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After the death of Francis, Clare became in many ways the holder of his vision for the whole Franciscan movement.
She had a particular and passionate concern to maintain the poverty that had been at the heart of his vision. The church was always rather uneasy about this Franciscan value, especially for women’s communities. When Pope Gregory IX (who, as Cardinal Hugolino, had been a close friend and supporter of Francis) came to Assisi for Francis’ canonization, less than two years after his death, he also visited Clare at San Damiano. Here, he tried to persuade her to receive possessions, because of the dangerous and difficult times in which they lived. But Clare resisted strongly. She was bound by a vow of poverty and had no desire to be free of it. As we have seen, when the pope offered to absolve her from her vow, if that was all that stood in her way, she replied, “Absolve me from…
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