2. Brothers among the poor & pluriformity

9. With the whole Church we reaffirm our preferential option for the poor. This choice is not at the discretion of the individual Brother but challenges us as a fraternity, and must be visibly shown: by living with the poor in order to take on what is valid in their way of believing, loving and hoping; by serving them, preferably with our own hands; by sharing bread with them and defending their rights. Being poor with the poor and becoming their brothers is part and parcel of our Franciscan charism and of our tradition as "brothers of the people".

St. Francis says in his Testament that his conversion journey took a decisive turn when the Lord led him among lepers. It was then that he "left the world" and also changed his social condition and his residence, leaving the center for the periphery of Rivo Torto and Our Lady of the Angels. Our Constitutions and the Plenary Councils of Quito and Garibaldi encourage us to establish some of our fraternities among the poor: "Those Brothers who, in the particular circumstances of a region, live with the poor, sharing their lot and their aspirations, are worthy of praise" (Const. 60,6; cf. 12, 2-4; 100, 3; 104,1; PCO V, 25,1). We believe that solidarity with those on the edge of society is one of the prime responses against the injustice of our times.

10. We recognize that closeness to the culture of the poor enriches us from a human point of view and is a necessary hermeneutical tool with which to reach the heart of our Franciscan heritage. We therefore propose that every Province of the Order draft and implement plans to establish and monitor our humble presence among the poor. In this way, sharing their culture from within and being accepted as members of their society, we will be able to promote its integral development. Such plans should include careful selection of the insertion fraternities and the formation of the Brothers who are members. In addition, they must ensure the constant support of the circumscriptions, as well as ways of fraternally sharing the experiences.

11. Francis embodied gospel radicalness and, in his unmistakable style, stressed the fact that to live and proclaim the Gospel means nudus nudum Christum sequi.

For him the fundamental thing is surrender to God in total trust. Thus, he insists that his Brothers should go about the world without taking anything, like sheep among wolves, leaving it to their daily witness of life as lesser brothers, before anything else, to proclaim the gospel. For Francis, this way of being and living, powerless and totally defenseless, was not a method or condition of evangelization, but was already in itself a proclamation of the Gospel. Our Capuchin history encourages us to take up once more and bring up to date this direct form of gospel presence among people of all classes, with special preference for those who are simple and poor. Consequently, we must seek to implement models of evangelization that are less bound up with the power and security that derives from having many expensive resources. We should be more ready to learn from the poor and to place our trust in God alone.

12. This Plenary Council of the Order reaffirms that poverty, too, as an essential element of our life, must be lived in the light of what the Constitutions say about the unity and pluriformity of our Franciscan vocation. On the one hand, unity refers to brotherhood and to the principle that "because of the same vocation, the friars are all equal" (Const. 84,3). But situations differ, so that without sound inculturation, no true pluriformity or evangelization will ever be possible. Inculturation of poverty must go as far as our dwellings, buildings, lifestyle, the poor means we use in the apostolate, and our external appearance.

The principles that should guide inculturation in pluriformity are:

the fraternity’s creative fidelity to the one Spirit living in the Order and speaking in the different Circumscriptions and in the signs of the times; fraternal communion and obedience to the superiors, which guarantees the unity of our charism (Const. 5,5); joyful acceptance that we are different, yet in communion; readiness to share everything that belongs to us.

13. The Constitutional norm : "The minimum necessary, not the maximum allowed" ( 67,3) can only be meaningfully applied in the context of the societies in which our friars live. We therefore propose that the Brothers in each circumscription apply this norm to their own specific circumstances. With the introduction of budgetary controls and spending limits, the local communities and the provincial fraternity can limit their use of resources and give an appropriate example of moderation and even austerity.