Rebuild my Church

Richard Shaw is inspired by the new Franciscan orders in England Imagine if you vowed never to buy any food; you could not shop for it; you could not ask anyone to buy it for you and you could not spend any money you had or were given on food. You could only eat what you were actually donated; what you had begged. How long do you think you could survive before you broke your vow and rushed off to Sainsbury's? A month? A week? Be honest — a day and a half at most.
Now imagine you are with only five friends in a foreign country and have not only to survive. but also to set up house — including building part of it — begin a shelter for the homeless and organise activities for local kids. How much less likely do you think that would make success? Yet somehow six Franciscan Friars of the Renewal have achieved just that since arriving in Canning Town last June.
The Franciscans of the Renewal will be known to many Catholics from their work with Youth 2000, the energetic and orthodox youth movement, now known as one of only two surviving sources of vocations in this country — the second is Oxford University. Others will know them through Fr Benedict Groeschel, one of the order's founders, who has a regular slot on Mother Angelica's Eternal Word Television Network. For the less informed, they are "the ones with the beards".
Despite their very real material poverty, hospitality and generosity shine through everything the set of young brothers at St Fidelis Friary do. They run a homeless drop-in centre, which offers a free hot lunch four days a week. In the hall where it is held there is a huge copy of Rembrandt's version of the return of the Prodigal Son, and as I entered on my visit to the house, a song with the chorus "we welcome you!" was playing. Throughout the lunch the stereo continued to entertain the guests with tunes both joyful and religious. On a regular basis the friars offer a night shelter in another room — kept boiling hot even during the day — where the guests can play table-tennis or darts over lunch.
Even I was welcomed warmly. Fr Richard Roemer, who is the "local servant", which means he runs the community, took his lunch hour and more out to talk to me. "Our apostolatc is twofold", he said, "ministry to the poor and evangelisation. Our evangelisation is both to those outside the faith and a re-evangelisation of Catholics. We are the Franciscans of the Renewal after all!"
Fr Richard, who is only 32, explained that the Franciscans of the Renewal are bound by their rule to live in an area renowned for its poverty. I warned him that this meant if they worked too hard they would have to find a new base, but he did not seem put off.
They are a pretty tough group to deter. Fr Richard told the story of going to visit a local woman. She needed furniture and the community had volunteered to give her some sofas — remember, reader. how little this order has and how difficult it is for them to get even that. Every time the brothers came round, the old lady would shout at them as they came through the door. asking "Why do you believe in God?", and other similar eternal
posers. Perhaps the lady cloth protest too much, but it is certainly an odd way of saying "thank you" to a group of real mendicants. Yet they are still not deterred.
They do a lot of work in the local area. As Fr Richard said: "We are looking to build relationships with people in the neighbourhood and encourage lay people to take more of an initiative in evangelisation by being more public in our faith."
As one can imagine, these bearded men with long brown robes attract much attention from local children. A huge American friar runs a basketball club for them and has to cap the numbers coming to 30, so great is the interest.
As they work in the front garden or go about in their habits children come up to them and
ask them what they are doing and why. They are up front about their faith and this attitude makes them popular. Since eight Capuchins founded the first friary in 1987 in the Bronx, they have spread across the world, with 70 friars now in seven friaries. They have no problems with numbers. Their rather American "do it now" charism and the power of their faith mean they get right down to business. Within five minutes of easy conversation with one friar, who was busy making soup for the guests at the drop-in lunch, I had already been asked whether I had a vocation.
This attitude informs their dealings with the younger generation. "The Lord has let us do a lot of youth work. The youth are the great hope of the Church. They have a great desire for 'meat and potatoes' faith. Something alive and substantial," Fr Richard said.
Despite their energy and efforts, there is nothing pelagian about these men. They do not believe they could be saved by their own efforts. As Fr Richard told me: "The Good Lord is just leading the way, taking care of us."
Nevertheless, their work and resulting rapid international success impresses. Fr Richard reminded me of a story of St Francis that these new friars had already put in my mind. St Francis was praying before a crucifix when the statue of Christ came to life and gave him a commission: "rebuild my Church!"
The same story was told to me when I visited Fr Joseph Michael Mary of another new Franciscan order, the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.
This order is slightly older, founded in Italy in 1970 and will be well known to anyone who has ever had anything to do with the popular "days with Mary", to which they are chaplains. Otherwise, they are not much known in this country, though they have a powerful international presence. There are over 300 friars in friaries from the US to Brazil, from the Philippines to Australia and from Africa to Russia and France.
There are many differences between the two new Franciscan orders, but it is the
similarities that one most notices. Both emphasise the Eucharist — both spend a portion of each day in adoration and the founder of the Franciscans of the Immaculate has written one of the most splendid books on the subject, called "Jesus Our Eucharistic Love"; both are deeply devoted to Our Lady — the Franciscans of the Immaculate take a fourth vow, giving themselves to Mary as her total property; and both set much store in the young. My visit to both confirmed this impression of similarity: the chapels of both had the same style of crucifix, and the book
shelves of the Franciscans of the Immaculate were filled by works by Groeschel and fellow Franciscans of k the Renewal.
The hospitality and generosity certainly remain. I left Fr Joseph, who had cooked me a delicious three course meal, laden with gifts: six books, two rosaries, and a miraculous medal for myself and others for my fiancée, friends and family, and with nothing in return except a guilty conscience and a vague invitation to dinner.
The Franciscans of the Immaculate differ most greatly in their focus on the media. They have a publishing house in the USA, as well as television and radio stations in
Italy. Their media dimension is derived from their association with the charism of St Maximilian Kolbe. "The media has a great role in society," said Fr Joseph, "St Maximilian said that the devil is using the media to bring souls to perdition and so we must use the same means to save them."
Fr Joseph, who was involved in setting up houses for the order in Brazil and Australia, is having less luck here. Describing himself as the "advance party of the order in Britain", he has the commission to found a house in the greater London area.
He has been living in Sanderstead since June, pursuing this goal and staying with a friendly parish priest, while ministering to a convent of the sister order next door. All dioceses that cover London have essentially rejected their application, though the reasons remain rather vague; Brentwood, for instance, which welcomed in the Franciscans of the Renewal, claimed they already have enough friars, though they failed to mention that the Franciscan friars minor are about to leave Forest Gate .
Whatever the reasons, Fr Joseph takes the situation very well. He says his trust is in the Lord. "We are waiting. England has such a rich Marian tradition. We have to see where there could be an opening. we are not giving up we want people to pray for us," Fr Joseph said.
Meanwhile Fr Joseph's energy and ideas have to be put on hold. He is in a community of two, with a new Italian brother visiting every three months to learn English. It is a lonely life and not ideal for the continuation of a sense of community. Keeping up the opus del, including getting up at 4.45am, cannot be easy when you are almost alone.
Nevertheless, it reminds one of another story of St Francis. Pope Innocent III rejected St Francis' initial application to found his order. As the saint was on his way home, however, Innocent had a dream. He dreamt that the Lateran basilica was crumbling and about to fall, when the very same small, poor, dishevelled Francis walked over and held it up on his shoulders. Innocent awoke and sent immediately for St Francis to allow him his order. One can only hope Fr Joseph's journey will have the same conclusion.
The Franciscans of the Renewal can be contacted at: St Fidelis Friary, Kilip Close, Canning Town. The Franciscans of the Immaculate can be contacted at: The Holy Family. 115, Limpsfield Road, Sanderstead, CR2 9LE