St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
[This monthly letter has turned into a personal reflection I’d like to share. The terrible conflicts affecting the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and a number of other areas, have made people question their faith convictions concerning the issue of “just war”, “necessary violence”, “pacifism”. Those who believe arming and defending oneself are considered “anti-Christian”, those who believe we must not arm are often considered “cowards” or un-caring people who seek only their own comfort and security. The reflection below began as the usual monthly circular letter that turned into a personal thought. I am not offering any answers. I am just sharing a challenging question that may not have a “right” or “wrong” solution. There are also conflicts that are local, personal, not global that affect many people whose decisions often follow the reasoning process found throughout this letter. Please pardon me before you read this, but I felt compelled to write this convoluted and rambling thought. ]
August 2025
Dear Brothers and Sisters in St. Francis.
May the Lord grant us all the precious gift of His peace.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14: 27).
Peace is a very elusive gift that everyone desires and never seems to achieve completely. Perhaps the way we attempt to achieve this peace may often contradict the gift itself. Does the end justify the means, or not? Jesus said: Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:1-42). This saying is confusing for many. It appears in the context of Jesus sending out His disciples to proclaim the kingdom of God. A similar remark states: Do you think that I have come to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but division (Luke 12:51). These two Gospel quotes make it clear that Jesus predicted conflict as a result of His message. What ‘peace’ is Jesus offering us?
Peace is not always and necessarily the absence of armed combat or the right to possess and use weapons. Not all devastating “wars” can be blamed on weapons of mass destruction. What about economic “wars” that impoverish people, class “wars” that keep people subjugated to others out of fear, or because of poverty, social exclusion, and so on.
The peace Jesus speaks of is more fundamental. The peace of Jesus concerns the soul of a person, both in the spiritual and the psychological sense. “Shalom”, the scriptural word for “peace” indicates, fundamentally, being at harmony with God, one self, and others. This “peace” can even be present in the midst of armed combat. Contradiction? No, not at all! Although “peace” would indicate the ultimate hope that inner peace with one self and God, should-could-would (?) lead to an external universal peace with all.
Franciscans have always been noted as bearers of Peace and Blessings. In good times and bad the children of St. Francis of Assisi have been there in the midst of it all. When you “smell like the sheep” you have to be with the sheep, even when the sheep are contending with wolves, and/or perhaps when the sheep might be the wolves. It is all in the perspective of the one critiquing the situation. Can there be a general norm that responds categorically to the question of peace and war?
Yes! The Gospel and the Person of Jesus Christ! But even here the response is conditioned by many factors that each one reading this can discover within their own hearts and personal experiences. Yet, there can be apparent or definite substantial practical differences on how to implement what they have “discovered”.
Franciscans, of whatever branch and affiliation, profess to be brother and sister to all people at all stages of life’s journey. Franciscans encourage, support, and care for any who defend their God-given right to life (I have come that they have life and have it abundantly – John 10:10), liberty (The truth will set you free – John 8:32) and the pursuit of happiness (I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete – John 15:11) while at the same time respecting the dignity, talents, and rights of “the other”, who in turn seeks to respect the dignity and rights of the “others”.
It might be good to remember that President Abraham Lincoln was criticized by his staff for putting some of his political enemies in prominent positions in his government. He was reminded that he was supposed to eliminate his enemies completely. His response was: I thought I did that when I made them my friends. Yes, it is usually a little more complicated than that, but it does mean, as Pope St. John XXIII stated: We must seek what binds us together and not what keeps us apart. ‘Nice’ stories and words, but how does it work ‘practically’ on a political or ‘religious’ and fraternal level. Is it possible? Yes! However, we must honestly desire what we say we seek. Only then we will be able to find the means to achieve the goal. This is true of anything we say we desire.
