Constructing Saint Francis for the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

It is ironic that someone who was known for his fierce purity of vision and for his refusal to temper the absolutes by which he lived should have been adopted and adapted by so many individuals and institutions. Here is a Catholic saint who has been borrowed by Protestants, Buddhists, vegetarians, antiwar activists, producers of pet food, and a vast and various group of individuals with personalized needs for him. And all have found him, although the versions followed are as different as the seekers.