In a time when loneliness and disconnection are at historic highs, how can resurrecting community help us awaken to what Thomas Merton called our “true selves”? In an age of division, how might principles from the Franciscan way help us to uncover our “original unity”? What does real, authentic, diverse community look like today? And what does Pope Leo’s new encyclical Magnifica Humanitas say about using digital tools to build a universal human family? What might a digital “piazza” offer in this technological age?
This episode’s guest is Julianne Wallace, the executive director of the Franciscan Federation and a ministry professional deeply rooted in the Franciscan tradition. Throughout her career, Julianne has worked with all branches of the Franciscan family—friars, sisters, secular Franciscans, associates, as well as serving a year with the Franciscan Volunteer Ministry—and she continues to build bridges and foster collaboration across the wider Franciscan world.
The Franciscan Federation is a member organization that brings together vowed religious, secular Franciscans, associates, and all who seek to live out a Franciscan life today. The Federation also hosts the Piazza, a digital gathering place inspired by the Piazza del Comune in Assisi, where people from every Franciscan path can meet, pray, learn, and build community together. To learn more about Fran Fed visit www.franfed.org. To join the Piazza, visit thepiazza.franfed.org.
Show Notes for The Piazza: Franciscan Encounter in a Disconnected Age
The Piazza: Franciscan Encounter in a Disconnected Age
In a time when loneliness and disconnection are at historic highs, how can resurrecting community help us awaken to what Thomas Merton called our “true selves”? In an age of division, how might principles from the Franciscan way help us to uncover our “original unity”? What does real, authentic, diverse community look like today? And what does Pope Leo’s new encyclical Magnifica Humanitas say about using digital tools to build a universal human family? What might a digital “piazza” offer in this technological age?
This episode’s guest is Julianne Wallace, the executive director of the Franciscan Federation and a ministry professional deeply rooted in the Franciscan tradition. Throughout her career, Julianne has worked with all branches of the Franciscan family—friars, sisters, secular Franciscans, associates, as well as serving a year with the Franciscan Volunteer Ministry—and she continues to build bridges and foster collaboration across the wider Franciscan world.
The Franciscan Federation is a member organization that brings together vowed religious, secular Franciscans, associates, and all who seek to live out a Franciscan life today. The Federation also hosts the Piazza, a digital gathering place inspired by the Piazza del Comune in Assisi, where people from every Franciscan path can meet, pray, learn, and build community together. To learn more about Fran Fed visit www.franfed.org. To join the Piazza, visit thepiazza.franfed.org.
Show Notes for The Piazza: Franciscan Encounter in a Disconnected Age
– To learn more about the Franciscan Federation, visit www.franfed.org.
– To learn more about The Piazza, a new online community space for Franciscans and Franciscan-hearted people to connect, learn, and share life together, click here.
– Read “Becoming Church” by Mark Soehner, OFM, on the Franciscan Spirit Blog.
– Read “The Franciscan Nature of Leadership” by Sara P. Marks in the May 2025 issue of St. Anthony Messenger.
– Watch Daniel P. Horan’s presentation from a decade ago, “The Lifelong Journey of Discovering God and Ourselves: Thomas Merton and the True Self, or how this applies to change and transition in his appearance on Franciscan Spirit (formerly called Off the Page).
– Watch “Who Am I? The True Self” by Br. Paul Quenon, OCSO, a Trappist monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani who had Thomas Merton as a spiritual director.
– Like the podcast? Consider making a donation to the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
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