Other Franciscans

We Capuchin-Franciscan Friars are just one part of the huge multifaceted family of spiritual children of St. Francis of Assisi.

(Some other sites besides this one which treat the entire family, include one in French and one in Spanish.)

The vast majority of us, following the example and exhortation of Francis himself, promise "obedience and reverence to" the Pope and to the Roman Catholic Church.

There are three main branches of this family tree, which historically have been called the First, Second and Third orders.

Friars Minor

The First Order, THE FRIARS MINOR (literally the Lesser Brothers), who follow the rule written for them by St. Francis.

Over the centuries, various movements to achieve greater fidelity to the mind of Francis has divided the First Order into a number of autonomous groups.

Three of these have papal recognition:

CAPUCHIN FRANCISCAN FRIARS (O.F.M.Cap.) That's us! -- 11,340 friars
CONVENTUAL FRANCISCAN FRIARS (O.F.M.Conv.) -- 4,564 friars
FRANCISCAN FRIARS (O.F.M.) -- 17,556 friars

There are also several groups who have recently separated from the Friars Minor and have received separate recognition, either from the papal see or various dioceses. Technically considered congregations rather than orders by the Church, they include:

FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF THE IMMACULATE (F.F.I.) -- 189 friars
FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF THE RENEWAL (C.F.R.)
FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF THE PRIMATIVE OBSERVANCE
FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF MARY IMMACULATE (O.F.M.I.)

Poor Clares

The Second Order, the POOR CLARES, who follow the rule written for them by St. Clare of Assisi.

The movement toward great fidelity has also clustered the Poor Clares in various groupings, especially

THE CAPUCHIN POOR CLARES (O.S.C.Cap.) -- 2,399 sisters
THE COLETTINE POOR CLARES (P.C.C.) -- 792 sisters
THE URBANIST POOR CLARES OF THE PRIMITIVE OBSERVANCE (O.S.C.) -- 1,238 sisters
OTHER POOR CLARES -- 8,224 sisters
     including THE POOR CLARES OF PERPETUAL ADORATION (P.C.P.A.)

The Third Order

The Third Order follows a rule St. Francis wrote for lay people.

Over the subsequent eight centuries, over 400 groups of these lay people have for sundry reasons decided to join together in community life as religious. As a result, there are now two major branches of the Third Order:

THE SECULAR FRANCISCANS (S.F.O.) the most numerous branch of the Franciscan family
THIRD ORDER FRANCISCAN RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES the second most numerous branch of the family

The makeup of this last-mentioned group is so multifaceted that we will list here only a few of them. Actually at least 35 such groups are active within Capuchin Mid-America.

Men:

Brothers of the Poor of St. Francis (C.F.P)
Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Cross (F.F.S.C.)
Franciscan Friars of the Atonement (S.A.)
Franciscan Missionary Brothers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (O.S.F.)
Franciscan Missionary Hermits of St. Joseph (F.M.H.J.)
Franciscan Missionariess of the Eternal Word (M.F.V.A.)
Third Order Regular of St. Francis (T.O.R.)

Women:

Felician Sisters (C.S.S.F.)
Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (F.M.M.)
Franciscan Sisters of Mary (F.S.M.)
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (Colo.Springs)(O.S.F.)
Franciscan Sisters of Philadelphia (O.S.F.)
Franciscan Sisters of Millvale (O.S.F)
Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement (S.A.)
Franciscan Sisters of the Martyr St. George (O.S.F.)
Franciscan Sisters of the Poor (S.F.P.)

There is also at least one Franciscan secular institute:

Franciscan Secular Institute of Missionaries of the Kingship of Christ (S.I.M.)

Other Franciscans Not In Communion With The Pope

Besides the many groups mentioned above, the internet indicates the existence of several Franciscan groups who profess to follow Francis, without accepting his requirement of obedience to the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. They include:

Ecumenical Franciscans (Assisi-Kredsen) of Denmark
Franciscan Community of Our Savior (Anglican)
Franciscan Order of Celi De (Anglican Celtic) (F.O.C.D.) consisting of the Gray Friars and the Sisters of Brigit and Clare
Franciscans of the Anglican-rite Catholic Church
Order of Ecumenical Franciscans
Society of St. Francis (Anglican) S.S.F.
Society of Saint Francis of Assisi of the Catholic Apostolic Church
Third Order of the Society of St. Francis (Anglican)
Franciscan Chapter of the Company of Jesus

There also seems to be a group known as "The Sisters of the Passion and Cross (Traditional Poor Clare Capuchins) of Boardman OH" (http://www.rc.net/spc) which describes itself as "Roman Catholic and faithful to the authentic Magisterium," but as a matter of fact there is no such group approved by either Pope John Paul II or the local bishop of Youngstown.

Other Sites

Members of many different branches of the Franciscan family have joined efforts to form Franciscans International, a non-governmental organization (NGO) bringing Franciscan thought to bear on various issues dealt with at the United Nations.

There is also a very fine Jubilee site on Assisi.

This page was not meant to be a directory of every Franciscan website. For a huge list of Franciscan-related websites, see The Franciscan Archive.

For a list of several hundred assorted Franciscans with e-mail access, see Franciscans-on-Line.

Finally, here are also a few CHOICE non-franciscan Catholic sites which our webPorter recommends as invaluable:

AlaPadre Catholic Corner
[directory of ca 10,000 Catholic websites]

Canadian Catholic iEnchiridion [extensive Catholic resources, including list of all saints canonized by John Paul II]

The [Old] Catholic Encyclopedia 1912
[excellent for historical background]

Directory of ALL the Catholic Dioceses of the World

Eternal Word Television Network Website
[a huge resource of Catholic materials, including audio material]

Google Search Engine [not a Catholic site, but THE search par excellence for all things, Catholic and otherwise]

National Catholic Conference of Bishops/United States Catholic Conference

The Vatican Website

Zenit [Rome-based Catholic news with worldwide coverage]

To summon the webPorter.