There was the incident of the little lamb. Her bleating as she hung, feet bound, on the way to market, touched the saint's compassionate heart causing his eyes to well with tears. He immediately directed his brothers to acquire the condemned lamb and commissioned a family to care for her in a manner befitting a creature of God. St. Francis regularly preached to the birds, addressing them as brothers and sisters. The life of St Francis provides many more examples of boundless compassion.
Sceptics are free to smile and wallow smugly in their doubts.
However, the full extent of the saint's legacy has yet to be realised. St Francis has demonstrated that humanity is capable of replicating Christ's dynamic compassion. The RC Church has its template for the new Millennium. It is now time for the RC Church to encourage its adherents to put aside practices which inflict misery and pain on other species and urge them to adopt a diet more in keeping with God's original Edenic will.