The Franciscan Legacy
Assessing the continuing significance of St Francis and the Franciscan traditions of
Theology, Spirituality and Action
In Honour of the 800th Anniversary of St Francis’ meeting with Sultan Malek Al-Kamil
Durham 5-7 November 2019
This Conference was hosted by the Centre for Catholic Studies in Durham University. known as CCS and sponsored by the Franciscan Families of the UK and Ireland. Each day there was a major presentation from one of the stars present - and it was star studded, believe me!
I travelled up to Durham (what a long way1) with two of the Littlehampton Franciscans, Rather to our surprise we arrived at about 3.30 (after a 6.30 start) into a tree filled Durham and rain and golden leaves strewn on the ground. We wanted to buy some supper since we had been warned that none would be provided at Ushaw that evening, this was our top priority, and we walked up into the shopping precinct, crossing a tumultuous river which had washed a whole tree downstream and marooned it on the weir. We went into a little shop which sold everything and bought some chippatas and peanut butter, drinks and Turkish coffee which the lovely red-headed lady assured us did not need any cafetière (she was sort of right!). Then we got a taxi out to Ushaw which was about five miles into the country. We had a nice Keralan taxi driver with a large statue of Our Lady on his dashboard. As we got out and paid Clare astonished me by speaking to him in what sounded like fluent Hindi (or something), he was every pleased as you can imagine.
We arrived at Durham and began to meet people, first Sr Angela and Sr Francis from Bothwell Poor Clares, driven down by Br George. All greeted us warmly, then Sr Dominic and Veronica emerged from their rooms when they heard us and we later found Francisca from Arkley and Francis Clare who were there too as well as Carolin from the Anglican Poor Clares near Oxford, a good contingent. Nothing happened that night except supper and bed, the rooms were warm and spacious, en suite and clean. From my window I looked out onto extensive grounds filled with trees and the next morning awoke to two pairs of Little Owls discussing the day. Each morning I was there I heard them, such a treat, especially as the timetable was so tight that there were no gaps to walk in the woods or even to get wet outside. Once I left my room for Mass at 7.00 I did not return until bedtime. Strong meat.
Tuesday 5 November began with registration , a participants list, a time table and a necessary map. Ushaw was designed by Pugin for over 100 seminarians and everything was Catholic grandiose and large. We walked miles each day! The chapel (there were two) was huge, Pugin-esq and cold, beautifully carved choir stalls, indecipherable Gothic texts around the walls, high ceilings all decorated etc.
After coffee we went to the Exhibition Hall where I was roped in to say an opening prayer and then on to the opening Lecture given by a Professor Mary Heimann from Cardiff University, Constructing and deconstructing St Francis. This was a whistle stop tour of Franciscan history from about 1208 to the present day, very competent but a bit hurried as she had a long history to cover and only an hour! There was a question time though only ten minutes, our first taste of the exigencies of the timetable!!
Following that and setting the pattern for the next three days, were Parallel Papers, all listed in out initial handout, all happening at the same time and to the same model, 20 minutes’ talk, five minutes’ questions, 5 minutes to get to the next talk! That phase wet on until 4.10 pm and you could have attended three talks but had to choose which to miss unless you could bilocate. You had to make hard choices I assure you. My talk was in the first slot on Tuesday which meant I could relax after that and enjoy myself, once I had found the room I was in. The theological students from Durham chaired these talks and must have been sternly schooled as the passed a slip to the speaker saying ‘Two more Minutes’ then stopped them politely on time, five mins’ questions and then off to the next one! I spoke about Clare’s take on ecology and lots came, sitting on the floor and into the passage, and the questions were good, serious and interested.
That evening we had very interesting lectures, three 20 minute talks in plenary session on Francis’ meeting with the Sultan. The speakers were first Micahel Cusato ofm, always easy to hear (and read0 asking if the meeting really happened (of course!) and then discussing it. Pashcal Robert, ofm from Pakistan came next and spoke about Dialogue as a vision for a better world and was followed by Mona Siddiqui who I have sometiems heard on the Moral Maze, speaking about sharing meals under the title Rethinkling Hospitality in Christian-Moslem Encounter. All excellent. This session was chaired by Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald M Afr, such a nice man and clearly loved by all who knew him.
