The question is in the title…John XXIII was a Third Order Franciscan. However, none of the lists of the popes list him as one. From what I have seen, there have been three Franciscans and 2 Conventual Franciscan popes,
Other Third Order Franciscan popes include: Gregory IX, Bl. Gregory X, Innocent XII, Pius IX, St. Pius X, Martin V and Clement XII according to
marymediatrix.com/religious-life/third-order.html?tmpl=component&print=1.
Why aren’t the Third Order popes counted toward the Franciscan totals?
The answer to your question is nepotism. For a very long time the Church has felt very uncomfortable with secular orders, but most of all with the Secular Franciscans. I’ll explain below the reason for the discomfort. Suffice it know that John XXIII was a fully professed Franciscan. Currently, his feast is celebrated on the Franciscan liturgical calendar and we have at least one parish that I know of named Bl. John XXIII.
Diocesan clergy make up the largest number of priests in the Church. Therefore they also control the college of cardinals and the college of bishops. Most of them have no clue what an order is, be it secular or regular. They know us by name: Dominican, Salesian, Xaverian, etc. But they have no idea what the consecrated life is about. It’s not taught in diocesan seminaries. This is one of the thorns behind the feminist nun movement. Often, they worked with diocesan pastors who had no clue what religious life was about. They treated the sisters with disdain. They were one run above black slaves, unless you were a black nun. This does not justify inappropriate behaviors. It simply explains a piece of it.
The same thing has happened with many secular orders. They have simply given up dealing with diocesan priests, because these men try to treat them as if they were the Holy Name Society or the Legion of Mary. They fail to understand that this is a true vocation and it is for life.
Might be because they haven’t undertaken vows? Members of a Third Order “only” take promises.
Brother JR can correct me if I’m wrong here, but canonically speaking they should be included on the list(s).
That’s not quite accurate. The third order founded by St. Francis, formerly known as the Brothers of Penance, has members in promises and members in vows. This has been the case since 1228. They are equally members of the same order. For example, the TOR friars are part of the third order founded by Francis, but they profess solemn vows. Also, the secular members of the third order can choose to profess the Evangelical Counsels. There is no rule that says they cannot do so. That would make them consecrated secular men or women.
He was also a lay Carmelite.
Actually he was not. It is against Church law to belong to two orders at the same time. Angelo Roncali joined the Secular Franciscan Order while in the seminary. At that time, he would not have been able to dispense himself from Canon Law. He may have had a very Carmelite heart and spirit. The Carmelite reformation by St. Teresa started with Franciscan inspiration. The Third Spiritual Alphabet, which triggered her soul, is a book on Franciscan Spiritual Theology. One of her spiritual directors was St. Peter of Alcantara, a Alcantarine Franciscan. They no longer exist, because they were absorbed into the OFM Franciscans. My doctorate is in Franciscan-Carmelite Studies. The two schools are not mutually exclusive. You can be one and embrace the spirit of the other.
Third Orders are not professed religious of that order. They are usually lay people or maybe someone from the clergy, who are inspired to live their lives according to the orders rules and way of life, but do not formally join. John XXIII is not counted in the Franciscan totals because he was not a Franciscan.
This is not true of the Secular Franciscans. Yes, this is true of most third orders with some exceptions. Those exceptions are Franciscan, Dominican and Carmelite.
The Church erected these three secular orders with their own canonical status. They have a rule, a superior general, a constitution, a mission, a vision, a very long formation program, up to 6 years, and they are entitled to hold property and run ministries as an order. They come under the jurisdiction of the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life, not under the religious orders of their family.
For example, the Third Order Franciscans are not part of the friars, nor do they even follow our way of life. We have very different rules written by Francis himself. The TOR and the OFS follow the same rule. The rest of us follow the Rule of The Friars Minor.
Other third order, by decree of Canon Law, have to be moderated by an order or a congregation of religious. You’ll find this in Canon Law.
The Third Order Franciscans, Dominicans and Carmelites do not come under that canon, because they were always autonomous. They were never under the authority of the friars. The friars served as spiritual assistants but never had any juridical authority over them.
I don’t know how Pope Francis feels about these three orders, but I do know that Pope Paul was not comfortable with them. He tried very hard to change their rules so that they would resemble associations rather than canonical orders. Yet, he never took away their canonical status. Their superior general sits on the council of superiors general in Rome.
Currently, the Secular Franciscan Order has a mission at the United Nations and it sits on committees at the UN under the auspices of Vatican City State.
