Franciscans

Background

Francis (c. 1181/1182–1226) was born into a wealthy merchant family in Assisi, Italy. According to tradition, experiences such as an encounter with a leper led him to turn to a life of prayer and penance (repenting of sin and making amends through corresponding acts). Passages such as Luke 9:3 and Luke 9:23 became the foundation for the way of life and the rule of the movement he began.

History

Founding and Approval of the Rule

• 1209: As his followers increased, Francis wrote a simple rule and received oral approval for it from Pope Innocent III. The Catholic Church regards this as the founding of the order. Its name, the Order of Friars Minor (abbreviated OFM), expresses humility.
• The first rule forbade the possession of property, so members supported themselves by preaching and begging for food. Orders of this kind are called mendicant orders.
• The lay "Order of Penance," formed by those who imitated the friars, became today's Secular Franciscan Order (Third Order). A women's order founded by Clare under Francis's guidance (Second Order, the Poor Clares) also emerged.
• November 29, 1223: Pope Honorius III approved a newly written rule by papal bull. The strict provisions on poverty were somewhat relaxed at this time.

The Poverty Controversy and Divisions

After Francis's death in 1226, a long dispute arose over how strictly the provisions on poverty should be observed. Those who sought strict observance later came to be called the "Observants," while those who accepted papal dispensations relaxing the rule were called the "Conventuals." The conflict deepened after the death of Minister General Bonaventure in 1274.

• 1517: By papal bull, Pope Leo X united those who sought to observe the rule without relaxation as the Observants, and from that point the Conventuals effectively became a separate order. In the same year, Martin Luther issued the Ninety-five Theses.
• 1528: The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, which sought to follow the original Franciscan way of life more rigorously, received papal approval.
• 1897: Pope Leo XIII reunited the various branches within the Observants as the Order of Friars Minor. The Conventuals and the Capuchins remained separate.

Arrival in Korea

The Order of Friars Minor came to Korea on September 14, 1937, when two missionaries from the Canadian province arrived in Busan, and it established its first friary in Daejeon in 1938. Although its work was interrupted by the Pacific War and the Korean War, the order reestablished itself after the wars and founded a friary in Jeong-dong, Seoul, in 1963. The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin entered Korea in 1986.

Outcomes and Influence

• The "Franciscan family," which follows the rule of Francis, consists of the First Order (the Order of Friars Minor, the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, and the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin), the Second Order (the Poor Clares), and the Third Order (including the Secular Franciscan Order).
• According to reports from 2021, the Order of Friars Minor has approximately 13,000 members in some 120 countries. In Korea, its work includes parish ministry, residential facilities for North Korean defectors, and the operation of retreat centers.

Assessment

The Catholic Church holds that the spirituality of Francis, with its emphasis on poverty, brotherhood, love for creation, and peace, remains alive to this day. At the same time, the history of the order is one of repeated division and reform over the interpretation of poverty.

Protestantism has no system of religious orders. The Reformation tradition criticized the view of monastic life as a special path to salvation and instead upheld the priesthood of all believers, the understanding that every believer serves God within his or her everyday vocation. Nevertheless, Francis's poverty and humility are sometimes cited even within Protestantism as an example of piety.