Wednesday 6 November followed the same pattern and the main speaker today was Ilia Delio Living Creation Theology in the Context of Contemporary Science: the Distinctive Contribution of the Franciscan Theological Tradition. She spoke without notes but with slides and was riveting. I have heard her speak before and not always understood what she said but this was without doubt, brilliant and I would like to hear it all again. I understand the talks are going to made available on the Durham CCS website though in what form I don’t know. They had hoped for recordings but the microphone kept blasting out and wrecked it. I was asked for my text so presumably others were too and they will appear indue course. When I know more, I will pass it on. There is a meeting in London soon to consider what is next so clearly grass is not going to be allowed to grow. This is partly the influence of James Bonner ofm cap and Jane Bertelsen FMDM, both busy people who probably want it sorted!
Again the main talk was followed by Parallel Paper Sessions. On this day I went to hear Dr Carmen Mangion who some of us know, speaking about changes in thePoor Clare 1950-1970, a very curious experience! We had a grand dinner that day, 180 people mostly Francsicans, sitting at refectory tables and being waited on by the students. A very nice but simple meal, soup, then salmon with a tomato sauce and broccoli followed by blackcurrant crumble and custard, everything served already dished up. Amazingly it was also hot! I sat opposite two Dutch friars and we spoke of Theo Zweerman ofm and Sr Edith (still alive). The younger said to me with real sorrow that he had never met Theo but wished he had. On the strength of that I went to hear his talk about the Conversion Experience and then onto Dominic Abbott because I know his mum, Brenda Abbott. He spoke about univocity which seems simply to mean that when we speak of the being of God and our own being, we mean the same thing by ‘being’ At least I hope that is right!!! He was good but nervous, still at university with his hair cut so it stood up on end and looked hardly out of the nursery but clearly understood his stuff. He was challenged by Richard Cross who is a world authority on Scotus and Dominic I thought came out of that well.
In the evening we piled into coaches and went into Durham University for he satellite link with Richard Rohr ofm. Technology grumbled a bit but once working was excellent. He looked well though I understand his cancer has reactivated. At first he seemed tired (it was about 9.00 am in New Mexico) but like a true extrovert he gathered energy as he went along especially once he could see us on the satellite link. In a way what he said was vintage Richard Rohr, like hearing a chapter of his book, but he was immensely lovable and you could feel the warmth towards him. I was pleased to learn he has a new dog!
After that come went on to Evening Prayer but Francisca, Carolin and I went out for a meal (not otherwise provided) and scooped up an Anglican student on the way so the four of us went to Bill’s and had a lovely supper together. Then got a taxi back to Durham. And so to bed!
Thursday 7 November Began in Durham University science department, not sure why, with a talk by Bill Short on the Conformities of Bernard of Besse which has now been translated and is about to be published - three volumes i think like the Omnibus, nine years’ work. Then Richard Cross spoke about love in the Franciscan Tradition, brilliant and I am looking forward to reading the text eventually.
There was a break, not for coffee but for a group photo in the rain! Then we trooped back upstairs and heard Prof John McCafferty from Dublin speaking most interestingly and wittily about Franciscan History. He was followed by a reading of the talk from Sr Mary Beth Ingham, scheduled to be there but she was in a car crash and having surgery on her foot at the time. This lacked that something when it is person’s own stuff, the topic was Franciscan Curriculum, from Content to Pedagogy but I have to admit it did not put my pulse up, though might have done under other circumstance. After her Jacques Dalarun spoke about the newly rediscovered life of Francis in perfect English with a beautiful French accent. In the questions at the end he said his wife is also doing research and all the time looking out for anything to do with Clare or Agnes, all good news. Then suddenly it was all over at 12.50 as planned. By 1.00 everyone had begun to vanish, amazing!
Among those who were there, a big bunch of Anglican Franciscans, eight Poor Clares which pleased the organisers very much, fourteen FMDMs, seven or eight Caps, several Conventuals and OFMs and some sisters of St Clare, including Ogilvie as was, so nice to see her again after all this time. There were quite a lot of secular Franciscans both Catholic and Anglican and I knew enough people that I rapidly began to have fun - and why else do we go all that way?
