Sheep Among Wolves

Francis of Assisi, from whom the present pope derives his paponym, was naïve enough to take literally the Saviour's words about wandering around without money or a change of clothes, preaching the gospel and taking meek comfort in the belief that anyone who didn't listen would bring down upon their city a fate worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. The present-day Franciscan Order is a rather different proposition, like most mainstream Christians who for many centuries have recognised the Saviour's recommendations on poverty as the heretical interpolations they are. Hence the slight embarrassment of an open letter by the Order's minister general, which discloses “grave, and I underscore ‘grave’ financial difficulty” as a result of weak or compromised systems of fiscal oversight. The responsibility, as always, lies outside the Church, with questionable activities by people who are not Franciscan; doubtless this explains the apparent lack of joy at the Order's imminent return to its original values.