Order of Friars Minor Conventuals

The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv), commonly known as the Conventual Franciscans, or Minorites, is a branch of the Catholic Order of Friars Minor, founded by Francis of Assisi in 1209.

The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (or Conventual Franciscans), is a mendicant Catholic religious order. It is one of three separate fraternities that make up the First Order of St. Francis, that is, the friars. (The Second Order is the Poor Clares, an order of women; members of the Third Order may be men or women, secular or regular (i.e., following a rule).

It is not entirely clear how the term "Conventual" arose. In the Bull "Cum tamquam veri" of 5 April, 1250, Pope Innocent IV decreed that Franciscan churches where convents existed might be called Conventual churches, and some have maintained that the name "Conventual" was first given to the religious residing in such convents. Another view holds that word Conventualis was used to distinguish the residents of large convents from those who lived more after the manner of hermits. (Although in modern usage "convents" are generally understood to mean in particular the home of female religious, just as monastery denotes that of men, originally "convent" referred to the entire community of a monastic establishment.

The Order of Friars Minor Conventual is spread throughout the world, and as of 2017 includes about 4500 priests and brothers, all commonly called Friars. There are four provinces of Conventual Franciscans in the United States. Friars serve in parishes, schools, as chaplains for the military and for other religious orders; they serve in various types of homes and shelters, and with Catholic Relief Services. Particular characteristics of the Conventuals' tradition are community life and the apostolate in the cities.

Even during the early days of the Franciscans a difference of opinion developed in the community concerning the interpretation of the rule regarding poverty. Towards the end of Francis' life, there was a growing trend for the brothers to live in larger communities (“convents”) and to be engaged in pastoral work, particularly in the cities. As the order grew, the literal and unconditional observance of this came to appear impracticable by the great expansion of the order, its pursuit of learning, and the accumulated property of the large cloisters in the towns. Some favored a relaxation in the rigor of the rule, especially as regards the observance of poverty, and other preferred to keep to its literal strictness. The tendency towards relaxation became more marked after the death of Francis in 1226, and was encouraged by his successor, Brother Elias. A long dispute followed in which the “Friars of the Community”, who had adopted certain mitigations gradually came to be called Conventuals, while those who were zealous for the strict observance of the rule were called Zelanti, and afterwards named Observants. Notwithstanding this division in the order formally sanctioned in 1415 by the Council of Constance, both Observants and Conventuals continued to form one body under the same head until 1517.

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