Report of the Audit and Review of the Files of the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph

Capuchin Franciscan Province
June 18, 2013

http://sjpcommunications.org/files/pastoralcare/audit061813.pdf

Executive Summary

Audit of the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph in the United States

The Capuchin Order is a religious order of men in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one ofseveral related orders that follow the example of St. Francis of Assisi. Capuchins profess toemulate St. Francis and to animate their mission, ministries and religious life with the“charism” of St. Francis, meaning St. Francis’ special qualities and virtues and influences thatcharacterized his unique Christian religious expression. Following the example of St. Francis, the Capuchins seek to create a community of equals in which the message of Christ is brought to others, especially poor and marginalized people. They profess to have a particular affinity for and a stewardship of all the creatures and the environment of God’s creation. They minister in hospitals, soup kitchens, schools, parishes and in the mission fields.

The Capuchin Order has various subdivisions called “provinces” throughout the world. The Province of St. Joseph was founded in 1856; but in 1952, the province was split and 188 members left to form a new province consisting of territory in New York and New England.

Since 1952, the St. Joseph Province of the Capuchin Order (the province) has encompassed Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois, and the Diocese of Fort WayneSouth Bend, the Diocese of Gary and the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana. The province has also had missions in Nicaragua, Guam, Japan, Australia, Panama and the Middle East.

The members of the province are referred to as “friars.” Some friars are ordained priests, which in the Catholic Church are sometimes referred to as “clerics,” who typically are called “father.”

Some members are not ordained but instead are sometimes referred to as “lay friars” who are typically called “brother.” In recent years, the Capuchin Order worldwide has encouraged its members to refer to themselves as “brother” regardless of whether they are ordained, so as to underscore their equality and Franciscan vocation.

The governance of the province is accomplished through the provincial minister and a Provincial Council. The provincial minister is a “major superior” and the “ordinary,” which means he is the leader of the province. He governs with the assistance of the Provincial Council, with whom he is expected to consult on a variety of matters. In some matters (e.g. issuing canonical warnings to a friar who may be dismissed from the order), the provincial minister cannot act without the consent of a majority of his Provincial Council.