(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Spring 2026 Issue #119)
By Joe Makley, OFS • National JPIC Animator
Isaiah 58:6
The prophet Isaiah – Illumination from choir book, Lodi, Italy. 1500s
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free…?”
In this jubilee year of our founder, the great peacemaker and reconciler, it is fitting that we have called the membership to work visibly for justice and mercy for immigrants:
“… Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Mat 5: 6.) “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.” (Mat 25: 35-36.)
These words of Jesus call us in every age, as they called St Francis to embrace the leper. For Secular Franciscans today, this call is in our General Constitutions, Article 18.2:
“They should deepen the true foundations of universal kinship and create a spirit of welcome and an atmosphere of fraternity everywhere. They should firmly commit themselves to oppose every form of exploitation, discrimination, and marginalization and against every attitude of indifference in relation to others.” (Emphasis added.)
In our churches and fraternities, it can be wise at times to avoid topics that may reveal discord, such as public policy. At other times, a moral issue arises in society, one that is so significant that not talking about it can become a scandal of indifference.
The Civil Rights movement was like that. I was a ten-year-old in the south when Jim Crow was still in effect. There were many who remained indifferent to its oppression, but our Order’s leaders, through their Action for Interracial Understanding, called for Franciscan witness for peace and justice. Many answered, and their witness, along with the religious who participated while wearing their habits and clerical collars, gave hope to those who could not attend these momentous events. They were opposing indifference.
St. Maximilian Kolbe
During the rise of Naziism in Europe, Fr. Maximillian Kolbe, OFM Conv., is attributed to have said: “The most deadly poison of our times is indifference.” He taught against indifference in faith as well as in actions of love for others. He wrote and published the truth regardless of personal risk. He earned his victory in giving his life for love of Jesus in the other, a stranger. Fr. Kolbe opposed indifference with a passion, and we are called to follow.
Secular Franciscans are opposing indifference. During research for the Call to Franciscan Accompaniment[1] , we learned that OFS members in seven states were accompanying immigrants to court visits, and across the country were helping in any way they could, including advocacy. Non-partisan advocacy means organizing for changes we can agree on, like due process for all persons, transparency in enforcement, honoring pre-existing commitments like work permits, protected status, and proportional refugee resettlement.
Our prayers rise to God from sincere hearts, hearts that are wounded by the indifference we see every day. In this year of the Transitus of St Francis, with our bishops and Pope Leo, with our national leadership, in our fraternities and parishes, we will grow our attunement to that Gospel call for justice and mercy. We will “oppose every form of exploitation, discrimination, and marginalization,” and God willing, with the blessings of St Francis, we will deepen those foundations of universal kinship.
[1] https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2025/12/call-to-franciscan-accompaniment/
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