Franciscan Alternative Orthodoxy
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Franciscan Illusion?
Recovering the True Spirit of St. Francis
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--Father Joseph Tuscan, OFM Cap
In recent years, a phrase has begun to circulate in certain theological and spiritual circles: “Franciscan alternative orthodoxy.” It is often presented as a fresh, compassionate vision of Christianity—one that emphasizes practice over doctrine, inclusivity over moral clarity, and lived experience over defined belief. While such language can sound attractive, especially in a culture suspicious of authority and moral demands, it represents a serious misunderstanding of the Franciscan tradition and, ultimately, of Catholic faith itself.
The authentic Franciscan tradition never opposed orthodoxy and orthopraxy, belief and practice, truth and charity. On the contrary, the great Franciscan saints teach with remarkable consistency that right action flows from right belief, and that mercy divorced from truth ceases to be mercy at all. To suggest otherwise is not to renew Franciscan spirituality, but to replace it with something fundamentally different.
St. Francis of Assisi himself stands as the clearest refutation of the claim that doctrine is secondary to practice. Francis was not a theological minimalist. His writings and his life show profound reverence for revealed truth, particularly regarding the Eucharist, the priesthood, and obedience to the Church. In his Admonitions, Francis speaks with striking clarity about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, insisting that those who deny or ignore this truth place themselves in grave spiritual danger. For Francis, correct belief was not an abstract concern; it shaped how he knelt, how he obeyed, how he lived in poverty, and how he loved.
Far from setting practice above doctrine, Francis understood that action detached from truth becomes unmoored from Christ. His call to “live according to the form of the Holy Gospel” meant living the Gospel as the Church received, taught, and safeguarded it. He explicitly forbade the brothers from saying or doing anything against the teaching and authority of Holy Church. This fidelity was not selective or convenient; it was total, even when obedience demanded sacrifice.
St. Clare of Assisi deepens this witness. Her life, hidden in enclosure and consumed by Eucharistic adoration, stands as a powerful correction to modern activism that mistakes busyness for holiness. Clare’s compassion did not consist in redefining moral truth or lowering the demands of the Gospel. Instead, her love flowed from radical self-gift, poverty, chastity, and unwavering fidelity to Christ present in the Eucharist. For Clare, contemplation was not opposed to action, but the wellspring from which all authentic charity flows.
St. Bonaventure, the great theologian of the Franciscan Order, articulates this unity of truth and love with theological precision. He rejects any attempt to separate belief from practice, insisting that action without truth is blind, while truth without love is barren. In his Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Bonaventure makes clear that genuine transformation requires purification, illumination, and perfection. Moral action that bypasses conversion and doctrinal truth is not Franciscan spirituality; it is spiritual illusion.
The modern emphasis on inclusivity and justice, when severed from repentance and moral truth, risks becoming ideological rather than evangelical. St. Francis loved the poor and embraced lepers not because he denied sin, but because he took sin, redemption, and conversion with radical seriousness. His preaching consistently began with a call to penance. Compassion, for Francis, was never affirmation without transformation. It was an invitation to encounter Christ crucified and risen, who alone heals the human heart.
The notion of an “alternative orthodoxy” is, in fact, a contradiction in terms. Orthodoxy means right belief—belief received, not invented; safeguarded, not revised according to cultural preference. There is no parallel orthodoxy alongside the faith of the Church. St. Bonaventure warned that love does not abolish the law, but fulfills it by perfecting the will in truth. Any spirituality that appeals to Franciscan language while quietly setting aside difficult teachings on sin, repentance, or moral order departs from the very heart of the Franciscan charism.
The saints of the Franciscan tradition do not offer the Church a softened or diluted Gospel. They offer a Gospel lived with radical intensity—joyful, penitential, Eucharistic, Marian, and obedient. True Franciscan orthopraxy is born from right belief, deep conversion, humble obedience, and love purified by truth. Anything less may wear Franciscan clothing, but it does not carry the spirit of St. Francis.
In an age hungry for compassion but uneasy with truth, the Franciscan saints remind us that only truth sets us free, and only love rooted in truth can heal the world. As St. Francis himself warned, blessed is the servant who speaks the truth when it is bitter, as well as when it is pleasing. May we have the courage to recover—and faithfully hand on—the authentic Franciscan way.
Recommended Franciscan Sources
St. Francis of Assisi, Earlier Rule, Later Rule, Admonitions
St. Clare of Assisi, Letters to St. Agnes of Prague
St. Bonaventure, Itinerarium Mentis in Deum
St. Bonaventure, Breviloquium
Legenda Major (Life of St. Francis by St. Bonaventure)
Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§1846–1848; 2030–2046