Simplicity

The Way of Franciscan Simplicity

The term ’simple-mindedness‘ nowadays stands for naivety or even folly. It may be surprising that Francis of Assisi repeatedly described himself as simple-minded and that the relevant source texts describe his world view and his way of life as ‚the way of Franciscan simplicity‘. Semantically, however, the term had a wide range of meanings in his time: simplicity, naturalness and straightforwardness are meant as well as contentment and frugality. In fact, the simplicity understood in this way is something like the perspective from which the world is viewed and interpreted, certainly with a critical eye. The ‚Way of Simplicity‘ enabled Francis to open himself creatively for something new and to discard something of his own outdatedness. In this way he succeeded in networking with the whole of creation and bringing man and nature into balance. In this way, the path of simplicity became a richness of satisfaction and frugality. This path of simplicity, which Francis embarked upon, has for centuries been a stimulus to value not only material gain but also human, social, cultural and environmental capital. The path of Franciscan simplicity, therefore, wants to make us attentive and to encourage that there are viable alternatives. From this point of view, this column intends to take a stand at regular intervals on issues of economic, cultural, social and current relevance.