Franciscans involved in making of ‘The Sultan and the Saint’ documentary

Dec 15, 2017

By Mark Pattison
A moment in time that has been captured in art has now been captured on film.

The encounter in 1219 between St Francis of Assisi and Malek al-Kamil, the sultan of Egypt, during yet another flashpoint in the long history of the Crusades — the subject of one famous fresco in Assisi, Italy — has been made into a documentary. The Sultan and the Saint.

Not surprisingly, members of the order St Francis founded participated in the documentary’s making.

It is the story of the saint leaving Assisi to cross enemy lines and meet with the sultan in Damietta, Egypt, during the Fifth Crusade. The two discussed interfaith conflict, war and the search for peace.

Franciscan Fr Michael Cusato had written four scholarly articles on the encounter. “That’s how they found me,” he said of the filmmakers.

Fr Cusato said his input on the developing script was valuable. “It took quite a bit of dialogue back and forth. They’re neither Franciscans nor do they know our history,” he said.

“People (involved in the project) are trying to read this encounter from the perspective of their own religious tradition,” Fr Cusato said, while he specialises in the medieval Franciscan world.

A second Franciscan, Fr Michael Calabria, was interviewed on camera for the documentary. He is director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Franciscan-run St. Bonaventure University in New York.

Fr Calabria said it is because of St Francis’ encounter with the sultan that the Franciscan order has had an ongoing presence in the Holy Land. “This is the real beginning of a consistent Franciscan presence in the Holy Land and a consistent Franciscan engagement with Islamic authorities there,” he added. --CNS