There is so much happening in our world today. People are tense when they read, see, and hear about conflicts around the world. Humanity’s inhumanity to its own kind is devastating, obscene and foolishness! ‘We pray for peace and prepare for war’. This is the modern fulfillment of a 4th/5th century AD Roman author, Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, ‘Concerning Military Matters’: Therefore, if you desire peace, prepare for war (?!)
Every year at this time, the nation remembers dropping the Atomic Bomb (the “new great deterrent to war” of the time!) on two cities in Japan, Hiroshima (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki (9 August 1945). The bomb destroyed thousands of lives, two magnificent cities, and horribly mutilated many people, rendering them disfigured and/or terminally ill. This act ended a war. But, it also encouraged “developed” nations to produce greater weapons of mass destruction “for protection” and/or as a “deterrent” to future global conflicts (?!). Who would be the arbitrator of peace, the one with the weapons?! All people of good faith are involved in the perennial pursuit to seek what is necessary to end war, useless killing, and the destruction of the dignity of anyone forever
How can there be peace through violence? How does one stop another determined on destroying someone so that they no longer exist? These questions and many more are not easy questions to answer with absolute certitude. We know what “the gut” says, but what does the heart say? What does our Faith say? The question however is definitely raised: Is war or physical combat that might destroy life ever justified? Is war, physical and/or technological combat justified? Traditions of differing groups respond in varied ways. Theory is easy for those who are not affected by the devastation. But you are in the middle of the battle, what do you do and why? The answers usually given are for survival and not as text book responses to “moral issues”. Most confessors have to deal with this type of an issue, albeit not on a global level, but still requiring a response that is Christ-centered.
The Franciscans consider themselves true children of the Seraphic Father of Assisi, ambassadors of peace. St. Francis himself greeted the people with Peace and Blessings (All Good). Is this ‘peace’ sought through mere presence, or conscientious objection, or active confrontation or solely political lobbying, or active military participation against the enemy, or whatever means is deemed just or “justified” and thus correct?
So visible in today’s world are the issues of war, violence, disregard for human life from conception to natural death, euthanasia of the elderly and chronically infirm, exploitation of minorities for the sake of material gain and/or social, political, economic prominence and power. Humanity’s inhumanity to its own kind has escalated and been “perfected” down through the millennia. It seems the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have really had no true peace, only truce(s). The war-less periods extended long enough for warring parties to rebuild weapons with more resistant materials, regroup their military forces, and continue the “onslaught” at a later date. It is a reality of which we are all aware since the second world conflict and all the other ‘military actions’ up to the present in the Middle-East, Eastern Europe, and other ‘minor’ but no less world-involving military actions.
As Franciscans, we are considered people of peace. We are pacifists, or are we? “Pacifist” can be an enigmatic word that has various meanings for those who use it to explain, excuse, justify, criticize, condone, condemn, and so on, belligerent and hostile activity among contending parties, regardless of any “collateral damage”. Who is the true pacifist and what does that mean? Theoretically we know the answer. We also know that we have a responsibility to defend and protect the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that all people, according to the type of governing process they choose, have a right to enjoy. No one must impose themselves on peoples or even individuals, in a manner that would deprive them the freedom to choose their own destiny. As they accept the effects of their honest choice in self-determination, they must in turn respect the dignity of others and their freedom of self-determination.
At a gathering of Italian Bishops over twenty years ago St. Francis of Assisi was named the “Man with a Disarmed Heart”. Still he went into the thick of battle: in the West before his conversion he fought for Assisi, loyal to the Emperor and seeking the glory of knighthood; after his conversion, he went East, through the lines of the Crusaders who were fighting the Moslems “for the sake of the Holy Land and the Sacred Places”; and he also breached “no man’s land” to meet the Sultan, and he did. Neither converted the other, but their encounter made history. They agreed to disagree and became friends who respected the other. Their common bond was in the One Great God of Abraham. It was a starting point. It lasted eight centuries. Difficulties? Yes! Nonetheless, the desire to achieve the “goal” is an eight centuries old dream, still dreamed by those who dare to hope in the Gospel.
