executive director of St. Francis
Chapel & Ministry Center.
Name: Fr. David Convertino
Age: 50
Position: Executive director of the St. Francis Chapel & City Ministry
Center
Education: Siena College, Loudonville, New York (undergraduate degree);
Washington Theological Union, Washington, D.C.; Rutgers University, New Brunswick,
New Jersey (MSW).
Residence: Providence
In 1953 Bishop Russell J. McVinney invited the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name
Province to establish and staff a Chapel and Catholic Information Center in downtown
Providence.
On May 5, 1955 the Franciscans purchased from the Scattergood Realty Company of
Providence a three-story furniture store. The building was situated on the corner
of Weybosset and Page Streets. The location proved suitable because it was close
to the factory, retail and financial districts. On March 19, 1955, renovations
began at the Page Street location. The new chapel was constructed, including a
side property and required extensive renovations. The remodeling plans included
two chapels, a public hall, a library, a dining room, a reading room, parlors
and living quarters for the friars.
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St. Francis Chapel was dedicated on June 19, 1956. Ten Franciscan priests first
staffed the chapel. Masses accommodated an array of workers and work shifts.
The expansion of the chapel into an Urban Ministry Center coincided with the renaissance
of downtown Providence. A new location was acquired in 1994 at 58 Weybosset Street,
the former Old Colony Bank.
The chapel was re-founded as St. Francis Chapel & City Ministry Center.
— Excerpted from St. Francis Chapel Times
PBN: Tell us about St. Francis?
CONVERTINO: Francis was born in the late 1100s, the son of a wealthy cloth
merchant. His mother’s name was Pia. He had a rough relationship with his father,
especially as he got older. He basically had the desire to do things that other
people his age wanted to do, such as become a knight. He was very much a playboy
of his time. He went to fight as a knight. He was captured. And while he was captured
it seems he fell ill and this conversion process began. As that process began,
he began to do things contrary to what he would normally have done. One group
he was absolutely terrified of was the lepers. Whenever a leper would pass by,
he or she would have a bell on to warn people. People would sometimes throw money
at them, but that was it. When Francis was coming back from this conversion a
leper approached. Francis dismounted and kissed the leper and then gave him money.
This was a major conversion. His whole focus in life changed from how to find
pleasure, to what am I supposed to do with my life? He then went to a small chapel
and there was a small crucifix. And legend is, the crucifix spoke to him; ‘Francis,
rebuild my house, which is falling into ruin.’ Francis took that literally and
began collecting stones to rebuild this chapel. Obviously, the message was that
the church was in a sorry state and something needed to be done. Essentially,
Francis decided as this conversion process went on that he was the one who was
going to be affected by this. He didn’t count on a lot of people doing what he
was doing. There were other lay groups at the time that were doing the same thing,
living the gospel life. The difference with Francis is that he went to the Pope
and got permission to do this. That’s how the order came alive.
What is the mission of the St. Francis Chapel & City Ministry Center in here Providence?
Essentially, we would take the words of St. Francis. In 1217 St. Francis said
to the Friars; ‘We have been called to heal wounds, unite what has fallen apart
and bring home those who have lost their way.’ Pretty simple. Here at St. Francis
Chapel, what happened was this. In 1956 the Franciscans came to Providence. At
that time, I would say, the sacraments were made convenient. Today, we would say,
that the sacraments should be made available. In the beginning, there was Holy
Mass every hour and confessions almost 12 times a day. It took on an emergency
room feel. Here, now, we believe the sacraments are more to be celebrated. They
need time and space – and reflection. They are available here. We also went through
a process that we call re-founding. A lot of corporations do the same thing. You
were founded to do one thing, but the needs of the day change. So you re-think
the whole thing and possibly do something different. In 1995 we re-founded the
chapel. We went back to our roots. Everything comes from what we do at the altar.
But if it stays in the chapel and doesn’t do anything for anyone else, why are
you doing it? It has to have an effect — a ripple effect. That’s where our outreach
ministry begins. So our re-founding process brought us from there to here. Not
only was there a geographical move, but a theological and spiritual one. We are
here to respond to the needs of the city.
