To conclude…

At the end of our journey, we have understood how the Franciscan intellectual tradition has proposed a spiritual vision of creation closely connected to a scientific approach to reality. Inanimate beings, the plant and animal world, and humanity itself have been investigated with the critical rigor that the categories and methods of the science of the time progressively suggested, always seen, however, in the light of the Canticle of Brother Sun, as brothers and sisters united in the praise of God and co-responsible inhabitants of the “common home” that is the world.

A Tradition that Renews Itself

Today’s scientific research is characterized by fragmentation and hyper-specialization, and it is articulated in complex projects with exorbitant costs, leading to an increasingly clear separation between the few experts and the “laypeople.” Today’s Franciscans – with very rare exceptions – are not “full-time scientists,” although curiosity, interest, and the desire for updates have not disappeared.

Above all, the ideal reference – which has become in a certain sense even more direct and explicit – to the Canticle of Brother Sun has not disappeared. Creation, our world, beyond the need to be better known and understood in its mechanisms, especially needs respect and protection, from prepared and motivated people capable of dedicating themselves full-time to a cultural, social, and political commitment so that our “common home” remains a hospitable environment for everyone.

Not Only the Safeguarding of Creation

In the Franciscan vision, the safeguarding of creation is always connected with two realities that cannot be separated: peace and justice – in line with the message that Pope Francis entrusted to his encyclical Laudato Si’. The spirit of the Canticle, with its openness to the world, the consideration of the fundamental goodness of what surrounds us, the understanding of the fraternal bond with all other creatures and especially with all other men and women, are today the attitudes that accompany not so much an intellectual research directed at creatures, but a choice to become close to and share the commitment to integral ecology.