The pacifists went to battle either raising their arms with sword in hand to strike, or with arms outstretched to embrace an ‘enemy’ that he might become a “friend”. In both cases it took extreme courage. The reasons for armed conflict were preached in God’s Name and justified for God’s Glory. But was it just? The glory of God is the human person fully alive (St. Irenaeus). It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20). How does one “conformed to Christ” respond?
Sometimes conflict, even armed conflict, might be inevitable and even necessary to save the integrity of a people who seek assistance or whose conflict may affect the integrity of a free nation. Even when objecting to bearing arms, friars could be seen as chaplains, and other bearers of the Franciscan charism, in the thick of battle. They were there to be “Christ present” fulfilling one need or another for the sake of those fulfilling their call to armed service protecting the values of a nation and/or people. These religious men often were seen ministering when possible even to the wounded and dying of the ‘enemy Samaritan’ left to die by the “militant Christian fulfilling his duty for God and Christendom”.
Few matters are really cut-and-dry. The issue of peace rather than war and violence, has always been a matter for our Franciscan international fraternity to consider and ‘preach’ with our lives. Even within the Family of St. Francis opinions are varied. At times discussions can become rather heated. Fraternity prevails, but opinions remain. One of the Capuchin Lay Brothers of years ago had been in General George Patton’s D-Day Landing on Normandy Beach, 6 June 1944. Thousands of allied soldiers lost their lives that day, and other combatants as well. Years later some of the younger brothers would ask our brother about his military days. He would speak rather cautiously about some things. However, when asked if he ever killed a person in battle, his look became very solemn and sad. His response was: “Brother, you never ask a soldier that question”. He would walk away quietly, and would return later as his old self again. The question made him “relive” what most soldiers would rather forget but cannot. It is believed that even our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi suffered from PTSD his entire life because of his war experiences and the treatment he received from his father and later his captors when in prison. (Remember our poor soldiers returning from Vietnam.)
As you take the time to read this, please keep in mind that this is not intended to sway anyone’s opinion or sincere belief on the matter. We Franciscans are Heralds of the Great King, Pilgrims of Hope, Apostles of the Gospel of God’s love in Jesus for all people. Nonetheless, in an imperfect world of imperfect people, peace is often sought through the most imperfect and confusing and contradictory ways. There are many Saints who bore arms in the thick of armed conflicts. They were pacifists who placed their lives in danger for the sake of peace at the call of their nation, or recognizing their own personal responsibility concerning the matter at hand.
Nor has this mailing any intention of being a treatise on the questions of “just war”, “pacifism”, “bearing weapons”, “killing an aggressor in war, or “protecting one’s family and property in self-defense”, and so on. Opinions vary and no general consensus is ever really totally correct. Is it just? Is it power seeking for international prominence? Is it politically expedient? War for the sake of war is stupid and sinful, when negotiations are possible. Nevertheless protecting one’s just rights and dignity is a right, duty, and responsibility of everyone, while respecting the dignity and rights of those whom we oppose.
World War I was called the “War-to-end-all-wars”. Instead of this, the 1900’s seems to have been a practice-run for all the conflicts the world has seen since then. The “moral issues” of war and peace are not always as clear in practice as they seem in theory, religious or otherwise. A famous phrase from many years ago: Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition is not as amusing as it sounds. There can be no double standard. Keep the question in perspective. It’s not a question of “hawk” or “dove”. It is an ongoing question to ponder in the light of the Gospel while remaining open to the Holy Spirit, whatever the response in good conscience might be.
We are all are waging our own spiritual battles as men and women called to stand before the powers of evil so rampant in our world. We fight with the weapons that are the most effective: prayer, hope, courage and total trust in God’s protection and power. Whatever our response to the question posed in this letter, may we never forget:
Our help is in the Name of the Lord Who made heaven and earth (Psalm 124: 8).
Because: Greater is the One within than the one who is in the world (1 John 4: 4).
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
