Order of Friars Minor Capuchin

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Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum[1] (Latin)
FormationFounded: 1209 by St. Francis of Assisi and until the reformation aimed at regaining the original spirit of St. Francis and the Original Habit of St. Francis remained as the part of main branches. Capuchin Reformation started in 1525.[1]
FounderSt. Francis of Assisi
Reformed as Capuchins by Matteo Serafini
TypeMendicant Order of Pontifical Right (for men)[1]
HeadquartersVia Piemonte 70,
Rome, Italy[1]
Members (2020)
10,349 (6,882 priests)[1]
Minister General
Fr. Roberto Genuin, OFMCap
Post-nominal initials
OFMCap
Websiteofmcap.org[1]

The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (

Latin: Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum; postnominal abbr. OFMCap) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three "First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFMObs, now OFM), the other being the Conventuals (OFMConv). Franciscans reformed as Capuchins in 1525 with the purpose of regaining the original Habit (tunic) of St. Francis of Assisi and also for returning to a stricter observance of the rule established by Francis of Assisi
in 1209.

History

Origins

Matteo Bassi (1495–1552), co-founder of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
Bernardino Ochino (1487–1564), co-founder of the Capuchin Order

The Order arose in 1525 when

St. Francis of Assisi, had envisaged.[2]
He sought to return to the primitive way of life of solitude and penance, as practised by the founder of their Order.

His

religious superiors tried to suppress these innovations[2] and Friar Matteo and his first companions were forced into hiding from Church authorities, who sought to arrest them for having abandoned their religious duties. They were given refuge by the Camaldolese monks, in gratitude for which they later adopted the hood (or cappuccio, capuche) worn by that Order—which was the mark of a hermit in that region of Italy—and the practise of wearing a beard. The popular name of their Order originates from this feature of their religious habit
.

In 1528, Friar Matteo obtained the approval of

Conventual Franciscans, but with a Vicar
Provincial of their own, subject to the jurisdiction of the Minister General of the Conventuals. The Observants, the other branch of the Franciscan Order at that time, continued to oppose the movement.

Rules of the Order

In 1529, they had four houses and held their first

General Chapter, at which their particular rules were drawn up. The eremitical
idea was abandoned, but the life was to be one of extreme austerity, simplicity and poverty—in all things as near an approach to St Francis' ideals as was practicable. Neither the monasteries nor the Province should possess anything, nor were any loopholes left for evading this law. No large provision against temporal wants should be made, and the supplies in the house should never exceed what was necessary for a few days. Everything was to be obtained by begging, and the friars were not allowed even to touch money.

The communities were to be small, eight being fixed as the normal number and twelve as the limit. In furniture and clothing extreme simplicity was enjoined and the friars were discalced, required to go bare-footed—without even sandals. Like the Observants, the Capuchins wore a brown habit but of most simple form, i.e. only a tunic, with the distinctive large, pointed hood reaching to the waist attached to it, girdled by the traditional woolen cord with three knots. By visual analogy, the Capuchin monkey and the cappuccino style of coffee are both named after the shade of brown used for their habit.[3][4][5]

Besides the

preaching and spiritual ministrations among the poor. In theology the Capuchins abandoned the later Franciscan School of Scotus and returned to the earlier school of St. Bonaventure
.

Early setbacks

At the outset of its history, the Capuchins underwent a series of severe blows. Two of the founders left it: Matteo Serafini of Bascio (

Calvinist pastor in Zürich, and married. Years later, claims that he had written in favor of polygamy and Unitarianism
caused him to be exiled from that city and he fled again, first to Poland and then to Moravia, where he died.

As a result, the whole province came under the suspicion of heretical tendencies and the Pope[specify] resolved to suppress it. He was dissuaded with difficulty, but the Capuchins were forbidden to preach.

