To Serve the Lord by Loving the Church

An Interview with His Eminence
Cardinal François-Xavier BUSTILLO, OFM Conv.

– After the Angelus on Sunday, July 9, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Pope Francis announced a list of new cardinals to be created. These cardinals were then created during the Consistory on Saturday, September 30, 2023. Among them was a Conventual Franciscan friar, the Bishop of Ajaccio in Corsica, France. I had the opportunity and pleasure to speak with him.
– Indeed, it was a surprise for me. I found myself created a cardinal by the will of the Holy Father. When I received the news, in addition to all the reactions and emotion, it seemed right for me to adopt an attitude of trust and serenity. One day during my youth, I said “yes” to the Lord when I made my profession of vows. Today, in another ecclesial setting, I continue to say “yes” to the Lord for the building of the Kingdom.

– Your Eminence, to start this conversation, let me ask you to “introduce yourself” to the friars, especially those who may not yet know you, and offer them a glimpse into your life, particularly your life as a Franciscan friar.

I would like you to first tell us about the environment in which your vocation matured, namely, your family―the “small domestic Church” that formed your human and Christian values. Are the principles you learned in your family still useful today? Do you often think back on your family home?
– I was born into a Catholic family in Navarre, Spain, near the border with France. When I was ten years old, I entered the minor seminary where I did my formation until I graduated high school. My family gave me the essential values of human life. My parents encouraged me to discover life in the seminary and to evaluate whether it was for me. At that stage of my life, meeting happy and courageous young Franciscan friars was greatly stimulating to me. The witness of life makes a profound impact in relational life.

– Your Eminence, when and in what context did you discover your religious and priestly vocation? Was there a particular decisive event? What made you choose the Conventuals?
– My meetings with the friars were what encouraged me to continue with the Conventual Franciscans. I liked St. Francis for somewhat poetic reasons, I would say. Afterwards, time and initial formation helped me discover a more realistic St. Francis, the one who was able to change his life and change the direction of the lives of his brothers through his radical witness and fidelity to the Gospel.

– Did the individual stages of your religious formation enrich you? Did they open up new and previously unknown horizons that helped you prepare for your future ministry? In your experience, how do you imagine your own continuing formation in Franciscan life?
– After I graduated high school, I went to Padua where I entered the novitiate and undertook theological and Franciscan formation. Padua was a wonderful time for me to lay the foundations of my religious life. In Padua I was given values that gave me the constancy and stability I needed for religious and Franciscan life.
Today I think that Franciscan formation, and formation in religious life in general, must have an academic and intellectual foundation, but it cannot be limited to “knowledge” alone. If our Franciscan life is only about “doing” and “knowing”, it is not enough. I believe that we must also be mindful of our religious profession. On the day we declared our “yes” in the Franciscan family and in the Church, we offered our lives. This was no banality. Offering our lives means giving our time, energy, affection, knowledge―everything―for the sake of others. This is a gift that stems from a heart that is fruitful and open.

– What attracted you most about Franciscan spirituality and then influenced your decision?
– The freedom of St. Francis. His vocational journey was comprised of radical choices made to avoid a lukewarm and mediocre life. From the time he stripped off his clothes in front of his father until his death, his whole life was a search for Gospel authenticity. Francis wanted to live, not just exist. Francis was unafraid. The driving force in his life was not fear; it was love. That was why he risked, loved, gave of himself, forgave and abandoned himself. His journey was a process of spiritual maturity, free of human tactics and strategies, always seeking God’s will.

– Your Eminence, what Franciscan saints do you look up to in your spiritual life? What is it about them that attracts you? What do you admire about the exemplary lives they led?
– St. Francis, St. Anthony, St. Clare, St. Bonaventure and St. Maximilian Kolbe are always models for me. Of course, you will tell me, this is not very original…. But these saints embody the continuity of the Franciscan charism. Father Kolbe always attracted me because of his freedom and courage. By choosing to give his life for another in the harsh, dark world of Auschwitz, Kolbe wrote a shining page in the history of that hellish concentration camp. “The light shines in the darkness” (John 1:5).

– Your Eminence, how would you evaluate your priestly ministry before you were made a bishop? In your opinion, what makes a priest’s mission so beautiful? Did you experience any disappointment or discouragement in your vocational journey? Today, the world seems to be increasingly losing its Christian identity. How might you deal with the crisis in ministerial priesthood?
– For me, religious life is life! In our life there are happy moments and difficult ones. This is normal; we are not yet in heaven. On my journey as a friar, priest and bishop, the engine that has driven me has always been the gift of self. In a society where it is easy to take and possess, we can choose to give and give of ourselves. The temptation, even for friars, is finding a comfortable place to enjoy life and feel good. We should not choose just to “feel good,” but to “do good.” In my opinion, today, it is a form of prophetic witness to carry out one’s detachment of “self” in order to arrive at the maturity of “us.”
The crises in the world and the Church give us exceptional opportunities to find in God, and in his creative Spirit, new ways. St. Francis responds to a complex world by means of his own life. We often complain about difficulties and we let our enthusiasm lag rather than seeking out Gospel answers to respond to the world’s thirst for God.

