Followers of St. Francis

FOLLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS ‘Brotherhood with All Creation’

St. Francis of Assisi is often depicted bathed in sunlight, holding a white dove, and surrounded by adorable forest creatures such as deer, sheep, and rabbits.

These images beautifully portray Francis’ love of all creation, but it’s likely his day-to-day reality was more like that of Franciscan Brother Kristoforus Pudiharjo, OFM.

A leading proponent of organic farming in Indonesia, Brother Pudiharjo is often seen wearing rubber boots and muddy work clothes. He tends a 6-acre plot that has become a teaching farm where he shares his knowledge of organic methods with farmers, students, and other visitors— Christian and Muslim alike.

“Many people stop by to learn something,” says Brother “Pudi,” as he is known in the region. “They’re either farmers whose land has already been devastated by chemicals or whose businesses went broke because of the high costs of superior seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides.”

Brother Pudi teaches them how to process organic fertilizers from biomass such as grass and crop residues. He offers them a healthy, cheap alternative to pesticides, encouraging them to “combine forces with existing predators such as snakes, ferrets, cats, and owls.”

On the densely populated island of Java, many farms are controlled by corporations that sell costly seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers, he says. “[The farmers] suffer from constant debts. Organic farming is a way to free them from these shackles, restore their land, and get better and healthier products.”

Born and raised in a rural area in Central Java, Brother Pudi studied social communication and worked for the government in the capital city of Jakarta as a young adult. He joined the Franciscans at age 36 in 1994, after he met a Javanese Franciscan who introduced him to St. Francis of Assisi. Kristoforus Pudiharjo, OFM

During postulancy in Central Java, Brother Pudi grew corn in a community garden that had been seen as too dry to yield any crops. He continued to get his hands dirty during novitiate in West Java, where he studied with Father Agatho Elsener, a Swiss Capuchin who ran an organic garden there.

Since 2010, Brother Pudi has been tending the teaching farm on the northern slope of the Gede Volcano in West Java. His visitors include students from nearby Muslim boarding schools; he has helped 14 schools develop natural fertilizers and high-quality seeds, getting better prices for their produce. “Working together to restore our common home is an excellent means of interreligious dialogue,” says Brother Pudi, noting that Christians and Muslims share a desire to protect the environment.

Brother Pudi also visits farmers to help them determine which plants are best suited for their land and which biomass can be used for fertilizer. His newest endeavors include using social media to pioneer digital smart farming and growing organic coffee beans.

For Brother Pudi, working the land stems from the Franciscan values that attracted him to the order. “Organic farming is indeed a spirituality,” he says. “All beings are accepted as brothers and sisters, allowed to live together and work together.”

That includes not only doves, rabbits, and deer, but also the less lovable creatures like Brother Snake and Sister Ferret. “Coarse grass [and] rats have a role to play in this collaborating community of creatures,” he says. “That is what I learn from Francis.” —Patricia Mish

s ST. ANTHONY BREAD s

FRANK JASPER, OFM

The National Shrine of St. Anthony is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Consecrated in 1889, it includes a first-class relic of St. Anthony and serves as a center for daily prayer and contemplation.

The Franciscan friars minister from the shrine. To help them in their work among the poor, you may send a monetary offering called St. Anthony Bread. Make checks or money orders payable to “Franciscans” and mail to the address below.

Every Tuesday, a Mass is offered for benefactors and petitioners at the shrine. To seek St. Anthony’s intercession, mail your petition to the address below. Petitions are taken to the shrine each week.

viSit our webSite to:

StAnthony.org s mAil poStAl communicAtionS to: St. Anthony Bread 1615 Vine St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498 s