Expansion

Despite earlier setbacks, the authorities were eventually satisfied as to the soundness of the general body of Capuchin friars and the permission to preach was restored. The movement then began to multiply rapidly, and by the end of the 16th century the Capuchins had spread all over the Catholic parts of Europe, so that in 1619 they were freed from their dependence on the Conventual Franciscans and became an independent Order. They are said to have had at that time 1500 houses divided into fifty provinces. They were one of the chief tools in the Catholic Counter-reformation, the aim of the order being to work among the poor, impressing the minds of the common people by the poverty and austerity of their life, and sometimes with sensationalist preaching such as their use of the supposedly possessed

Marthe Brossier to arouse Paris against the Huguenots.[6]

The activities of the Capuchins were not confined to Europe. From an early date they undertook missions to non-Catholics in America, Asia and Africa, and a college was founded in Rome for the purpose of preparing their members for foreign missions. Due to this strong missionary thrust, a large number of Capuchins have suffered

martyrdom
over the centuries. Activity in Europe and elsewhere continued until the close of the 18th century, when the number of Capuchin friars was estimated at 31,000.

Cimitero dei Cappuccini: The Capuchin Crypt

friars adorn the ossuary of the Santa Maria della Concezione

The crypt is located just under the Church of

friary
on the Via dei Lucchesi to the crypt. The bones were arranged along the walls in varied designs, and the friars began to bury their own dead here, as well as the bodies of poor Romans whose tomb was under the floor of the present Mass chapel. Here the Capuchins would come to pray and reflect each evening before retiring for the night.

The

Roman Catholic Church permitted burial in and under churches. The underground crypt is divided into five chapels, lit only by dim natural light seeping in through cracks, and small fluorescent lamps. The crypt walls are decorated extensively with the remains, depicting various religious themes. Some of the skeletons are intact and draped with Franciscan habits
, but for the most part, individual bones are used to create the elaborate ornamental designs.

A plaque in the chapel reads:

What you are now, we used to be.
What we are now, you will be.[7]

Mark Twain visited the crypt in the summer of 1867, and begins Volume 2, Chapter 1, of The Innocents Abroad with five pages of his observations.

Modern era

A Capuchin friar/priest ready to administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession).

Like all other Orders, the Capuchins suffered severely from the

Temperance in Ireland, was a Capuchin friar.[2]

In the

Charles of Austria
.

As of June 2018[update], there were 10,480 Capuchins worldwide, of whom 7,070 were

priests, living and working in 108 countries around the world: Africa: 1,357; South America: 1,657; North America: 664; Asia-Oceania: 2,339; Western Europe: 3,500; Central-Eastern Europe: 769.[8] In Great Britain there are currently five Capuchin friaries, and eight in Ireland
.

The worldwide head of the Order, called the

Minister General, is currently Friar
Roberto Genuin.

India

Main article:
Catholic Church and colonialism

The Capuchin order, under the leadership of Italian Capuchin priest Giuseppe Maria Bernini, took part in the European colonization of India as missionaries and founded the community of Bettiah Christians.[9] Bernini was invited by Maharaja Dhurup Singh of the Bettiah Raj, an appointment that was approved by Pope Benedict XIV on 1 May 1742.[9]

United States

Capuchin friars in Paraguay, wearing the traditional Franciscan habit.

The United States has six provinces throughout the country. Together with the two provinces in Canada, the province of Australia and the Custody of the Mariana Islands/Hawaii they form the North American-Pacific Capuchin Conference (NAPCC).

Foundation

The Province of St. Joseph, originally the province of Calvary, headquartered in

Diocese of Milwaukee by Bishop John Henni, also a Swiss immigrant, and given charge of St. Nicholas Parish which they renamed Mount Calvary. They were later admitted to the Capuchin Order on December 2, 1857, by Antoine Gauchet of the Swiss Province who had been sent to admit them in order to establish the Order in the United States.[10] The friars started St. Lawrence Seminary High School in 1861 at Mount Calvary, Wisconsin
, a school that is still owned and operated by the Capuchin Order.

One of the friars of this province,

Venerable in 1995 by Pope John Paul II. His tomb is in St. Bonaventure Monastery
in Detroit, and is visited by thousands every year.

As of 2011[update], the province has 23 communities spread throughout the

American Midwest, reaching from Michigan to Arizona. Additionally, there are friars of this province working in Central America, with a community serving in the Middle East.[11]

Other jurisdictions

St. Francis Friary – Capuchin College in Washington, D.C. (St. Augustine Province)

Capuchin Poor Clares

The

Maria Laurentia Longo, who was Abbess of the Poor Clare monastery of that city. She and the other nuns of that community embraced the then-new Capuchin reform movement, and so austere was the life that they were called "Sisters of Suffering". The Order soon spread to France, Spain
and beyond. They live according to the same rules and regulations as the Capuchin friars, and are held as members of the friars' provinces.