How would you describe your congregation, your community?
It’s a mixed communityWhen you are in the chapel you will see the largest
array and most diverse array of humanity that I have ever seen in my life. You
have the gay male seated next to the elderly widow sitting next to the chief justice
sitting next to the lawyerHopefully what is happening in there is happening outside
the chapel a little more.
Do you get the sense, in general, that we are part of a more embracing community, one that is more accepting of diversity?
On many levels, I would say yes. We’re becoming a little more comfortable
with diversity. We are at least more conscious of the diversity and more appreciative.
As soon as you put a face and a name on somebody, that should be changing the
whole way you look at them. Now, they have a mother and a father too. I remember
reading an article on war. And it said the worst thing a soldier could do was
to look at his enemy in that light. Because now you are killing someone just like
you — and you can’t do that.
You cover a wide array of services — services that extend a helping hand to
the poor, as well as the wealthy. What are some of those services?
Some people come for Mass, some for confession. Some people like to stop by
during the day. We’re kind of like an oasis in the middle of the city. We have
the Wellness Center, which is frequented by people of every class. A lot of business
people go there for blood screenings, blood pressure check ups. And there are
specific programs such as eye care or audio testing. That services about 600 or
700 clients each month, as well as going to 49 sites outside of the Wellness Center.
We have more than 100 volunteer nurses and three physicians on staff. All of the
services are free. We have a bookstore, with a wide variety of books and gifts.
We have the St. Francis Food Center, which is different from a food pantry. We
call it Client’s Choice – and there are only two in the country. The building
was donated to us by a benefactor. It looks like a grocery store. Clients who
are eligible must go to a shopping and nutrition class first. Once they go to
that class, they are eligible to come to the food center twice a week to shop.
While they shop, hopefully they are taking the educational component in terms
of looking at what they are taking. They can take two large bags of groceries
each time they shop at the store. All of the food is free. We have a counseling
center that does counseling of every kind. There are a lot of recovery groups
that meet here. We have Men’s and Women’s Concerns, which deals with specific
needs of men and women. We have the Gay and Lesbian Friends of St. Francis, which
is a very active group.
How common is it for the Catholic Church to reach out to that group?
It’s not that common. It’s unique.
Are you proud of that effort?
Yes. Part of our mission is to reach out to the alienated, the marginalizedpeople
who often don’t seem to feel welcome other places, seem to feel welcome here.
Is the renaissance of the city making any difference in the lives of the downtrodden?
We’re certainly seeing the city change. I have in the six years I have been
here. I don’t know that I would say there is a real conscious effort to do something
about the people who are going to be disenfranchised by a ‘Renaissance City.’
We serve about 1,000 families each month at the Food Center. That’s a lot of people.
My concern is this. When I think about Rhode Island, as a state of one million
people, and we serve 1,000 people at our Food Center. These people tell us that
if we were not there, they would not be eating by the end of the month. I’m not
sure why that is. How is that happening? That’s a question that the city and the
state need to be looking at.
Do the Franciscans own the building you occupy — at 58 Weybosset?
Yes. We rent the Wellness Center (42 Weybosset) and the bookstore (48 Weybosset).
And the Food Center is at 100 Elm St.
We hear a lot about a volatile stock market, about technology companies going
under. Regardless of the denomination or specific belief, are people turning to
faith as much as they could or should?
My sense is that people are very spiritual. We have a lot of people who are
not Catholic who come to the chapel for a lot of different reasons. Spirituality
is important to them. Some people feel that organized religion has let them down
– or that there is not a fit there. Sometimes we say; ‘We’re being given answers
to questions we’re not asking – or stopped asking a long time ago.’ We figure
that we serve 10 percent of the population of Rhode Island through our various
services. I think in one way, shape or form, the spirit of St. Francis touches
those people. We don’t push it. We recognize there is spirituality in every human
being – and from there we try to see how we can help nourish that. When we say
we’re here to heal wounds — we don’t tell you what the wound is; you need to tell
us.
(Photo, Al Alexio)
