RE: What Francis would do if he encountered poverty in the modern world

Francis would most likely be appalled if he saw how the world is today. There are tow extremes in the world and they mostly have to do with what country you are in. Most European, north american and australian countries do not suffer from poverty and hunger. However south american, african, and asian countries are under hard economic times and need the help of other countries that are more fortunate. I think that Francis would begin a campaign to encourage countries such as the united states and and china to provide more care and tools for people that are not able to provide for themselves.

RE: What Saint Francis Meant to Different People

Francis meant a lot of things to different people. To Clare, possibly a reason to branch out in the world and gain power as a woman during medieval times. To Pope Innocent III, maybe a sign of change and reformation to the church. And to Francis's Francis's Father, a big mistake that stole and gave away his hard earned possessions.
Whatever the case is, Francis for the majority gave a positive aura that made people wish to make their lives better and bring themselves closer to God.
Today people are drawn to people that are much similar to Francis. Students at Briar Cliff are naturally drawn the campus leaders that devote their lives to helping others, such as Sister Janet or Bev Wharton.

RE: Supernatural Phenomena

From what I can tell, the majority of the world's religions are based on two things: promoting people to do good things and unexplained supernatural phenomena. Religions based on these two things dates back to pre-history (The invention of writing).
From the God Zeus to more modern time accepted Gods of Christian faiths, they both seem encourage or enforce doing good things. Another reason gods existed was to explain natural phenomena such as earth quakes and floods.
Unfortunately, there have also been some versions of God that encourage violence and non-tolerance. Two examples would be the Extremist- Muslim group that believe that they are pleasing Allah by murdering infidels and another would be small groups of extreme-catholic religions that persecute homosexuals and people that do not conform to a modern and heterosexual society.
God or Gods will always continue to change in the eyes of people as time goes along, but one thing will always remain constant; people need something to believe in in order to give them reason to do in good conscience and have something to explain why things happen.