External links
- Franciscan Brothers of Peace
- Goodnough, Abby. "In Two Friars, Family Finds Spiritual Support and More", The New York Times, March 5, 2005
The Franciscan Brothers of Peace is a Roman Catholic, Franciscan association for men. It was founded in 1982 by Michael Gaworski. It was recognized as a public association of the faithful in 1994 by Archbishop Roach. The mother house of the order is in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. As of January 2020 [update] they were 11 brothers. [1] In keeping with their anti-abortion charism, the Brothers advocate for the unborn, the handicapped, the elderly and the poor.
Michael Gaworski was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma July 31, 1958, and grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. Active in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement, he became attracted to Franciscan spirituality after reading the Little Flowers of Saint Francis (Fioretti). He graduated from Saint Thomas Academy in 1977. [2]
The son of Charles and Mary Kaye O'Donnell, Paul Joseph O'Donnell was born December 15, 1959. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1982. In 1986 O'Donnell and Gaworski founded P.E.A.C.E (renamed in 1986 Pro-Life Action Ministries). O'Donnell participated in thousands of prayer vigils and rallies at abortion facilities, and became a spokesperson for the fight against active euthanasia. [3]
After attending the National Charismatic Renewal Conference held at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana, in May 1982, Gawaorski, along with O'Donnell founded the Franciscan Brothers of Peace. In 1986, the Brotherhood was given canonical status as a Private Association of the Faithful. [2]
In 1991 Gaworski contracted a bacterial pneumonia which left him profoundly disabled. The Brothers assumed his 24-hour care. This experience led them to expand their ministry to advocate for brain injured persons.
On January 1, 1994, Archbishop John R. Roach, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis designated the Brotherhood a Public Association of the Faithful. Michael Gaworski died August 28, 2003. [2]
Paul Joseph O'Donnell, longtime guardian (superior) of the Franciscan Brothers of Peace was also a founding board member of Human Life Alliance. O'Donnell died February 20, 2015, at the age of 55. [4]
In November 2009 the Brothers conducted a holiday grocery drive which provided both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to 575 families. [5] In spring 2011 over 800 pounds of canned food was delivered to the Brothers "food shelf" program through the "Food for Fines" program of the University of St. Thomas library. [6]
The Brothers work with the Center For Victims of Torture to provide for the temporary housing, transportation and clothing, nutritional, communication, etc., needs of international victims of torture.
The Queen of Peace Friary is located in St. Paul, Minnesota. [7]
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The University of St. Thomas is a private, Catholic university in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1885 as a Catholic seminary, it is named after Thomas Aquinas, the medieval Catholic theologian and philosopher who is the patron saint of students. As of fall 2021, St. Thomas enrolls nearly 9,347 students, making it Minnesota's largest private, nonprofit university.
Harry Joseph Flynn was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis from 1995 to 2008. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette from 1989 to 1994.
The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by an archbishop who administers the archdiocese from the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The archbishop has both a cathedral and co-cathedral: the mother church, the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Saint Paul and the co-cathedral, the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis.
Thomas Langdon Grace was an American prelate who served as the second Roman Catholic Bishop of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Richard Edmund Pates is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Pates served as bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines in Iowa from 2008 to 2019 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota from 2000 to 2008.
The Brothers and Sisters of Penance of St. Francis is an Association of the faithful of the Roman Catholic Church whose members strive to model their lives according to the Rule and Statutes of the Primitive Rule of the Third Order of St. Francis, which was written for lay people in 1221 by Cardinal Hugolino dei Conti dei Segni at the request of St. Francis of Assisi.
Frederick Francis Campbell is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Campbell served as the Bishop of Columbus in Ohio from 2005 to 2019 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis from 1999 to 2004.
The Little Brothers of St. Francis were members of a Roman Catholic institute of Religious Brothers founded in the Archdiocese of Boston on September 8, 1970, by Brother James T. Curran, L.B.S.F.. Canonically designated as a Private Association of the Faithful, the community was spiritually affiliated to the Province of the Immaculate Conception of the Order of Friars Minor. Striving to be poor in spirit, they worked to serve the needs of the homeless primarily through prayer and presence. They followed a contemplative life based on the Rule of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, also influenced by the Rule for Hermitages written by St. Francis of Assisi. The community disbanded in 2013.
Guardian Angels Catholic Church is a historic church located in Chaska, Minnesota founded in 1858. A Roman Catholic church, Guardian Angels is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
David Robert Haas is an American author and composer of contemporary Catholic liturgical music. In 2020, dozens of women accused him of sexual misconduct spanning several decades, and he issued a public apology for harmful behavior.
In the Catholic Church, an association of the Christian faithful or simply association of the faithful sometimes called a public association of the faithful, is a group of baptized persons, clerics or laity or both together, who, according to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, jointly foster a more perfect life or promote public worship or Christian teaching, or who devote themselves to other works of the apostolate.
John Michael Miller, CSB is a Canadian bishop of the Catholic Church. He is the Archbishop of Vancouver, succeeding to the position in 2009 after serving as its coadjutor archbishop and as Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education. Prior to his appointment as bishop, he was a professor and academic administrator at the University of St. Thomas (UST) in Houston.
Robert James Carlson is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the ninth archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis in Missouri from 2009 to 2020.
John Francis Kinney was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud in Minnesota from 1995 to 2013.
Bernard Anthony Hebda is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has served as the twelfth ordinary of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis since March 24, 2016.
Arthur Leo Kennedy is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts from 2010 to 2017.After retirement, Kennedy took up residence at St. Mary's Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Andrew Harmon Cozzens is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Crookston in Minnesota since 2021. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota from 2013 to 2021.
Joseph Andrew Williams is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota since 2021.
Saint Paul's Outreach (SPO) is a Catholic missionary organization in the United States which serves college students and young adults. It is a private association of the faithful established in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. SPO describes its mission as follows: "to build transformational communities that form missionary disciples for life."
