. One of the two major mendicant religious groups, the Franciscan order (officially the Fratres minores, “little,” or “lesser,” brothers) was founded in Italy in the early 13th century by Francis of Assisi and had spread by the...

FRANCISCANS is the common designation for a number of religious communities professing to live according to the ideals of Francis of Assisi (1181/1182–1226). In 1206 Francis withdrew to the margins of society to adopt the life of a penitent...

The term Franciscan is used to refer to those in Roman Catholic and Anglican religious orders which follow a body of regulations known as "The rule of St. Francis",[1] or a member of one of these orders. There are also small Old Catholic and Protestant...

Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley is going high-tech. He already has his own blog, now he plans to start podcasting to the masses, beginning with downloadable Christmas messages.The video messages _ in English, Spanish and Portuguese _ are part of a broader effort by the Boston...

The number of men and women belonging to Roman Catholic religious orders worldwide has continued to decline but there has been an increase in priests assigned to dioceses, the Vatican said Tuesday.The Vatican's statistics office said the total number of priests worldwide — those belonging...

Pope Benedict XVI named four new saints Sunday from France, Malta, the Netherlands and Poland at a ceremony in St. Peter's Square attended by several heads of state and thousands of faithful.The presidents of Ireland, Malta, Poland and the Philippines attended the canonization Mass for...

Police evicted 65 rebellious ex-nuns Wednesday from a convent they illegally occupied for two years after defying a Vatican order to replace their mother superior, a charismatic leader who had religious visions.The defeated nuns walked out in their black habits _ some carrying guitars, drums...