ASIA/UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Abu Dhabi celebrates the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis. Bishop Martinelli: He became a man of peace from the horrors of war he experienced

Abu Dhabi (Fides News Agency) – Saint Francis of Assisi “was not born a man of peace, but became one by learning from his failures, from the horror of war he experienced”. With these words, Bishop Paolo Martinelli, OFM Cap, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, recalled the historical experiences that shaped the human and Christian journey of the Saint of Assisi. In some respects, these experiences echo those that cause suffering to individuals and peoples in the Middle East and throughout the world.
Bishop Martinelli highlighted this aspect of the Saint’s life on Monday, 19 October, during an event jointly organized in Abu Dhabi by the Apostolic Vicariate, the Embassy of Italy in the United Arab Emirates and the Italian Cultural Institute. The event marked the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi and was held as part of the 26th Week of the Italian Language in the World.
In his opening remarks, Ambassador Lorenzo Fanara recalled that the Saint’s values “continue to inspire Italian foreign policy today”, beginning with “dialogue” and “bringing different cultures and faiths closer together”.
Bishop Paolo Martinelli devoted his address to the writings of Saint Francis: “few and brief, but extraordinarily intense, profound, and in many ways groundbreaking, so much so that even today we celebrate him as one of the men who most influenced the life of the Church and brought innovation to culture”, as demonstrated by the Canticle of Brother Sun. “Fraternity, peace, and dialogue are three pillars of his writings,” he said. “His writings bear witness not only to three universal values, but to a personal journey that profoundly transformed the life of Saint Francis.”

Fascinated in his youth by the ideal of chivalry, Francis “was not born a man of peace, but became one by learning from his failures, from the horror of war he experienced”, the Apostolic Vicar explained. “Intimately touched by his encounter with Christ, he became a man of peace and reconciliation, of mercy, a builder of bridges.” Fraternity, too, was born out of conversion: his encounter with lepers, initially bitter, became for him “sweetness of soul and body”, as he wrote in his Testament. In this way, Francis “bears witness to the fact that change is possible in life”: “His encounter with Christ revealed to him that there is one Father for all and that we are all children of God, brothers and sisters.”
This fraternity finds expression in dialogue, “with those who follow other faiths”, Martinelli continued, recalling Francis’s encounter with Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil, which echoes in Chapter XVI of the Rule Non Bullata written by Francis. He tells his friars who go among Muslims: "Let us not engage in quarrels or disputes, but be subject to every human creature for the love of God”. “Francis admires many things among the faithful of Islam,” the Apostolic Vicar stressed. In his Letter to the Rulers of Peoples, “we hear the echo of his admiration for the chanting of the muezzin”, asking the rulers that every evening an announcement be made inviting all the people to “offer praise and thanks to the Almighty Lord God”.
Father Stefano Luca, a Capuchin Franciscan and Director of the Apostolic Vicariate’s Interfaith and Ecumenical Dialogue Office (IFEDO), recalled that Francis “was first and foremost a man in love with God. His roots are in God”.
Professor Roberto Catalano of the Sophia University Institute explored the connection between the Saint of Assisi and Pope Francis through the language of fraternity. Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Al Mualla, an Emirati artist known as the “Ambassador of Sustainable Art”, spoke about the relationship between his works, created from discarded materials, and the Franciscan love of creation.
(EG) (Fides News Agency, 20/10/2026)

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