Editing Franciscans (section)

===Third Order===
{{Main|Third Order of Saint Francis}}
The '''Third Order of Saint Francis''' comprises people who desired to grow in holiness in their daily lives without entering [[monastery|monastic]] life. After founding the Friars Minor and seeing a need, Francis created a way of life to which married men and women, as well as the single and the [[secular clergy]], could belong and live according to the Gospel. 

====Secular Franciscan Order====
The '''[[Secular Franciscan Order]]''', prior to 1978 also known as the Third Order Secular of Saint Francis, is an order founded by Francis in 1212 for brothers and sisters who do not live in a religious community. Members of the order continue to live secular lives, and gather regularly for fraternal activities. In the United States alone there are 17,000 professed members of the order. 

Members of the Order live according to a Rule composed by St Francis in 1221. The Rule was slightly modified through the centuries and was replaced at the turn of the 20th century by [[Pope Leo XIII]], himself a member of the Order. A new and current Rule was approved by [[Pope Paul VI]] in 1978, and the Third Order was renamed the Secular Franciscan Order. It is an international organization with its own [[Minister General]] based in Rome.

====Third Order Regular====
Within a century of the death of Francis, members of the Third Order began to live in common, in an attempt to follow a more [[ascetic]]al way of life. [[Angela of Foligno]] (+1309) was foremost among those who achieved great depths in their lives of prayer and service of the poor, while living in community with other women of the Order.

Among the men, the [[Third Order of St. Francis#Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance |Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.francescanitor.org/ |title=Third Order Regular |publisher= Francescanitor.org |date=2013-05-12 |access-date=2013-06-16 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130609222919/http://francescanitor.org/ |archive-date=2013-06-09 |url-status=dead}}</ref> was formed in 1447 by a papal decree that united several communities of [[hermit]]s, following the Third Order [[Catholic religious order |Rule]], into a single Order, with its own Minister General. Today it is an international community of friars who desire to emphasize the works of mercy and on-going conversion. The community is also known as the Franciscan Friars, '''TOR''', and they strive to "rebuild the Church" in areas of high school and college education, parish ministry, church renewal, social justice, campus ministry, hospital chaplaincies, foreign missions, and other ministries in places where the church is needed.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Franciscan Friars, TOR |title=The Franciscan Orders |work=FranciscansTOR.org |url= http://www.franciscanstor.org/orders.htm |access-date=2007-07-10 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080723165740/http://www.franciscanstor.org/orders.htm |archive-date= 2008-07-23 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 

The association of Franciscans (Grey Friars) with education became a stock fictional reference in, for example, the works of [[William Makepeace Thackeray |Thackeray]] ("Grey Friars School" in ''[[Pendennis]]'' and ''[[The Newcomes]]'') or of[[Charles Hamilton (writer) | "Frank Richards"]] ([[Greyfriars School]] of [[Billy Bunter]] fame).

After the formal recognition of the members of religious tertiary communities, the following centuries saw a steady growth of such communities across Europe. Initially, the women's communities took a monastic form of life, either voluntarily or under pressure from [[ecclesiastical]] superiors. The great figure of this development was [[Hyacintha Mariscotti]]. As Europe entered the upheavals of the modern age, new communities arose which were able to focus more exclusively on social service, especially during the immediate post-[[Napoleon]]ic period which devastated much of Western Europe. An example of this is [[Mary Frances Schervier]] (1819–1876).

=====Third Order Regular in North America=====
This movement continued in North America as congregations arose from one coast to another, in answer to the needs of the large emigrant communities that were flooding the cities of the United States and Canada.

The Third Order Regular of the [[Brothers of the Poor of St. Francis of Assisi]], '''CFP''', are an active community, based in the United States, with houses in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, and Brazil. These Franciscans strive to live an integrated life through prayer, community, and ministry to the poor, neglected and disadvantaged youth, the powerless, people in need, and the elderly. The Brothers of the Poor live by their vows of poverty (living a simple lifestyle), consecrated chastity (loving all, possessing no one, striving sincerely, for [[singleness of heart]], a celibate way of loving and being loved), and obedience (to God, to the community, to the church, and to self). 

The Brothers of the Poor serve persons with AIDS and people who ask for help, regardless of their religion or their social/economic background. They are teachers, childcare workers, social workers, counselors, pastoral ministers, retreat ministers, religious educators, and school administrators, along with other tasks.

The Regular Tertiaries, officially the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance, who operate the [[Franciscan University of Steubenville]], follow a rule approved by [[Pope Leo X]]. Today this group is present in 17 countries: Italy, Croatia, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, US, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, Peru, Sweden, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.francescanitor.org/storia-2/?lang=en|title=Tertius Ordo Regularis Sancti Francisci {{!}} History|language=en-EN|access-date=2018-12-18 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181219055757/http://www.francescanitor.org/storia-2/?lang=en|archive-date=2018-12-19|url-status=dead}}
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==== Brothers and Sisters of Penance of St. Francis ====
The [[Brothers and Sisters of Penance of St. Francis]], is a private confraternity of the Catholic Church, whose members strive to model their lives according to the Rule and Statutes of the Primitive Rule of the Third Order of St. Francis, which was written for lay people in 1221 by Francis of Assisi. Right now there are several hundred members within the United States and a few hundred more throughout the world. The order was started in 1996 by members of the Archdiocese of St. Paul in Minnesota.

====Other tertiaries====
* In 1435, [[Francis of Paola]] founded the "Poor Hermits of Saint Francis of Assisi", later known as the "Hermits of the Order of [[Minim (religious order)|Minims]]", and then renamed the "Order of Minims" in 1506 by Pope [[Julius II]]. There are mendicant friars, contemplative nuns, and lay tertiaries.
* The Society of the Atonement, also known as [[Society of the Atonement|Graymoor Friars]] and [[Society of the Atonement|Graymoor Sisters]], started in 1898 as a religious community in the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]]. It came into union with the [[Holy See]] in 1909.
* The [[Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate]] started in 1970, and became an institute with Pontifical Right in 1998. In that same year, the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate became an institute with Pontifical Right. There are also Third Order Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate, an offshoot of the Franciscan Tertiaries of the Immaculate.