KENYA: Shared Pain Shapes Franciscan Fraternity, Friar Says at 800th Anniversary of St. Francis' Death

Fr. Miro Babic of the Order of Friars Minor told members of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Anna that shared pain has shaped Franciscan life for years. Speaking during a Eucharistic celebration at St. Mary's Pastoral Centre in Kenya's Nakuru diocese on Sunday, October 4, the friar addressed the FSSA-Nairobi region to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi.

Fr. Babic told the over 30 sisters attending the celebration that wounds within a religious community are evidence of life rather than failure. He noted that St. Francis experienced the difficulties of brotherhood and that true fraternity carries pain because members allow one another to come close.

The friar challenged common artistic depictions of St. Francis, such as those showing him surrounded by singing brothers or tame animals, stating that the reality of the brotherhood was not an idyll. He explained that the historical community faced hard realities, including brothers leaving the order.