The life of the Secular Franciscan is characterized very differently from the life of the friars and nuns. They follow the same charism and rule that the Franciscan Sisters follow. Their life is to do penance for those who do not do penance. They are called to live a life of prayer, service, community, and detachment from the world, while living in the midst of the secular sphere. They have a rule written by St. Francis, just for them. They have a constitution that has to be approved by the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. They are not a society or a pious union. Their canonical status is that of an order. They’re not even a congregation, but a full-blown order with all of the rights and obligations of an order.
Once they are erected in a diocese the bishop may not suppress them, ask them to leave, or command them to cease their activities. The local bishop has no jurisdiction over them, just as he has no jurisdiction over the friars. Therefore, admission into a diocese is carefully discerned by the bishop and the major superior of the SFO. Once the bishop approves, he cannot retract the approval no matter what his reasons. Only the Holy Father can suppress their existence in a diocese.
To make final profession in the Secular Franciscan Order, the brother or sister must undergo the same series of tests and scrutiniums a the friars. There are classes in the rule, the constitution, the history of the Franciscan family, Church history, doctrine, the spiritual and ascetical life, liturgy and many other areas of religious formation. The candidate must be Catholic, have no canonical impediments. Therefore, a person who is pro-abortion, pro-same-sex marriage, divorced and remarried, has been dismissed from another order or the clerical state is automatically disqualified from admission. If the person is married, he or she must have the approval of the spouse.
They retain their secular state. Their ministry is to sanctify the secular sphere through the corporal works of mercy, the life of prayer, fraternal life, detachment from material things, service to the local Church and service to each other. They may own property individually and collectively. Any property that they own collectively is their own, not the property of the friars, sisters and nuns, nor the property of the local diocese. Their superior general answers directly to the Holy Father in all matters governing them and regarding their property. Like the nuns, sisters and friars, they are bound to obey Francis in all things, as he spells it out for them in the rule.
There is a council of Franciscan Superiors General, where the five Ministers General work together to promote and protect Franciscan life. The Minister General of the Secular Franciscans sits on that council as an equal to the other Ministers General.
Unfortunately, the term “third order” was adopted by lay associations attached to other religious institutes. This has created some confusions, even in the mind of many Secular Franciscans, leading people to wrongly believe that they are a pious society attached to the Franciscan family. They are not, nor were ever such an association. In fact, in 1228, several of them wanted to live in community to do penance. They grew in numbers, with an increasing number of houses. That group was severed from the mother group and renamed, the Third Order Regular. They are the friars who run Franciscan University and St. Francis University. That’s how we get two branches of the Order of Penance, one for friars and the other for seculars. But the seculars ran schools, hospitals, hospices, shelters for the homeless and other institutions. Today, they work with other secular men and women at the local level, instead of running their own institutions. But there are still some institutions run by them, mostly retreat centers.
I hope this helps to clarify some misunderstandings. By the way, they are not the same as the OSF. The OSF are friars and sisters. The SFO are seculars: married and ordained.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
