Here is one version I found online:
This story shows the commitment St Francis had to the conversion of Muslims. How do you think it is similar to the modern approach to inter-religious dialogue?
Actually, there is much more to this story than is in your citation and there are things in the citation that never happened.
Francis never volunteered to walk through fire. Thomas of Celano inserted that into the hagiography. It was later denied by the four friars who traveled with Francis. But it was left in the hagiography, because Celano’s intention is not to give you an historical account, but to present to the reader Francis’ passion for the faith.
The next thing that is in this story that never happened is that Francis was expelled from the Sultan’s camp. On the contrary, Bonaventure was told that after praying together, the Sultan has a special bed set up for Francis in his tent, because he was so impressed with Francis’ holiness. He told Francis, “If all Christians were like you, I would convert today.” The Sultan did not convert, but he grew very fond of Francis and allowed Francis to be his guest for several weeks. He called him, Sufi, which is the Muslim term for Holy Man.
The final agreement between the Sultan and Francis was that the Catholic Church would not attempt to convert Jews or Muslims and in return the Sultan would agree to let the friars pass through his territory, which is today Egypt and Jordan. The friars would take residence in Jerusalem, where they would serve the Christians, protect the holy shrines of Christianity, and allow the Jews and Muslims liberty of movement without interference from the Church.
From there, Francis went on to Jerusalem with a type of passport that the Sultan gave him and with a gift that is still in the Basilica of St. Francis. It was a type of horn.
Unknown to the Christians, as Francis was returning from Jerusalem, he saw that the Christians were getting ready to launch an attack on the Muslims and catch them by surprise. Francis had heard the Muslim soldiers send warning signals using that horn. He took the horn, blew as he had heard. The Christians invaded and the Muslims won the battle.
On his return to Italy, he reported to Pope Gregory IX. Pope Gregory ratified the agreement. A few years later, Francis sent friars to Jerusalem and they have been there 800 yrs. They are not allowed to preach to Muslims or Jews or try to convert them. Their mandate is to serve the Christians, protect the shrines, protect the rights of the Muslims and Jews to worship without interference from the Christians. The pope later elevated the province of Jerusalem to the Custody of the Holy Land, placing it directly under his jurisdiction instead of the General Minister of the Order. To this day, the Franciscans run everything, but the Pope makes the rules for the Custody.
Francis introduce certain Muslims customs into our community that we still have to this day, because he was very impressed by the piety of the Muslims. He also brought back some Jewish customs that the Franciscans made their own.
800 years later, these customs have blended right in. One of the Jewish customs that he brought back was standing around the altar during the consecration instead of kneeling. He learned this from the Jews, because standing when the king enters the room is a gesture of honor. He also took out the kneelers from our chapels, because he learned to kneel on mats, which the Muslims do with their bumb resting on a very low bench about 8" from he floor. We still use those to this day. He put the tabernacle on the main altar after seeing the tabernacle in the Jewish temples in the place of prominence in the sanctuary. Tabernacles were in side chapels in Francis’ time. This was perfect for him, because his chapels were very small. Having learned that the Jewish custom is that the tabernacle be front and center, this resolved a problem for Frnacis.
To this day, the friars in Jerusalem work side by side with Muslims and Jews. Together they care for the poor, especially the victims of violence and terror in that region. Quite often they pray together for peace.
When Pope Benedict went to Jordan, he gave them permission to open the first joint Catholic-Muslim University in Jordan. I don’t know what city. The university will be owned by the Vatican, but the Jordanian government is subsidizing it and the friars will give them a faculty to teach Islam and Jordanian culture. The idea is not to proselytize, but to teach Muslims and Christians what each side believes and what their conflicts are. The hope is that as the younger generation understands, it will be able to dialogue. The promise is that growing up together since early childhood, these kids do not have preconceived prejudices against each other.
That’s the evolution of Franciscan ecumenism in the Middle East. The other religious order who was sent there for the same purpose was the Friars of the Most Holy Trinity or Trinitarians. They dress like Dominicans, but have a large red and blue cross on their scapular. When they went to Egypt, this was problematic. St. John de Matha, their founder, Told his friars to take the cross off their scapular and put it on only when they were in the Christian compounds. The Muslims agreed to allow the Trinitarians to enter the prisons and minister to the Christian Crusaders as a result of this trade off. The end result is that there are many Trinitarians who are former Muslims. Unfortunately, they can never return home, because it’s illegal for a Muslim to convert out of Islam.
Franciscans have a fair share of Jews, including yours truly, who were attracted by their love for Francis and their generosity. Never did they try to convert us. We came to them asking to know more, because they weer impressive.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
