St. Bonaventure University

Three scholars from the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University have joined in the publication of a new international volume titled “Trust: Franciscan Connections in Theology, Spirituality, Economics and Beyond.”

The three scholars from the Franciscan Institute are Dr. Aaron Gies, associate editor of the scholarly journal Franciscan Studiesand assistant professor of Theology and Franciscan Studies at SBU; Dr. Krijn Pansters, professor of spirituality at Tilburg University (Netherlands) and general editor of Franciscan Studies; and Fr. David Couturier, O.F.M. Cap., associate professor of Theology and Franciscan Studies and executive director of the institute.

The volume, edited by Gies, aims to articulate Franciscan approaches to trust. With some variations, trust is defined as a willingness to be vulnerable to the actions of another person, based on the expectation that the person will perform an action important to us, regardless of our ability to monitor or compel that action.

Following the teaching and footsteps of Jesus Christ, Francis of Assisi said of his brothers, “for love of Him [Jesus Christ], they must make themselves vulnerable to their enemies.” This ethic of vulnerability fosters a culture of trust, which, although fragile and itself vulnerable to injury, may be renewed as often as the decision to extend trust is made.

An essay by Gies introduces the volume, explaining how the question of trust became urgent during the COVID pandemic and its aftermath in 2020 and 2021, resulting in the conference that led to the present publication.

Pansters contributes a consideration of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Mother of God, a Catholic Franciscan monastic congregation in Veghel, Netherlands, co-founded on June 24, 1844, by Pastor Bernardinus Joannes van Miert and his niece, Sister Teresia van Miert. After 180 years of humble service to the poor, the congregation is now discerning the completion of their mission. In this piece, which is a part of the broader Transitus project undertaken by the Franciscan Study Center at Tilburg University, Pansters is particularly concerned to show how the theme of trust in one another and in God arises from Francis’s own spiritual vision and flows through the Veghel community’s journal and publications.

Fr. Couturier takes as his call to action a dire 2019 Knight Foundation report titled “Crisis in Democracy: Renewing Trust in America.” He draws on expertise gathered during multiple book-length research projects to compare three Franciscan proposals for the reform of our current economic model, which appears to be tied to the crisis in social trust. As Fr. Couturier points out, these proposals are not merely theoretical. Franciscan institutions may have a prophetic role to play in revealing new possibilities for a more fraternal economy.

The 11 papers in this volume offer a broad, interdisciplinary approach to the problems and opportunities of trust. The issue of trust is taken up as it relates to our own bodies, our thoughts and spirituality, community relationships, relations with marginalized others, our macro and microeconomic relationships, and even our relations with the novel Coronavirus.

This volume follows 2023’s “The Lesser Ethics: Morality as Goodness-in-Relationship,” edited by Pansters and Fr. Couturier, as the second in a series developed from international conferences convened by the international blog Franciscan Connections.

“In Latin scholastic theology, my area of research, trust (fiducia) often takes a back seat to faith (fides),” Gies said. “And yet the emerging crisis of trust urgently needs to be addressed from a Franciscan perspective. I am pleased that Franciscan Connections and the Franciscan Institute were able to bring together experts in philosophy, economics, psychology, psychiatry, philology, spirituality, business and management, along with theology, in this peer-reviewed volume. I’m confident the book will be helpful for academics and practitioners alike.”

The volume is available from Franciscan Institute Publications at www.franciscanpublications.com.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #6 for value and #14 for innovation by U.S. News and World Report (2024).