English Province- Suppression and Restoration

The Franciscan presence in Great Britain is remarkably rich with a long history, hailing from St. Francis himself who initiated the first foundation here in 1224. Today Great Britain is blessed with the presence of all the three families of the First Order.

By 1517 the situation in England was that the fifty or so houses pertaining to the ancient English province of Greyfriars owed their allegiance to the Friars Minor Conventual, while some six houses of Franciscans affiliated to the Friars Minor of the Observance. The six Observant houses were suppressed by Henry VIII in 1534. The Conventual houses received some of the Observant Friars, but in their turn suffered the destruction of the ancient province in 1538/39 during the suppression of the religious Orders in England.

The Reformation
The fate of the friars was shared by all the ancient Orders who had flourishing communities in England. In the long years of persecution that followed Henry VIII's reign, some tried to return in secret to keep alight the flame of true faith in the land. But, these efforts remained that of individual friars, so that not until the nineteenth century and Catholic emancipation, that the religious Orders were able to enjoy full freedom to reestablish themselves in England and Wales.

The Friars Minor Conventual suffered grievously as an Order. The friars found themselves expelled from what had been their homes for several centuries. Thus by the end of the nineteenth century the Order was at a law ebb for personnel and so was in no state to think of expansion in what was still a Protestant country.

Re-establishment
It was only by the beginning of the twentieth century that the Greyfriars were able to return to England. Fr. Bonaventure Scerberras of the Maltese province arrived in England in 1906 with a resolve to restore the ancient province In England. Fr. Vincent Meyer of the Immaculate Conception province, USA, joined him in 1908 to start a tradition of hard work and dedicated service. The passionate efforts and hard work of these great missionaries and their confreres marked the beginning of the re-establishment of the Order in England.

In 1910, at the invitation of the bishop of Southwark diocese the friars started a new foundation in Rye, Sussex. This was the first actual foundation of the Greyfriars since the Reformation. This was followed by other establishments in Liverpool (1926) and Manchester (1929), the two centres from which the province started on its real expansion in the twentieth century England.

Post War England
Although the Second World War delayed the prospects for the full re-establishment of the province, the friars worked hard to pursue a steady path of development. In 1949, the English Commissariate, which had been dependent upon the Immaculate Conception Province of USA since 1919, became an independent unit under the direct jurisdiction of the Minister General. England continued to be a general Commissariate until the autumn of 1957. In that year the ancient province of England was fully revived and the first provincial chapter in England since the Reformation was celebrated at Mossley Hill, Liverpool.

The first forty years after the re-establishment of the English province was characterised by remarkable development, though often under the influence of social, political and religious upheavals that posed constant challenges to the progress. This was an era when the Catholic Church in England had been battling to reestablish herself after the wreckage of the Reformation.

Modern times
As religious life in the Western world is now facing new challenges, the English Province, like the Catholic Church in Britain, is also struggling against the tides of materialism and religious indifference, so characteristic to our secularised society.

Throughout these ups and downs in history the Greyfriars in Great Britain have remained faithful to their charism and tried to contribute to the life of the Church in this nation. However humble and hidden our present efforts may seem to be, there is still optimism for a more renewed and significant future. As custodians and promoters of a great tradition hailing from St. Francis, our presence in Great Britain is so significant to the Order.