In the United States, as of 2012, there are five monasteries of this Order. There are about 50 nuns in these communities, which are located in: Denver and Pueblo in Colorado, Alamo and Amarillo (the first, founded 1981) in Texas, and Wilmington, Delaware. The monasteries were almost all founded from Mexico, where there are some 1,350 Capuchin nuns in 73 monasteries. The monastery in Pueblo is a foundation of the monastery in Amarillo. Together they form the Federation of Our Lady of the Angels.[14]

Appearance

The Capuchins are unique for a Catholic religious order in that the growing of natural, untrimmed

beards features as part of its first Constitution, which states as the reason, the beard is "manly, austere, natural, an imitation of Christ and the saints of our Order, and despised." This makes the Capuchin friars stand out in particular from the secular clergy of the Latin Church, who have no rule on such matters. In more recent times, since the Second Vatican Council, the beard has no longer been mandatory but is still common. Like other Franciscans
, the friars wear a plain brown tunic with a hood, a cord fastened around the waist, and sandals (or shoes).

Saints and Blesseds

Felix of Cantalice, the first Capuchin to be declared a saint by the Catholic Church
Veronica Giuliani, a Capuchin Poor Clares nun and mystic
Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, a famous Capuchin stigmatist friar.

Saints

Blesseds

Capuchin Poor Clares

Other notable Capuchins

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (Institute of Consecrated Life - Men) [Catholic-Hierarchy]".
  2. ^ a b c d e Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Capuchins" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  3. ^ Fragaszy; et al. (2004). The complete capuchin : the biology of the genus Cebus. Cambridge University Press. p. 5.
    OCLC 55875701
    .
  4. ^ Capuchin monkeys also have "hoodlike tufts of hair" on their heads. Entry, "capuchin" in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1976), Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
  5. ^ "The Culture of Italian Coffee". Archived from the original on 2011-03-05. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
  6. ISBN 978-0-88920-296-2
  7. ^ Capuchin Crypt Placard Archived 2008-10-22 at the Wayback Machine, Crypto Archeologico: Capuchin Crypts
  8. ^ statistical data from 'Analecta Ordinis Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum, Roma
  9. ^ a b "Diocese of Bettiah". Union of Catholic Asian News. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  10. ^ "FATHER HAAS'S LABORS IN WISCONSIN; The Introducer of the Capuchin Order in the United States" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 June 1895.
  11. ^ "Capuchin Franciscan Province of St Joseph". capuchins.org. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  12. ^ "Capuchin Franciscans, Province of St Conrad". capuchins.org. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  13. ^ "Capuchin Franciscans, Western America Province". capuchins.org. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  14. ^ "The Capuchin Poor Clares". Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  15. ^ a b c "Saints and Blesseds". www.ofmcap.org. Retrieved Jan 11, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c ""Liturgical calendar", Capuchin Franciscan Friars, Province of the Stigmata". Retrieved Jan 11, 2023.
  17. ^ a b c "Capuchins". Capuchins. Retrieved Jan 11, 2023.
  18. ^ a b c "Capuchin Saints, Capuchin Franciscans, St. Conrad Province". capuchins.org. Retrieved Jan 11, 2023.
  19. ^ "Bl. Jacques Ghazir Haddad (1875-1954) - Biography".
  20. ^ "Poor Clares". www.capuchinpoorclares.org. Retrieved 2020-05-04.

Sources

  • There does not appear to be any modern general history of the Capuchin order as a whole, though there are histories of various provinces and of the foreign missions. The references to this literature can be found in the article "Kapuzinerorden" in Wetzer und Welte, Kirchenlexicon (2nd ed.), a general sketch on the subject.
  • Shorter sketches, with the needful references, are given in Max Heimbucher, Orden und Kongregationen (1896), i. §4 and in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopedie (3rd ed.), art. "Kapuziner."
  • Helyot
    's Hist. des ordres religieux (1792), vii. c. 24 and c. 27, gives an account of the Capuchins up to the end of the 17th century.

External links

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