What can the Year of St. Francis do for the world? A lot, say these Franciscans

(OSV News) -- After Pope Leo XIV proclaimed the Jubilee Year of St. Francis from Jan. 10, 2026, to Jan. 10, 2027, the Vatican's Apostolic Penitentiary also issued a decree granting a plenary indulgence to mark the 800th anniversary year of the popular saint's death.

Listed among the "certain works" suggested to obtain the plenary indulgence is "a pious pilgrimage to Franciscan churches."

But several Franciscans told OSV News they hope Catholics will do more than simply stop by -- as much as they and their fellow friars would enjoy visitors.

They hope Catholics will also learn about the life and charism of their founder, and how St. Francis of Assisi (c.1181-1226) remains a model blend of contemplation and activity for contemporary Catholics.

"It's an exciting year; I don't think any of us would have anticipated that Pope Leo would have declared this," said Father Jonathan St. Andre, a Third Order Regular Franciscan friar and vice president for Franciscan Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. "We figured the pope would go to Assisi; there would be different events. But to make this a jubilee, and to offer an indulgence ... is just remarkable."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that an indulgence "is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven."

Bishop Krzysztof Nykiel, regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, told Vatican News that the specific conditions to gain the Year of St. Francis indulgence include "sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, certain prayers according to the intentions of the Pope, interior detachment from sin, and the performance of certain works, such as a pious pilgrimage to Franciscan churches, participation in Jubilee celebrations, prayer and meditation in the Franciscan spirit, as well as daily acts of charity and humility that express the spirituality of St. Francis."

The 13th-century Italian saint is known for renouncing his family's wealth to embrace "Lady Poverty," attracting followers who ultimately formed the first Franciscans, the Order of Friars Minor. His "spiritual sister" St. Clare of Assisi founded the likeminded Poor Clares.

Visitors to the 250-acre Franciscan University campus can see three Franciscan churches, including the newly renovated Christ the King Chapel. A fall academic conference -- "Sister Death, Gate of Life" -- will focus on St. Francis' holistic vision of existence, the end of which he welcomed something like a cosmic relative by calling it "sister." A Franciscan virtues series will be available to students, and the Transitus -- an Oct. 3 remembrance of St. Francis' death -- will receive special attention.

All of it, Father St. Andre hopes, will get St. Francis out of the garden.

"Your typical person -- and it's not their fault -- thinks of Francis as a bird bath. A lover of animals. And he was," he said. "But I always try to bring people to the deeper vision of St. Francis; that even when it comes to the animals, he loved the animals because they were Christic -- all things were created through the Father in (Jesus) Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

"St. Francis saw God's presence imprinted on creation," Father St. Andre continued. "That's just one example, but I think this year will be an opportunity for people to come to a fuller, substantial, more authentic vision of St. Francis and the Franciscan tradition."

The Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, is offering a full slate of programs that will assist in that aim, including retreats, conversations and a movie night.

Franciscan Father John Aherne is also hopeful that the faithful will focus on St. Francis' spiritual heritage.

"Maybe even the larger question is what can the Year of St. Francis do for the world?" he asked. "You know, especially in a time when our world is so divided -- politically and ideologically and economically -- we can look to St. Francis as a guide in how we can come together."

A member of the Order of Friars Minor and pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, Father Aherne offered examples from St. Francis' life and legends, including the tale of the friar reasoning with a ravenous wolf terrorizing an Italian town.

"He brokered peace between the people of Gubbio and the wolf of Gubbio in that famous story. He brokered peace between the people of Assisi and the mayor of Assisi in the famous 'Canticle of Creation.' St. Francis ... was as comfortable with the leper as he was with the pope, and he brought them together," said Father Aherne.

"So I think -- in fact, I know -- there is something in our Franciscan charism, by looking to the person of St. Francis of Assisi, that can help to heal some of the divisions that are in our world today," he said.

Father Edgardo Jara -- also a member of the Order of Friars Minor and pastor of Mission San Luis Rey Parish in Oceanside, California -- agreed.

"The jubilee will be a tool to remind people what Francis showed us and told us 800 years ago -- to incarnate God in our lives, and especially in our actions," he said.

Father Jara and his fellow Franciscans shepherd a modern parish next door to Mission San Luis Rey, a National Historic Landmark completed in 1815 and the largest of the 21 California missions.

And like Father Aherne, Father Jara sees St. Francis as a force for unity -- a saint capable of issuing a global reminder "that we all are brothers and sisters, especially in this time of division and conflicts that the world is living right now, (and) that we need to see each other as all daughters and sons of God."

"It's a good reminder," he added, "that the Gospel is still something that we can live and practice."

Banners proclaiming the Year of St. Francis festoon the Mission San Luis Rey campus, and special prayers, services and gatherings will punctuate the liturgical and social calendar -- including a torch-lit procession on the Oct. 3 Transitus featuring an effigy of St. Francis.
Ultimately, said Father Jara, St. Francis' spirituality is "something that we can live in our different ways -- married or not, religious, priest, pope -- everyone can prayerfully bring the Gospel to live this way of life."

He added: "So I think this year is going to teach us to not only think of ourselves -- but to see how we can love our neighbor, love God, and love creation as well."