St. Francis of Assisi by Johannes Jørgensen

He made his first ecumenical contacts in 1960 with Anglicans in the United Kingdom, and later with Lutherans in Scandinavia and others. The beautiful story about Assisi’s role during World War II may be read in an Assisi Mission newsletter from 2007 (Danish language), link:įriar Maximilian Mizzi (1930-2008), was among the most notable figures in the ecumenical and interreligious dialogue apostolate of the Order. For his efforts in saving the Jews during the war, who fled to Assisi, he received a certificate of recognition together with Don Aldo Brunacci, a priest of the Diocese of Assisi. One of the most difficult moments of history was when Friar Michele Todde (1882-1972) of Sardinia risked his life saving Jews from being deported to Nazi-concentration camps between 19, when Nazi-Germany had occupied Italy and Assisi.

Examples are the Dutch friar, Felice Spee (1853-1916), the German friar Gerhard Ruf (1927-2008) and the well-known Danish poet, who converted to Catholicism, Johannes Jørgensen (1866-1956), who wrote an acknowledged biography about St. Francis and the tomb of the saint in the crypt of the Basilica. The Maltese friar Maximilian Mizzi was elected “Director” of the Ecumenical Center, but already before the foundation of the center and thus the formalization of the mission more brothers were engaged in fraternal dialogue with non-catholic pilgrims, who visited the Basilica of St. Before the CEFID, the Ecumenical Center already existed at the Sacred Convent. Its goal is to work for Christian unity (ecumenism) and to carry on “the Spirit of Assisi” (interreligious dialogue) following in the footsteps of Saint Francis. CEFID - the International Franciscan Center for Dialogue of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual was founded in 1989 as the fruit of a long activity of the friars in the field of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.

St. Francis of Assisi by Johannes Jørgensen