Aviva Directory » Faith & Spirituality » World Religions » Abrahamic Religions » Christianity » Church Divisions » Catholic » Orders & Congregations » Franciscans » Order of Friars Minor

The Order of Friars Minor are a Franciscan Order, generally considered to be the successor to the original Franciscan Order within the Roman Catholic Church, and the largest of the First Orders within the Franciscan family of religious Orders, which includes two others: the Capuchins and Conventuals. The Order of Friars Minor is the result of an amalgamation of several smaller Orders that was completed by Pope Leo XIII in 1897, while ther other two, Capuchin and Conventual, remain distinct religious institutes within the Catholic Church, observing the Rule of Saint Francis with different emphases. Because of thiss, the Order of Friars Minor are often referred to simply as Franciscans, but they may also be known as Minorites, the Seraphic Order, or Grey Friars. The Order of Friars Minor, the Observants, are commonly called Franciscan Friars, while the Capuchins are the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, and the Conventuals are the Friars Minor Conventual. The Franciscan Order itself was started by Francis of Assisi after a sermon that he had heard made such an impression on him that he decided to devote himself wholly to apostolic poverty. Dressed in a rought garment, barefoot, and without even a staff, he began to travel and preach repentance. When the original Rule that disallowed property ownership was relaxed shortly after the Order was established, Saint Clare, under Francis' guidance, founded the Poor Clares in 1212, which remains a Second Order of the Franciscans. After a few splits, the Fifth Lateran Council united the groups that followed the Franciscan Rule in the early 1500s, in which the Observant General was made Minister General of the Whole Order of Saint Francis, and was given the right to confirm the choice of a head for the Conventuals, giving them a level of superiority over the Conventuals, and the other groups were literally united to the Observants.

Categories

Capuchins

Conventuals

 

 

Recommended Resources


Search for Order of Friars Minor on Google or Bing