Pope Francis issued a rescript on May 18, allowing the possibility for lay members of a mixed religious community to be elected to positions of leadership. This welcome change was a long time coming and there is an important history behind it. It was the heads of the four major men's branches of the first order Franciscans: Friars Minor, Conventuals, Capuchins and Third Order Regulars (TOR’s) that

We know with certainty that St. Francis of Assisi was never ordained to the priesthood, although there is some evidence to suggest he may have been a deacon. Nevertheless, Francis exercised the role of leadership over the order which he himself had founded for several years. At the Chapter of 1232, Elias of Cortona, also a lay brother, was elected as the successor to St. Francis. Lay brothers were