The Franciscans are a group of related mendicant religious orders of the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi,these orders include three independent orders for men,an order for nuns known as the Order of Saint Clare,and the Third Order of Saint Francis open to male and female members. They 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 or other groups have been established since the late 19th century as well,particularly in the Anglican and Lutheran traditions.
Bonaventure was an Italian Catholic Franciscan bishop,cardinal,scholastic theologian and philosopher.
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church,one of three "First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant,the other being the Conventuals (OFMConv). Franciscans reformed as Capuchins in 1525 with the purpose of regaining the original Habit (tunic) of St. Francis of Assisi and also for returning to a stricter observance of the rule established by Francis of Assisi in 1209.
Thomas Merton,religious name M. Louis,was an American Trappist monk,writer,theologian,mystic,poet,social activist and scholar of comparative religion. He was a monk in the Trappist Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani,near Bardstown,Kentucky,living there from 1941 to his death.
St. Bonaventure University is a private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure,New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Franciscans established the university in 1858.
Franciscan University of Steubenville is a private Franciscan university in Steubenville,Ohio,United States. As of fall 2023,the university enrolled 3,750 students in 40 undergraduate and 8 graduate degree programs. The student body is majority Catholic,and Franciscan claims to have the largest number of students majoring in theology,catechetics,and philosophy of any Catholic university in the United States.
Luke Wadding,was an Irish Franciscan friar and historian.
Scotism is the philosophical school and theological system named after John Duns Scotus,a 13th-century Scottish philosopher-theologian. The word comes from the name of its originator,whose Opus Oxoniense was one of the most important documents in medieval philosophy and Roman Catholic theology,defining what would later be declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in his constitution Ineffabilis Deus on 8 December 1854.
Bonaventure Baron was a distinguished Irish Franciscan friar and a noted theologian,philosopher,teacher and writer of Latin prose and verse.
Washington Theological Union (WTU) was a Catholic graduate school of theology and seminary in Washington,D.C,United States,founded in 1968. It stopped accepting students in 2011 ceased operations in 2015.
Oblate School of Theology is a Catholic graduate school for theological studies and spirituality in San Antonio,Texas. It was founded in 1903 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Louis Studer,OMI,has served as its president since July 2024.
Ronald Rolheiser,is a Catholic priest and theologian. He received his doctorate at the University of Louvain,and is a member of the Catholic Theological Society of America,the Canadian Theological Society,and the Religious Studies Association of Alberta. In August 2005 Rolheiser was elected president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio,Texas. He has since retired from the position and now teaches classes for Oblate's PhD and MA students in Christian Spirituality. Prior to moving to Oblate School of Theology,Rolheiser taught for many years at Newman Theological College in Edmonton,Alberta. Rolheiser is a specialist in the fields of spirituality and systematic theology.
Francis Davenport,O.M.R.,also known as Francis of Saint Clare,was an English Catholic theologian,a Recollect friar and royal chaplain.
Philotheus Boehner was a member of the Franciscan order known for medieval scholarship.
Laurence Bonaventure Sheil OFM was an Irish Franciscan friar,who served as the third Roman Catholic Bishop of Adelaide. Born in Ireland,he was educated at St Peter's College,Wexford,and at the Franciscan College of St Isidore,Rome,Sheil was sent to the British Colony of New South Wales in Australia after being ordained a priest. There,he served as an educator and administrator,before poor health saw him move to Ballarat as archdeacon.
John Duns Scotus was a Scottish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar,university professor,philosopher and theologian. He is one of the four most important Christian philosopher-theologians of Western Europe in the High Middle Ages,together with Thomas Aquinas,Bonaventure and William of Ockham.
The Pontifical University of St. Bonaventure or Pontifical Theological Faculty of Saint Bonaventure,commonly called the Seraphicum,is the international study center of the Friars Minor Conventual in Rome. As a Pontifical faculty,the Seraphicum is governed by the Holy See according to the Apostolic Constitution Sapientia christiana.
Peter Fehlner,also known as Peter Damian Mary Fehlner,was a Catholic priest,theologian,and Mariologist. He was a member of the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor Conventual. After his Franciscan and theological formation and several decades of ministry in this Order,he joined the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in 1996,but in 2016 he professed again the Rule and the Constitutions of ancient Franciscan Conventual Order. From 2008 to 2014,he served as rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse,Wisconsin. He was also a professor of theology in the Franciscans' Institute of Ecclesiastical Studies,the Immaculatum (STIM) in Frigento,Italy. A scholar in the Franciscan tradition of theology,he focused primarily on the philosophical and theological traditions of St. Bonaventure,Bl. John Duns Scotus and St. Maximilian Kolbe.
Joseph Ha Chi-shing,O.F.M.,is a Roman Catholic bishop and currently the auxiliary bishop of Hong Kong.
