(Photo courtesy of Roberto Astuto)Last month, the OFM Special Commission for Dialog with Islam commemorated the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’s peaceful encounter in 1219 with the Sultan of Egypt al-Malik al-Kamil with a weeklong symposium in Istanbul that featured a comprehensive and discerning discussion on how the historic event can inspire present-day inter-religious discourse. Forgot your username? St. Francis Meets the Sultan Painting by St. Francis Breadline. Francis of Assisi and Sultan Malek al-Kamil An Opportunity For Peace. It is available in English, Italian, and Spanish.Participants in the recent commemoration at an interfaith sema. by HNP Communications | October 2, 2019 | Friar News. Illuminatus boldly went across the battle lines unarmed and were quickly captured by the Sultan’s army and badly beaten.
When St. Francis arrived at the camp in August 1219, peace negotiations were being carried out between the two armies and it was during the period that he made the audacious decision to cross borders and visit the Sultan. He also offers an invitation to—and an example for—the kind of interfaith dialogue that provides a much-needed “crossing of borders” so that we can understand people who are different from us.
The poor Christian monk sought an audience …
(There were nine Crusades; Francis intervened in the fifth.) Francis’ humility and respect for the other, and thus for Islam, gained him what seems to have been an extended time, maybe as much as three weeks, with al-Kamil. When we think of him, we think of the annual blessing of animals, his joyful choice to live a life of poverty, his being the patron saint of ecology and on and on. In 1219, during the Fifth Crusade, Francis took it upon himself to cross battle lines and reach out to the enemy. The meeting between St.Francis and the Sultan of Egypt happened at a time when the crusaders on the banks of the Nile were on the brink of defeat. (Photo courtesy of Roberto Astuto)A simple life of poverty, love for all creation, and the annual blessing of the animals are among the most celebrated associations with the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis of Assisi and Sultan Malek al-Kamil An Opportunity For Peace.
St. Francis is one of the most loved and celebrated saints in our Catholic tradition. He demanded that his brothers be present first and foremost, living with and among the Saracens. Phone: (646) 473-0265 | Fax: (646) 368-8127 | E-mail: hnp@hnp.orgThe members of the Special Commission are working on a statement to summarize their week of discernment on the inspiration of the Francis-Sultan encounter on Christian-Muslim relations. If you do not receive an email within 10 minutes, your email address may not be registered, and you may need to create a new Wiley Online Library account.Can't sign in? Francis of Assisi (Italian: San Francesco d'Assisi; Latin: Sanctus Franciscus Assisiensis), born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, informally named as Francesco (1181/1182 – 3 October 1226), was an Italian Catholic friar, deacon, philosopher, mystic and preacher. In 1219, St. Francis traveled to what is now northern Egypt and paid a visit to the Muslim Sultan …