany their ministers to the general Chapter for this purpose”. (ED I:572).
The acceptance of new brothers the Pope wanted to reserve for the ministers general, but he allowed ministers general to authorise ministers provincial, but no more: “Even the ministers themselves may not do this unless they have been specially authorised. And just as the general minister has power to authorise them, so may he deny the authorisation. According to the Rule, the reception of brothers may not be delegated to others besides the provincial ministers. (ED I:574).
In the case of the death of the Minister General there was no need to gather all custodians of the Order, just one each from each province.
The final question was the permission to enter women’s monasteries. The brothers had meant only the monastery of the Poor Clares at San Damiano, but the Pope said that they must not enter to any monasteries.
The Bull “Quo Elongati” was to be the beginning of the great divisions in the Order. There was a group of the friars who wanted to observe the Rule sine glossa without any interpretation and another group who wanted to adapt the Rule to their life style and needs of the Church.
“Ordinem vestrum”
“As the pastoral ministries of the Lesser Brothers continued to expand dramatically throughout the 1230’s, many brothers increasingly viewed some provisions of their Rule as being too restrictive”. (ED II:774). Pope Innocent IV also respected the mendicants and gave them a lot of pastoral work. Brothers accepted their mission from the Church. At this time numbers were growing and changes were taking place. In year 1245 the Order was much further from its roots than it was in the year1230 when the Pope gave the brothers the first interpretation of the Rule. Now in the year 1245 the brothers needed more interpretation, because they could not live in the spirit of the first interpretation, brothers were still arguing among themselves how to live according to the Rule. The bull “Ordinem Vestrum” “was the second major papal declaration on the Franciscan Rule; although it claimed the modest role of further clarifying Gregory IX’s Quo Elongati of 1230, it actually went far beyond it in a number of respects”. (ED II:774).
In this bull we can see that the Pope is repeating many thing from “Quo Elongati”. We can see the Pope’s good will in wanting to remove the anxiety and doubts from the hearts of the brothers. And we see his repetition about the Gospel’s precepts which we already met in “Quo Elongati”. (ED II:775).
The first difference which we see is that the Pope now allows for ministers provincial to delegate their vicars or other brothers to receive new candidates: “it is lawful for the provincial ministers, with the advice of the more discreet brothers, to entrust the reception of those entering the Order to their vicars as well as to other circumspect brothers for their provinces”. (ED II:775).
The clerical brothers if they attended the Divine Office celebrated by the other clergy, did not need to recite their own Office. (ED II:775).
And again a question about money. “Quo Elongati” did not help to remove all anxiety from the hearts of the brothers. Pope Innocent IV repeats and explains what had already been explained by Pope Gregory IX. Pope Innocent IV states: “when the brothers have recourse to such appointed or presented persons (here he is speaking about the agents) they are not “receiving coins or money in any form either personally or through intermediaries”, since it is not their intention to have such coins or money held by these persons on their own authority nor are they drawing from what has been deposited with them in their own name: they are simply entrusting such agents or depositors with providing for their necessary or useful items”. (ED II:776). The Pope also allowed other brothers not only ministers and custodians to take care of the sick brothers and their needs through the intermediaries. (ED II:776-777).
The Pope repeats things already mentioned in the bull “Quo Elongati” about the movable and immovable things. (I do not want to use the word property, because it is not property of the brothers, but property which “belong immediately to the [Roman] Church itself, except for those cases where the donors or grantors have expressly reserved these property rights and dominion to themselves. (ED II:777).).
One more repetition from “Quo Elongati” is about the mortal sins of the brothers. And we see again that this part of the Rule touches only the public sins. (ED II:778).
In case of the death of the Minister General as we know from the bull “Quo Elongati”, the same appears in the bull “Ordinem Vestrum” that the general chapter does not need to gather all custodians of the province, one delegate with the provincial minister is enough. (ED II:778).
For the examination of the brothers who want to be preachers the Minister General can now delegate this to the ministers provincial and their vicars. (ED II:778). It means that the Church wants more and more clerics and preachers from the Order.
This bull Pope ends with the question about the monasteries of nuns. And here we see monastery defined: “the cloister, the living quarters, and workshops”. (ED II:779). In other places for begging alms, preaching or other reasonable causes they can enter with the permission of the superiors.
And again we see the prohibition to oppose this document.
From this short consideration of these three papal documents “Cum Secundum Consilium”, ”Quo Elongati” and “Ordinem vestrum” we can conclude that the Order of Friars Minor had lived not in paradise, but on earth. That the many brothers who were holy people, but holy not as in pious pictures, always had to seek the perfection of the Gospel. Because of their weaknesses they need help. The help of God to understand his Divine will. They also needed help from outside – from the authorities of the Church. And they help us to understand what God wants from our beloved Order and from us – brothers, because God’s will for the Church is his will for us in our turn.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Books:
K. Esser, L. Hardick et all. The Marrow Of The Gospel
Ignatius Brady OFM (translator and editor) Franciscan Herald Press, Chicago
1958
Thomas of Eccleston, The Chronicle of Thomas of Eccleston
English with preface and notes “De Adventu Fratrum Minorum in
by Father Cuthbert OSFC Angliam”
1909 Sands & Co, London
Francis Of Assisi Early Documents Vol. I
New City Press, Canada
Francis Of Assisi Early Documents Vol. II
1999 New City Press, Canada
Lazaro Irarte OFM Cap. Franciscan History,
The Three Orders of St Francis of Assisi
FHP, Chicago
John Moorman A History of the Franciscan Order
from its Origins to the Year 1517
Oxford University Press 1968,
reprinted by FHP Chicago
Notes:
Br. Philippe Yates OFM Franciscan History:
Rule and Life of the Friars Minor Franciscan International Study Centre, Canterbury (for the use of the student)
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