Mission

We are the Friars Minor Conventual, Catholic men dedicated to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the spirit of St Francis of Assisi. 

We focus on the Gospel life, embraced by St Francis of Assisi, our Seraphic Father and founder. His light has been guiding us for eight centuries.
We are spread throughout the world in service of the Gospel, living as pilgrims, preaching poverty and penance.
In Great Britain and Ireland we are know as the Greyfriars, a name derived from the colour of our religious habit which was originally made from a greyish unbleached wool.
Under the guidance of Mary Immaculate, Queen of our Franciscan family, we are commited to carry the charism of St Francis to the ends of the Earth.
We have a passionate will to imitate his spirit in modelling Christ perfectly in our hearts and in the lives of all.
As Friars Minor Conventual, we lead a common life where the Friary is the centre of our life and the venue for fraternal sanctification.
As messengers of peace and brotherhood we work together as a fraternity to rebuild the Church of Christ and renew the face of the Earth, a mission we have inherited from our founder.
We have a great tradition of Saints and Blesseds, holy men, who laboured with love to accomplish this marvelous mission throughout the centuries.
The spirit of St Francis and the Gospel of Jesus Christ are the only inspiring force behind all our activities.
We look forward to growing closer to Christ through Francis and with each other.

We carry the charism of St. Francis around the world.
1. We commit ourselves to proclaiming our firm conviction that violence and terrorism are incompatible with the authentic spirit of religion. As we condemn every recourse to violence and war in the name of God or of religion, we commit ourselves to doing everything possible to eliminate the root causes of terrorism.
2. We commit ourselves to educating people to mutual respect and esteem, in order to help bring a peaceful and fraternal coexistence between people of different ethnic groups, cultures and religion.
3. We commit ourselves to fostering the culture of dialogue, so that there will be an increase of understanding and mutual trust between individuals and among peoples, for these are the premise of authentic peace.
4. We commit ourselves to defending the right of everyone to live a decent life in accordance with their own cultural identity and to form freely a family of his own.
5. We commit ourselves to frank and patient dialogue, refusing to consider our difference as an insurmountable barrier, but recognising instead that to encounter the diversity of others can become an opportunity for greater reciprocal understanding.
6. We commit ourselves to forgiving one another in a common effort both to overcome selfishness and arrogance, hatred and violence, and to learn from the past that justice is the way to true peace.
7. We commit ourselves to taking the side of the poor and the helpless, to speaking out for those who have no voice and to working effectively to change these situations, out of the conviction that no one can be happy alone.
8. We commit ourselves to encouraging all efforts to promote friendship between people, for we are convinced that in the absence of solidarity and understanding between peoples, technological progress exposes the world to a growing risk of destruction and death.
9. We commit ourselves to taking up the cry of those who refuse to be resigned to violence and evil, and we desire to make every effort possible to offer the men and women of our time real hope for justice and peace.
10. We commit ourselves to be urging leaders of nations to make every effort to create and consolidate, on the national and international levels, a world of solidarity and peace based on justice.

Our Missions
The foundation of the Franciscan apostolic life is the desire to proclaim the Good News to all creation.
St. Francis of Assisi is hailed as a Catholic and fully apostolic man. From the beginning of his religious life, Francis wanted to live to the fullest his communion with the Church, the Pope and bishops. Therefore, Francis and his friars not only took an active role in the ecclesial community, but also participated with zeal and dedication in the apostolic and missionary activities of the Church. "Francis did not consider himself a friend of God unless he loved the souls whom Christ had loved."(2 Cel.172) Thus burning with zeal for the salvation of souls, he passionately set out to proclaim the Good News of salvation to everyone.
St. Francis sent out his friars two by two into the world to preach penance and peace to all.
Francis received the missionary mandate from Christ Himself in the words, "Go, repair my house [church] which is falling into ruins"(2 Cel.10). The followers of Francis have, down through the centuries, been engaged in this apostolic mission of renewing the people of God through penitential preaching and other evangelical activities. Thus we still respond to Christ's command to renew the Church in its pilgrim course.
Before his death, St. Francis asked that his friars be as faithful to the Church as to the Gospel.
We friars try to place our spirit of Franciscan fraternity at the service of the Church in a diversity of ways -- parish ministry, a publishing house, an international study centre, university chaplaincies, the preaching of retreats, youth ministry, work among migrants and immigrants, and the promoting of the Church's efforts for peace, justice, interreligious dialogue, and safeguarding of the environment.  We work to promote the Secular Franciscan Order (SFO), and the Crusade of Mary Immaculate (MI).  Undergirding all that we are and do is the simple desire to be as faithful to the Gospel and the Church as St. Francis was, and to let the spirit of St. Francis touch the souls of all whom we serve.

Peace and Justice
Together with all our Franciscan sisters and brothers around the world we commit ourselves to the following tasks:
In all the areas of our life and ministry, we commit ourselves to be promoters of peace, pardon and reconciliation among individuals, groups, peoples and nations.
We promote tolerance, hospitality and respect towards all cultures and religions, without renouncing our own humble fidelity to the Gospel truth.
We promote a social system where the dignity of every human life is regarded as a highest value and as a basic right.
Amidst the culture of greed and division we promote real respect for nature, the mother earth, which is the dwelling place of all the people of the present and future. Therefore we raise our voice against every form of exploitation of our planet Earth.
In a world wounded by hatred, injustice and violence, we Conventual Franciscans try to be promoters of peace, love and brotherhood.

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