Address for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Preached in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Assisi: 24th January, 2009
Fr John Davis, Vicar of St Peter's, Eastern Hill
My brothers and sisters in Christ.
It is a great privilege and pleasure to be able to speak with you this evening during this week of prayer for Christian unity here in Assisi. You will notice that I'm doing my best to deliver this in the Italian language. Please forgive the mistakes I will make.
I first came to Assisi as a graduate student in the early 1970s. I came with some friends who were studying with me in London in order to see the great frescoes of the 13th century masters. I found and admired them certainly, but what I actually found in Assisi were the two wonderful saints so closely associated with this beautiful hill town. So for some 35 years I have been returning to Assisi, more often than not staying with the American Sisters at St Anthony's, very close to this cathedral. Sister Alessandra has herself made this address possible in Italian and I thank her most warmly.
St Francis, St Clare and Assisi are very special to so many people across the religious traditions. Their appeal and their message transcend all other differences. Those of you who live and work here have a special responsibility and joy to live out and to share the particular Franciscan gifts and charisms. In turn, those of us who come as pilgrims, have an obligation to take something of this place away with us when we leave.
In that first Holy Week that I experienced here in Assisi in the mid-1970s, Sr Rosita (one of the American sisters from where I was staying) was somehow able to see to it that I was one of the 12 young men whose feet were washed at the Lower Basilica on Holy Thursday by the then Cardinal, Cardinal Oddi. The vocation to the priesthood that was to form and then to grow in me in the following year, perhaps found its beginning in that beautiful and humbling experience. Some 30 years on as a priest, I stand here to give thanks. I do this as an Anglican, rejoicing in all that we share together. I do this too, as a Third Order Franciscan, a small part of the Franciscan family.
I come from a city and a country of immigrants; from Melbourne in Australia. In this last generation in particular there has been a greater diversity in the religious and cultural backgrounds of those coming to settle. In Australia and indeed here in Italy, this has not been without its tensions. St Francis is a most worthy patron for these times and situations. I remember the visit of St Francis to the Sultan of Egypt. We honour the example of people of faith reaching out across divisions and differences. We yearn for solutions to problems that do not involve war. Let us then, as Francis did, begin with a mutual respect and courtesy, as fellow creatures of our God.
The church I am responsible for in Melbourne is a central city church established in 1846 — some 12 years after the arrival of the first European settlers in Melbourne. It is a church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition and it is just across the road from the catholic cathedral of St Patrick. A feature of church life in the centre of Melbourne is the warm and friendly relations between the various churches. There are 16 in the central city, including the Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals. The most significant thing we do together is an ecumenical Way of the Cross, on Good Friday morning. With simple devotions, prayers and a verse of a hymn we make our way through the city, from church to church. There is a station in each churchyard. From time to time over the seven years this has happened, national leaders have joined in the walk, including the Catholic and Anglican archbishops. Last year some four thousand people participated in the two and a half hour devotion. It is a moving experience to be part of such a crowd, moving through quiet streets gently singing a Taize chant.
People's lives are changed by the experience of Assisi; by coming into a living contact with Francis and Clare. These two saints in turn always of course direct the pilgrim to a renewed relationship with their Lord. So renewed faith and the grace of hospitality and loving care: these are at the heart of the Assisi experience. It is a shared experience of places and people that is unforgettable.
May this ever be so.
Pace e bene.
A version of this sermon as delivered in Italian is available here as a PDF file.
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Views is a
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St Peter's Eastern Hill, Melbourne Australia.
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