From the 8th to 10th May in Lecce, Italy, the Friars Minor of the Province of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lecce, in collaboration with the Archdiocese and the Municipality of Lecce, on the occasion of the VIII Centenary of the death of St. Francis, organised the event "Kalòs, Franciscan Network of Beauty. Barefoot and eyes open".
The city of Lecce welcomed Kalòs, transforming itself into an open-air laboratory where art, spirituality and civic commitment merged into a single path, connecting numerous territorial realities committed to building Beauty with civic, social, environmental, and cultural care. This event represented a true mosaic of experiences, capable of generating a shared and participatory beauty, enhancing, and updating the Franciscan message on the one hand and activating a territorial network of beauty.
The program was developed through sensory and thematic itineraries that actively involved children, young people, and adults in the city's most symbolic places. In all, fourteen places were involved, including squares, churches, and other public spaces, embracing both the centre and the suburbs. Twenty-six associations have joined, each offering its own contribution to beauty. Four exhibitions have been set up: an international photographic exhibition dedicated to the Canticle of the Creatures, an exhibition of olive wood sculptures, an exhibition on bread, and a pictorial exhibition on fruits. In addition, a magnificent Floral Carpet inspired by the Canticle of the Creatures was created, along with sixteen workshops (theatrical, musical, care, service, and civic engagement). In addition to these events, there were Franciscan conferences designed to deepen the value of beauty in St. Francis's message, with the historian Letizia Pellegrini participating.
The heart of the days was represented by the shows “Il viaggio di Francesco”, based on the novel “La Sapienza di un povero” by Eloi Leclerc, directed by Pino Quartullo, and “Kalispera”, which saw the participation of artists such as Massimo Donno, Radiodervish, the art popularizer Benedetta Colombo and the testimonies of associations such as Made in Carcere (which regenerates textile waste thanks to the work of the prisoners, offering them new opportunities), Slow Food, Libera (for civic commitment against the mafia and the return of confiscated assets to the community), and the testimony of Br. Matteo Brena on the Holy Land.
On Sunday, the square was transformed into a big collective embrace for the conclusion of the event with “Kalòs in festa”: music, dances, and workshops, culminating in the solemn mass in the cathedral, presided over by the Minister Provincial, Fr. Massimo Tunno.
Kalòs proved to be a unique opportunity to rediscover and enhance the beauty inherent in the Franciscan charism, launching a provocation to all the participants: how can each one be an architect of beauty? A question that calls for shared responsibility and invites us to sow traces of beauty.
The title of this edition sought to summarise Francis' style: barefoot and with open eyes, an approach to beauty that translates into humility, simplicity, and the ability to be surprised and moved by reality, capturing the wonderful even in small things.
The Minister General, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, in his message that he sent for the event, concluded as follows: "Francis contemplated the 'Beautiful' as a reflection of the 'Good': not an aesthetic that consoles, but a gaze that converts, that educates to fraternity and care for our common home. Every laboratory, every workshop, every meeting of these days has been, after all, an exercise of this gaze: learning again to be amazed, to touch, to listen, to preserve".