– For your episcopal coat of arms, you chose the motto: In ipso vita erat (“through him was life” Jn 1:4). Moreover, the photo commemorating your episcopal consecration includes a phrase taken from the writings of St. Francis of Assisi: “Let the friars be careful not to appear outwardly as sad and gloomy hypocrites but show themselves joyful, cheerful and consistently gracious in the Lord” (Earlier Rule 7:16 FF 27). To what extent do the words here―life through the Lord and joy in the Lord―determine your pastoral program and the direction of the evangelization activities in your diocese?
– These words are not derived from the typical protocol of a bishop. For me, these words are life and strength. They embody an ideal to follow in order to be meaningful in a world that seeks an existential compass. Life and joy urge us to act with hope. The world announces much death, death that stems from nature, political and economic systems, and the Church… But we were born from the tomb of Jesus. From a place of death rises the canticle of life: hallelujah! Our vocation does not call us to be naive but to be prophets of hope. Faith leads to hope. He who believes hopes, and he who hopes lives with joy.

– Your Eminence, what were the circumstances under which you learned of your appointment as a cardinal? With what spirit did you accept the call to this new service in the Church for the good of humanity? What were you thinking about while the Consistory was being celebrated? How useful will the Franciscan charism be in carrying out your duties as a cardinal.
– As I said, the appointment was a surprise. In this state of life, I want to continue to serve the Lord by loving the Church. A Franciscan Cardinal brings his spiritual and experiential heritage with him. During the celebration on September 30, I felt great peace and serenity. I let myself be transported by the words and gestures of the celebration. Indeed, like so many liturgical celebrations, the Consistory was a moment of fruitfulness for me. The Church does not create new Cardinals for personal prestige, but for the good of the Church. A Franciscan Cardinal collaborates with the Church through his life in order to repair what evil does in the world. He begins with the Gospel, loving his brothers and living in poverty and simplicity.

– What message would you like to address to the entire Order?
– I would simply tell the Conventual Franciscan family to look for new ways rather than just coasting in the style of doing something because it has always been done this way. Sometimes there is a lot of needed management in the Church, but little vision or urgency. Let’s not forget Francis’ dream in Spoleto, Italy, and the dream the pope had of Francis holding up the Church. The Order has an exceptional human and spiritual patrimony; it has unique men. We bring salt to the earth so people might rediscover a taste for life, the joy in life. The world is thirsty for God.

– Thank you very much for making yourself available to do this interview. I hope with all my heart that the mission just entrusted to you will be constantly renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit and sustained by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin and our seraphic father St. Francis, and bear abundant fruit in the Church.

Rome, Friary of the Twelve Holy Apostles, October 3, 2023
Interviewer: Friar Sławomir GAJDA, OFM Conv.

Cardinal François-Xavier BUSTILLO, OFM Conv., was born November 23, 1968, in Pamplona, Spain. After entering the minor seminary in Baztán, Province of Navarre, Spain, he was enrolled in the Conventual Franciscan postulancy program in Padua, Italy. In Padua, he completed his philosophical and theological studies at the Sant’Antonio Dottore Theological Institute. In 1997, he earned a degree in theology at the Institute Catholique in Toulouse, France. He made his simple profession on September 12, 1987, his solemn profession on September 20, 1992, and was ordained to the priesthood on September 10, 1994. He has held the following positions: Guardian of the friary in Narbonne (2002-2018); Pastor of Saint-Bonaventure Church in Narbonne (2002-2017); Provincial Custos of the Provincial Custody of St. Bonaventure in France-Belgium (2006-2018); Pastor in solidum in the Sainte Croix en Narbonnais Parish in Narbonne and member of the Episcopal Council of the Diocese of Carcassonne et Narbonne (2007-2018); Episcopal Vicar for Narbonnais-Corbières; and Episcopal Delegate for new spirituality movements and interreligious dialogue (2012-2018). From 2018 until his appointment as a bishop, he served as the Guardian of the Saint Maximilien Kolbe Friary in Lourdes, France; the Episcopal Delegate for the Shrine of Lourdes and the Episcopal Delegate for the Protection of Minors. In 2020, he was made a member of the Episcopal Council of the Diocese of Tarbes et Lourdes. On May 11, 2021, Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Ajaccio. His episcopal consecration took place on June 13, 2021, at the Cathedral of Ajaccio. For his episcopal motto he chose the words In ipso vita erat (“through him was life” John 1:4). On September 30, 2023, Pope Francis created him a cardinal and assigned him the title of Cardinal-Priest of the Parish of Santa Maria Immacolata di Lourdes in Rome’s Boccea neighborhood. On October 4, 2023, he was made a member of the Dicastery for the Clergy.