Our Missions

The foundation of 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 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.

 
Although deeply engaged in parish ministry and relatively few in numbers, we still try to maintain the great Franciscan tradition of preaching and missionary work. We offer ministerial support to the diocesan clergy, perhaps seemingly simple but well in accord with the ideal of St. Francis who admonished his friars to be at the service of clergy and bishops. The work for spreading devotion to the Immaculate Virgin Mary through the Crusader of MI, the efforts in promoting vocations to the Order and to the SFO, Justice and Peace activities, etc. are some of our local missionary endeavours. Another significant contribution is our Youth Ministry. Our friars continue the great Franciscan apostolate of ministering at the universities, where they also maintain our Franciscan presence and promote the intellectual traditions of the Order.

England has always offered significant support to the foreign missions of the Order. Despite the pressing needs in this country, two of our friars are currently engaged in missionary work in Africa. Furthermore, we continue to support the missionary activities of the Order by assisting the formation of missionary friars of other provinces of the Order.