Cardinal Zuppi in Assisi: Saint Francis reminds us that war is not our destiny
By Giada Aquilino
“Only when peace embraces everyone is it truly peace.” Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi began his homily by reflecting on a world marked, today as centuries ago, by “terrible wars, a madness that drives people mad”.
The Cardinal presided at Mass this morning in Assisi on the feast of Saint Francis and the eighth centenary of his death, which occurred on 3 October 1226 at the Portiuncula. Concelebrating were Bishop Felice Accrocca of Assisi–Nocera Umbra–Gualdo Tadino and Foligno, the ministers of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, and Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Papal Legate for the Papal Basilicas of Assisi.
The Basilica of Saint Francis was packed with faithful, with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in attendance alongside institutional representatives from across Italy—whose patron saints are Saint Francis and Saint Catherine of Siena—and several other countries.
In his homily, the Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference recalled the Poverello of Assisi as a “living image of Christ”, “full of joy”, a “poet of life”, who sang of creation’s “wholly human and wholly divine beauty”.
No one is lost, not even the enemy
Brother Francis remains profoundly relevant today, inspiring people to go against the tide and cultivate reconciliation, as Pope Leo XIV recalled during his pastoral visit to Assisi last August.
Francis “helps us to see” the presence of the Lord, the Cardinal reflected, encouraging us to “do His will”, according to which no one is lost, “not even the enemy”.
The Cardinal then offered a heartfelt expression of thanksgiving, echoing the Canticle of the Creatures: “Praised be You, because Brother Francis continues to give us peace and teach us to be peacemakers, bringing it wherever there is violence, hatred and misunderstanding. He stripped himself of everything so that he could be unarmed.”
Cardinal Zuppi reflected on the “threatening” times in which we live, when “we are tempted and seduced by a vulgar, overbearing and deceptive culture of power, also fuelled by misplaced emphasis, blatant and enormous economic interests, nationalisms that ruin nations, and campaigns that create an enemy instead of seeking what unites”.
The way forward, he said, is to disarm “our hands and our hearts”.
Simplicity, not superficiality
Francis, “the humble one”, can “deflate the arrogance of the powerful” with courtesy and “without any conceit”. He “speaks to everyone because his faith is not directed against anyone, but is love for all”.
His simplicity, which is neither “superficiality nor enslavement to appearances”, holds what is essential: “what is invisible to the eyes, yet makes everything visible, true, precious and luminous, even illness and the terrible, disheartening darkness of death”.
He reminds us that “the only cause worth pursuing” is that of peace and justice, “because only these enable us to discover and defend every just cause”, and that war “is not our destiny, and peace begins with us and is the only possible future”.
Francis, the President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference stressed, “writes to the rulers of nations, urging them to choose peace. There is no time to lose, because the suffering is immense. The divider continues to make solutions more difficult, deceives minds and makes us believe—what a deceiver!—that we will find peace through weapons rather than through dialogue and the rule of law”.
Yet the message of Brother Francis, a poor man who “makes others rich”, reaches us today to help us understand “that we will never find fulfilment through possessing, but only through giving, because everything is ours if we love”.
To love is to give, Cardinal Zuppi observed, and “there is no joy without bringing happiness to our neighbour, beginning with the poor”.
He therefore urged people “to form a bond with the poor, seeing them not as an object of concern, but as our brothers and sisters”. This is not a sacrifice, but an “experience of love”.
Italy’s municipalities
As “this extraordinary eighth centenary” draws to a close, the Cardinal continued, Saint Francis also helps us “discover and rediscover Italy’s deepest shared roots”, which “make us human and fill us with a culture that comes from Christ and leads to Christ, and which we must nourish through prayer and service, something everyone can offer”.
Francis himself did this as a “little brother to all”, who “wanted to reach everyone and felt at home everywhere, while everyone felt at home with him”.
“Let us not reduce Saint Francis to our own measure, but follow him, so that we can feel that the world and every people are our own.”
