Pope Francis takes, it appears to me, a very significant step when he writes, in the first paragraph of his Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti:
"FRATELLI TUTTI". With these words, Saint Francis of Assisi addressed his brothers and sisters and proposed to them a way of life marked by the flavour of the Gospel. Of the counsels Francis offered, I would like to select the one in which he calls for a love that transcends the barriers of geography and distance, and declares blessed all those who love their brother “as much when he is far away from him as when he is with him”. In his simple and direct way, Saint Francis expressed the essence of a fraternal openness that allows us to acknowledge, appreciate and love each person, regardless of physical proximity, regardless of where he or she was born or lives.
Whilst it is not clear when and under what circumstances the Admonitions, to which Pope Francis refers in this paragraph, were composed, they would appear to have been addressed to gatherings or chapters of the early followers of St Francis. St Francis would appear to have attached great importance to them, wishing them to be written down exactly as he had delivered them.
The first audience of these words, then, are the brothers gathered around St Francis himself; and then, with their preservation in the Franciscan tradition, members of the Franciscan order reaching down to our own day. The intention is that they should give an account of the style of life expected of the brothers. So, for example, the praise of the brother who loves a brother both when they are far and near might have a reference to the Franciscan who has travelled or is away from his community.
Pope Francis, however, has St Francis address the Admonitions to "his brothers and sisters". There is a textual justification for this, in that the text of many of the individual admonitions refer in a generic way to the blessings of the "servant who ..." (much in the style of the Beatitudes). While the context of their composition suggests a direction immediately to the brothers engaged in the Franciscan life, the text taken apart from this context can be given a wider audience, that is, an audience of all those who would live a Christian life, both men and women.
This generalization of the applicability of a life according to a religious rule to all Christians reminds me of an observation made by Louis Bouyer in the Preface to his book The Meaning of the Monastic Life.
The purpose of this book is primarily to point out to monks that their vocation in the Church is not, and never has been a special vocation. The vocation of the monk is, but is no more than, the vocation of the baptized man. But it is the vocation of the baptized man carried, I would say, to the farthest limits of its irresistible demands. All men who have put on Christ have heard the call to seek God. The monk is one for whom this call has become so urgent that there can be no question of postponing his response to it ... But this is tantamount to saying that this book is equally for every Christian ...
The last sentence of the paragraph extends the Franciscan charism of fraternity to apply it to each and every person, be they Christian or not. The movement of the idea of fraternity referenced in the paragraph is therefore from a specific charism associated with St Francis towards a wider experience applicable for all who would live a Christian life and, eventually, to suggest an applicability of the idea of fraternity to each and every person, be they Christian or not.
It argues for the extension of a Christian charism of fraternity in the wider world. To suggest otherwise is to misrepresent the inspiration of Pope Francis as expressed in this paragraph.
