Learning from Francis

Tablet readers from as far afield as Boston and Iowa, as well as Edinburgh, London and other parts of the UK, joined Joanna Moorhead and Peter Stanford at Villa Pia in the Umbrian village of Lippiano for a retreat to mark the 800th anniversary year of the death of St Francis of Assisi. There were lively conversations about the continuing relevance of Francis and his friend St Clare in an age when world peace and ecological concerns are to the fore, and the 20-strong group had days out in Assisi – gawping at the Giotto frescoes in the basilica – and La Verna, where Francis received the stigmata. Last Sunday the two Catholic priests among the party concelebrated Mass in the village chapel; the Anglican priest in the group, a Franciscan tertiary, spoke about her vocation.

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