 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2014) |
Minister general is the term used for the head or superior general of the different branches of the Order of Friars Minor. It is a term exclusive to the order and comes directly from its founder, St. Francis of Assisi. [1]
Francis chose the word "minister" over "superior" out of his vision that the brothers of the Order were all to be equal, and that the friar supervising his brothers was to be a servant ("minister") who cared for (ministered to) them, not one who lorded over them. The original term is minister generalis in Latin and is found in Chapter 8 of the Rule of Saint Francis. In his lifetime, Francis actively employed the term "minister" to refer to the heads of the various communities of friars who by then were already scattered around Europe.
The term is sometimes written as "general minister", but "minister general" is the official form in the English language, in keeping with other official titles.
In the 20th century, the term also came to be used as well by many religious congregations of the Third Order of St. Francis, in the effort to follow more closely the spirit of the founder of their Order.
The Franciscans are a group of related mendicant Christian religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi, these orders include three independent orders for men, orders for nuns such 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 exist as well, notably in the Anglican and Lutheran traditions.
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.
The Fraticelli or Spiritual Franciscans opposed changes to the rule of Saint Francis of Assisi, especially with regard to poverty, and regarded the wealth of the Church as scandalous, and that of individual churchmen as invalidating their status. The Fraticelli were declared heretical in 1296 by Boniface VIII.
Angelo da Clareno, also known as Angelo Clareno, was the founder and leader of one of the groups of Fraticelli in the early 14th century.
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders of the Roman Catholic church. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the older monastic orders' allegiance to a single monastery formalized by their vow of stability. A friar may be in holy orders or be a brother. The most significant orders of friars are the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, and Carmelites.
A provincial superior is an officer of a religious institute acting under the institute's Superior General. A provincial superior exercises general supervision over all the members of that institute in a territorial division of the order called a province, which is similar to, but not to be confused with, an ecclesiastical province. Instead, the province under a provincial superior is one made up of particular churches or dioceses under the supervision of a Metropolitan Bishop. The division of a religious institute into provinces is generally along geographical lines and may consist of one or more countries, or of only a part of a country. There may be, however, one or more houses of one province situated within the physical territory of another since the jurisdiction over the individual religious is personal, rather than territorial. The title of the office is often abbreviated to Provincial.
The term third order signifies, in general, lay members of Christian religious orders, who do not necessarily live in a religious community such as a monastery or a nunnery, and yet can claim to wear the religious habit and participate in the good works of a great order. Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism all recognize third orders.
The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M.Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the prefix O.F.M.Conv. after their names. They are also known as Conventual Franciscans or Minorites.
Francis of Assisi founded three orders and gave each of them a special rule. Here, only the rule of the first order is discussed, i.e., that of the Order of Friars Minor.
St. Lawrence Seminary High School is a preparatory high school operated by the Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order at Mount Calvary, Wisconsin. The school is in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. It is an all-male boarding school, with approximately 225 students enrolled in grades 9 through 12. The school's mission is to prepare its male students for vocations in the Catholic Church.
Prior is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be lower in rank than the abbey's abbot or abbess.
The Third Order of Saint Francis is a third order in the Franciscan tradition of Christianity, founded by the medieval Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi.
The Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance or simply the Third Order Regular of St. Francis is a mendicant order rooted in the Third Order of St. Francis which was founded in 1221. The members add the nominal letters T.O.R. after their names to indicate their membership in the congregation.
Elias of Cortona was born, it is said, at Bevilia near Assisi, ca. 1180; he died at Cortona, 22 April 1253. He was among the first to join St. Francis of Assisi in his newly founded Order of Friars Minor. In 1221, Francis appointed Elias vicar general.
Daniel and companions were seven Friars Minor martyred at Ceuta on 10 October 1227, according to the Chronicle of the Twenty-Four Generals of the Order of Friars Minor. Their story is likely a legend or fabrication. The names of Daniel's companions are borrowed from the authentic account of the martyrdom of Berard of Carbio and his companions in 1220.
Giovanni Parenti, O.F.M. was an Italian Friar Minor and St. Francis of Assisi's successor as head of the order. Parenti had a legal background. He served as Minister Provincial in Spain before being chosen Minister General in 1227. Parenti held a literal interpretation of poverty as it applied to the order; a view that was not shared by everyone. He stepped down in 1232 and was succeeded by Elias of Cortona.
Custos means a religious superior or an official in the Franciscan Order. The precise meaning has differed over time, and among the Friars Minor, Conventuals, and Capuchins.
A religious brother is a member of a religious institute or religious order who commits himself to following Christ in consecrated life of the Church, usually by the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He is usually a layman and usually lives in a religious community and works in a ministry appropriate to his capabilities.
Crescentius of Jesi, O.F.M. of the Grizi family, was an Italian Friar Minor, who became Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor in 1244. He was an opponent of the Franciscan Spirituals, who insisted on an exact following of poverty according to the example of the founder of the Order, St. Francis of Assisi. He was deposed as Minister in 1247 in favour of John of Parma of their party.
The Order of Friars Minor is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres 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, among many others. The Order of Friars Minor is the largest of the contemporary First Orders within the Franciscan movement.
Organisations founded or inspired by Saint Francis (1181–1226) | ||
| General |  | |
| Orders and groups |
| |
| Popes | ||
 | This Catholic Church–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
