The desert fathers and mothers and ancient monasteries tried in their own way, within the limitations of their times, to be welcoming, hospitable havens. St. Francis tried enthusiastically to include everyone, beginning with the most wretched, most excluded member of his society — the leper. When he served and kissed a leper himself, he realized that every human being is a child of God and that God excludes no one. From then on, he demonstrated a "preferential love for the poor and excluded," as church theologians now describe it.
— John Dear, Living Peace