Ultimately, Francis “asks only for humble peacemakers and architects of peace”, who courageously help people “live together, drawing strength from the rule of law rather than imposing the law of force”.
The oil and the lamp
At the beginning of the celebration, the oil was presented—this year offered by the Umbria Region—and the Mayor of Assisi, Valter Stoppini, lit the votive lamp of Italy’s municipalities, which burns beside the saint’s tomb.
Addresses by President Mattarella and Brother Moroni
Following Mass, addresses were delivered from the Loggia of the Sacred Convent. Brother Giulio Cesareo, Director of the Convent’s Communications Office, introduced the speakers to those gathered in the square outside the Basilica.
“In these times marked by senseless and cruel wars, by so much violence, manipulation and arrogance, as Leo XIV said a few days ago, our hope is that Francis’ sun may illuminate the world, convert minds hardened by hatred, and point the way towards peace, hope and a serene, fraternal life together,” reflected Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
Considering the figure of the Saint of Assisi, the President observed that time has “in no way diminished his appeal and charisma, which live far beyond the borders of Italy and of Christianity itself, of which he is a son and an eminent figure, a prophet of peace, love and respect for creation”.
His teaching, he continued, is “a universal heritage for women and men of every age and every part of the world, believers and non-believers, Christians and followers of other religions”.
Franciscan communities, he noted, brought religious life “beyond the solemnity of monasteries and into the urban and social fabric” of their time, “so greatly in need of commitment and presence”. They embodied “an ideal of evangelical poverty and closeness to the least among us, leaving a profound mark on medieval society and opening the way to new forms of solidarity and new principles for human relationships”.
For this reason, he said, “Francis can rightly be seen as a forerunner of the saints known for their social work”.
He asked “only” to live in poverty, peace and joy with his brothers and sisters, following Christ and “living the message of the Gospel, inviting others to embrace the privilege of evangelical poverty—an exhortation that distinguished him from the populist movements of his time”.
“Through this radical choice, so startling in the eyes of the world, the man who chose for himself and his followers the humble name of Friars Minor became one of the most significant, best-known and most beloved figures in world history.”
For his part, the Custos of the Sacred Convent, Brother Marco Moroni, urged people “always” to safeguard the dignity of every person, “without distinction”.
He also announced that, together with local authorities, “a proposal has been launched for a lasting, tangible sign of the centenary”: the establishment of a children’s hospice within Umbria’s regional palliative care network.
The celebrations
Earlier, some 3,000 people had lit up the night in Assisi as they took part in the “Walk with Saint Francis”. With songs and prayers, catechesis and historical re-enactments, the walking route retraced the journey made by Saint Francis’ coffin in 1226, from the place of his death to his burial place, from Santa Maria degli Angeli to the Basilica of Saint Francis.
At midnight, the bells of all Assisi’s churches rang out, ushering in the Eucharistic celebration presided at by Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime.
In his homily, the Cardinal reflected on the “deepest message” of Saint Francis’ Transitus, his passing from this life: “To live well means learning, day after day, to die to ourselves so that we may belong ever more fully to Christ.”
In the end, he said, “the things we owned, our achievements, the image we projected of ourselves” will not matter.
“Love will remain. Christ will remain. Francis dies poor, but he dies rich in the only wealth that never dies: the Lord.”
He therefore urged people to “return to what is essential”, placing Christ “at the centre”, learning “to trust in God”, and living “with less attachment to things and greater attention to people”.
At dawn this morning, another Mass for the community of friars was presided at by Brother Carlos Alberto Trovarelli, Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual.
In a message to the entire Order, Brother Trovarelli urged them to ask for “the grace to dare to take risks”, so that their lives might “reflect the Saint of Assisi who, having stripped himself of everything”, allowed the Spirit of the Lord “to bring forth in him perfect joy and that springtime of faith which, even today, countless men and women throughout the world recognize and admire”.
