L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 4 I don't bring my biog- r a p h y i n t o e v e r y piece, but with Fran- c i s o f A s s i s i , i t would be dishonest to pretend there is no thread. I was baptized on October 4, his feast day, and my grand- mother's devotion made him part of my earliest imagina- tion of what goodness could look like. Over time, I have come to s e e h o w e a s i l y F r a n c i s i s turned into harmlessness, into a saint you can admire without changing anything. But this month, by inviting the public to stand before what remains of him, Assisi points back to the part of Francis that is least conve- nient: the daily training, the refusal, the long work o f n o t b e c o m i n g w h a t you oppose. Eight hundred years is a long time to keep being misunderstood. For many people, Francis of Assisi is still the soft-focus saint of birdbaths and gar- den statues: the kind of fig- ure you can admire without being disturbed by him. Yet the closer you get to the his- torical Francis, the more you r e a l i z e t h a t w h a t w e c a l l "peace" in his life was not a mood and certainly not a slo- gan. It was a discipline: chosen, trained, and some- times costly. It had a body behind it. And that body, in 2026, is at the center of an unusual moment in Assisi. On February 21, the friars of the S a c r o C o n v e n t o a n n o u n c e d w h a t t h e y described as the first-ever public and extended venera- tion of the mortal remains of Saint Francis, in the crypt of the Papal Basilica, within the eighth centenary of his death (1226–2026). The veneration is continuing until March 22, with access being free but requiring reg- istration, and no photogra- phy being permitted inside. Besides the relics, the pro- g r a m o f t h i s m o n t h a l s o i n c l u d e s a c i v i c v i g i l o n M a r c h 1 2 , m e e t i n g s f o r young people on March 14- 15 framed around "Sister D e a t h , " a c o n f e r e n c e a t Domus Pacis from March 20-22, and a concluding cel- e b r a t i o n o n M a r c h 2 2 presided over by Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi. To some, it may sound all t o o p r o c e d u r a l , a l m o s t administrative, for some- thing with such an immense spiritual impact. But per- haps, this is for the best, because Francis was never a mere idea floating above life; h e w a s n e v e r o n l y s p i r i t . Francis was human; he was a m a n . H e w a s a b o d y a n d brain that made decisions – sometimes pretty blunt ones – and accepted their conse- quences. This is why stand- ing before what remains of him in this world does not allow for superficial admira- t i o n a n d q u i c k p h o t o s , because it brings his story back to scale. The friars chose to frame the anniversary with a line from the Gospel of John: the image of the seed that falls to the ground and dies so that it may bear fruit. It is, certain- ly, an austere image, but one t h a t F r a n c i s w o u l d h a v e u n d e r s t o o d i n s t i n c t i v e l y because of its concreteness: a s e e d d o e s n o t "express" itself. It disap- p e a r s . S o m e t h i n g e l s e grows in its place. Francis – Franciscus – did take that idea very seri- ously. He dismantled his life. What made him secure went first, then what made him respectable. And last, what made him powerful. He did not replace those structures w i t h b e t t e r o n e s , h e j u s t k e p t w a l k i n g w i t h o u t them. And this is precisely when his "peace" was born: not as temperament, not as soft- n e s s , b u t a s s u b t r a c t i o n , because something remained once he stopped defending himself at every turn. It is tempting to call that gentle- ness, but it wasn't, it was a trained refusal. He learned not to react automatically to insult, to threat, and, per- haps most importantly, to f e a r . H e d i d n o t a n s w e r humiliation with humilia- tion. He did not turn fear into aggression. He did not pretend the world was harmless, but he refused to copy it. That kind of restraint is o u t o f t h e o r d i n a r y ; i t r e q u i r e s v i g i l a n c e a n d a l m o s t s u p e r h u m a n strength. But to some, per- haps, it may look like weak- ness, especially in moments when retaliation feels justi- fied. It's there, however, that it becomes demanding. And this is where Francis' peace unsettles us, because it asks for composure at the very point where anger feels most legitimate. A s s i s i , t h a t c o r n e r o f Earth that Franciscus called home, and where – we like to think – trees, soil, and birds still carry his image Francis of Assisi: the hard work of peace and the courage of simplicity FRANCESCA BEZZONE NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS CONTINUED TO PAGE 6 The mortal remains of Francis of Assisi (above) already attracted 100.000 faithful in prayer during the first week of a veneration planned on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of his death (Image cour- tesy of Sala Stampa Sacro Convento di San Francesco)

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