Concept

Franciscans

Overview

The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest contemporary male order), an order for nuns known as the Order of Saint Clare, and the Third Order of Saint Francis, a religious and secular group open to male and female members.

Franciscans adhere to the teachings and spiritual disciplines of the founder and of his main associates and followers, such as Clare of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, and Elizabeth of Hungary. Several smaller Protestant Franciscan orders have been established since the late 19th century as well, particularly in the Lutheran and Anglican traditions. Certain Franciscan communities are ecumenical in nature, having members who belong to several Christian denominations.

Francis began preaching around 1207 and traveled to Rome to seek approval from Pope Innocent III in 1209 to form a religious order. The original Rule of Saint Francis approved by the pope did not allow ownership of property, requiring members of the order to beg for food while preaching. The austerity was meant to emulate the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Franciscans traveled and preached in the streets, while staying in church properties. Clare, under Francis's guidance, founded the Poor Clares (Order of Saint Clare) of the Franciscans.

The extreme poverty required of members was relaxed in the final revision of the rule in 1223. The degree of observance required of members remained a major source of conflict within the order, resulting in numerous secessions. The Order of Friars Minor, previously known as the "Observant" branch, is one of the three Franciscan First Orders within the Catholic Church, the others being the "Conventuals", formed in 1209, and the "Capuchins", founded in 1520.

The Order of Friars Minor in its current form is the result of an amalgamation of several smaller orders completed in 1897 by Pope Leo XIII. The Capuchins and Conventuals remain distinct religious institutes within the Catholic Church, observing the Rule of Saint Francis with different emphases. Conventual Franciscans are sometimes referred to as minorites or greyfriars because of their habit. In Poland and Lithuania they are known as Bernardines, after Bernardino of Siena, although the term elsewhere refers to Cistercians instead.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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Other regulations, of a similar tendency, were established in other parts of Europe. But the power of the pope, in the collation of the great benefices of the church, seems, before the reformation, to have been nowhere so effectually and so universally restrained as in France and England. The concordat afterwards, in the sixteenth century, gave to the kings of France the absolute right of presenting to all the…
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
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1: Angel means "messenger." So all the heavenly spirits, so far as they make known Divine things, are called "angels." But the superior angels enjoy a certain excellence, as regards this manifestation, from which the superior orders are denominated. The lowest order of angels possess no excellence above the common manifestation; and therefore it is denominated from manifestation only; and thus the common name…
Aquinas Thomas, Summa Theologica, Part I
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1. Heretics, all who favor them, and all who read their books. 2. Pirates, especially such as dare to cruise on the seas belonging to the sovereign pontiff. 3. Those who impose fresh tolls on their lands. 10. Those who, in any way whatsoever, prevent the execution of the apostolical letters, whether they grant pardons or inflict penalties. 11. All lay judges who judge ecclesiastics, and bring them before their…
Voltaire, A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 02
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Franciscans

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