Liam Kelly, OFM, Poverty, Peacemaking, and the Sacred; A Girardian Reading of the Early Franciscan Movement (Franciscan Institute Publications 2025).
In recent decades numerous scholarly biographies of Francis of Assisi have appeared. Historically critical studies of the early Franciscan movement have, likewise, thrown new light on the theological and spiritual commitments of the men and women who followed the Poverello. Francis of Assisi and his movement have begun to emerge from the partisan records of late medieval polemics, and from later romanticised representations. Recent critical studies have made possible new and intriguing representations of Saint Francis and his Order. In this book, Liam Kelly, OFM brings the Saint and the early Franciscan movement into dialogue with the contemporary theorist René Girard. Girard’s mimetic theory is a compelling exploration of desire, community, conflict, and the Gospels. Girard follows the threads of mimesis (imitation) and desire through great literature, culture, history, and theology. In Poverty, Peace-making, and the Sacred, these same threads are gathered from the various accounts of Saint Francis’ life and accounts of the movement he founded. This book offers a mimetic reading of the Poverello and his times. The story of Saint Francis, when cast as a mimetic conversion, loses none of its charm. Rather, we encounter a compelling figure and a remarkable movement which, despite the passage of several centuries, speaks persuasively to contemporary people wrestling with questions of belonging, desire, rivalry, and hope.
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