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Pope following the path of St. Francis of Assisi

9/16/2015

"In The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis examined "two great issues . . . fundamental at this time in history . . . the inclusion of the poor in society, and, second, peace and social dialogue." In the very center of this examination, Pope Francis mentions Francis of Assisi, explicitly by name, as a model.Pope Francis is indeed a Franciscan pope. Yet he is not uniquely so, since previous pontiffs have also tried to incorporate elements of the Franciscan tradition. The difference is that Mario Jose Bergoglio has done it even more explicitly and comprehensively."

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Centuries worth of history at St. Francis Barracks

9/16/2015

"a building was erected in St. Augustine in 1588 to act as a friary for the Franciscan missionaries who came to Florida with the intention of Christianizing the native people.“For 175 years, this was the headquarters for the Franciscan mission system. They effectively Christianized an estimated 40,000 natives,” St. Francis Barracks historian Alison Simpson said.

During their stay in Florida, the Franciscans built some of the first churches and made the first dictionaries based on Indian languages.

Franciscans pledged themselves to poverty and remnants of the friar cells can still be found at the barracks today."

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Pianist says Franciscan nuns put him on right path at an early age

9/16/2015

"Around seventh grade, Steinbach says he knew he wanted to make performing and teaching music his career. He says a group of Franciscan nuns shaped his ability during the first 10 years of his studies. Sister Mary Senglaub stands out in his mind as a mentor who greatly inspired him to become a professional pianist."

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PRAYER AND REFLECTION GARDEN TO HONOR FRANCISCAN SISTERS

9/16/2015

"A special place has now been dedicated at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City to honor past and present Sisters of St. Francis.

Tina Stroud, interim vice-president of university relations at BCU, said the space has been designated to recognize the sisters who have given their “time and service to the campus since the inception” of the college."

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‘Unruly, fractious, disreputable’ – Irish Franciscans in Prague

9/16/2015

"The story of the waves of emigration forced on the Catholic Irish by the consolidation of English Protestant power in Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries is well-known.

Members of the Gaelic and Old English aristocracies, soldiers, priests and students fled largely to the Catholic monarchies of France, Spain and Austria. The Holy Roman Empire, a vast complex of around 1,000 semi-autonomous political units under the loose rule of the Austrian Hapsburg emperors, was particularly welcoming.

Many of them ended up in Prague, capital of the kingdom of Bohemia where, after the 1620 Battle of White Mountain ended the first phase of the Thirty Years War, a parallel process of trying to suppress Protestantism was taking place."

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Partial to Home: The Lord's mysterious ways

9/16/2015

"In the mid-1980s, Clare Van Lent was happily working as a Franciscan sister in Dubuque, Iowa, when a bothersome idea entered her head: Mississippi.

"You'd think I'd come to Mississippi?' she says, still a bit incredulous 30 years later.

She traveled to the state and met with the bishop. They talked about the two Trappist monks in Noxubee County, who were ready to call it quits on their efforts to create a self-sustaining monastery on a 600-acre farm. The bishop offered little encouragement, but Van Lent thought she ought to have a look."

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Capuchin Franciscan Publications

9/14/2015

Capuchin Mid-American Province Publication Listings – http://www.capuchins.org/publications.html

The start of Catholicism in North America

9/10/2015

"ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Some have called the mission of the Franciscan priests a journey of faith.

"450 years ago, September 8th, Christianity became firmly planted in what is now the United States," Father Tom Willis, priest at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Augustine said.

Pedro Menendez founded St. Augustine with hundreds of people and with four priests, Willis noted.

"There had been several other expeditions before Menendez to Florida, but they failed for one reason or another," Dr. Timothy Johnson added. Johnson is a professor at Flagler University and an expert on Franciscans."

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I cut a deal with Francesco: If I made it to Eremo, I was leaving my cancer there

9/10/2015

"I’ve been a devotee of St. Francis since we began singing his prayer in elementary school. “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace,” he asked. “Where there is hatred, let me sow love.”

It was just a pretty song then; today, after life has happened and the sheer faith behind such a prayer has been revealed, Francis has become even more admirable."

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Preacher and pope compelled by the Spirit

9/10/2015

"The 80-year-old Italian Capuchin, an avowed apostle of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, has been the official preacher of the papal household for the last 35 years.And while it's easy to argue that the popes have not always heeded his ever-spirited -- and sometimes radical -- advice, none of them has dismissed him for speaking boldly like an Old Testament prophet.

But of the three popes he has served, Padre Raniero seems particularly "on message" in the pontificate of Francis, bishop of Rome."

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