Third Order
Approval
The devotion to a life in community was demonstrated over the centuries by the numerous autonomous congregations of monks and nuns.
Towards the end of the 13th century the Tertiary Regulars had many friaries in different cities. On July 11, 1295, Pope Boniface VIII promulgated the "Cupientes Cultum" Bull which granted to the Tertiary Regulars the right to have a proper place for worship. In so doing he approved the style of community life of the Tertiaries and the pastoral ministry they offered to the people.
Now let us concentrate on the male Third Order (TOR), which dates back to the time of St. Francis of Assisi and gas continued without interruption ever since.
Pope John XXII by the Altissimo in divinis Bull dated November 18, 1323, renewed the Church's approval. He praised the community life that the Tertiary Franciscans were living and declared that it was in accordance with the intentions of Saint Francis.
Centralisation and Organisation
On July 20, 1447, by means of the Pastoralis officii Bull, Pope Niccolo V approved the union of the Tertiary Fraternities of Italy and established it as an independent Order under one general ministry and council. In Italy, the Order spread out and developed in 15 Provinces with a total of 256 convents and about 2000 friars. (The Italian Congregation exists without interruption from St. Francis of Assisi to this day).
In several countries there was a gradual development of national Tertiary Orders. Today, the Third Order is present in 16 countries: Italy, Croatia, Spain, France, Germany, USA, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, Peru, Sweden, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
Some Orders disappeared due to government suppression or war, while others amalgamated with the Italian Congregation in one single entity which today is called the Regular Third Order of Saint Francis.
In the World Today
Pope Innocenzo X closed all the convents and monasteries with fewer than six members. And since the orders of the Tertiary Regulars were predominantly hermotic, small or poor, many were closed down. This was gravely damaging to the order and more or less destroyed an society which has always been of a hermitic nature. To this were added the continuing difficulties caused within the Franciscan Order, and the repeated civil suppressions which rained down upon the already substantially weakened order.
After repeated civil suppressions and a satisfactory recovery the Regular Third Order of Saint Francis is still around today, and present in the following countries: Italy, Croatia, Spain, France, Germany, America, India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, Peru, Sweden, Bangladesh, the Filippines. In total, the number of convents is 208.
At this point you may well ask, But when was the Third Order founded, and by whom?.
As with the other ancient Franciscan families, the Regular Third Order has its origins in the very same Saint Francis of Assisi, and developed with and because of multiple historical circumstances.
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- This is the picture of the Church of St. John of Dukla in Zhytomir, which belongs to Franciscans.
- The statistical information about the Orders, the number of the members, the territories where they are spread is maintained in the section about the Orders.
- About the founded of the Order of St. Francis and St. Clare read in the section «Personalities»
- All illustrations in the site (in the text, in design) are gathered in the section «Miscellanies > Illustrations»
The lines from the text on the picture were taken from the hymns or from the prayers of St. Francis. Read them. Francis wrote them, looking at the environment. He found the hand of the God in everything.
