Thus penance becomes Charitas, which the Order of Minims bears as emblem. We are all progressively realizing the fact that is impossible for our civilization to survive the rhythm of development we are imposing on it. We, therefore, feel the need to build on the ashes of a consumer civilization a new civilization founded on the essential respect for nature and its resources, and the acknowledgement that man's aspirations are not satisfied by the gratification of material needs only. Thus the Order of Minims has a specific role to play in the social field as well. St. Francis' sons, through a sober style of life, fulfill the mission of being a sign of the existence of a hierarchy of values at whose summit is God.
Penance becomes a force capable of giving life, that is able to burst out free of any impediment.
Liberation is one of the deepest aspirations of contemporary man. Besides expressing itself in social-political forms, today it takes on a wider meaning. It expresses a need for change of man's heart, of breaking oppressive mechanisms that threaten man from within and then become cause of all oppressions and violence the weak suffer in the course of history. Such a liberation corresponds to evangelical conversion. Thanks to their charism, the Minim friars, even in this case, can offer man their credible call on the road of penance that makes one free.