Capuchins

In 1528, 300 years after the death of St. Francis, some Franciscans felt that the ideas of St. Francis were being forgotten, so they founded the Capuchin Franciscan Order. St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi created a community of equality. They proclaimed that the Good News was available to all people, especially those shunned by society. The Capuchin Franciscans are a Roman Catholic order of brothers shaped by this heritage.

The Capuchins wanted to reform the Order by living more simply, emphasizing prayer and contemplation, serving the poor, and preaching the Word of God as St. Francis had done. The Capuchin Order began in Italy, but it spread to nearly every region of the world.

Capuchins first arrived in North America soon after Europe began to colonize the continent. Many arrived on North America’s shores in the 1600s and 1700s to serve as missionaries or as Chaplains to the Spanish or Portuguese armies. This work branched out to ministering to Native Americans or to those Catholics settling in the area.

Despite the presence of Capuchins in the Americas from the earliest times, there was no organized structure to that presence. The Capuchin Order was formally established in the Americas only when, in 1856, two Swiss priests, Francis Haas and Bonaventure Frey, were granted permission to establish the Order in Mt. Calvary, a rural outpost in central Wisconsin, the future home of St. Lawrence Seminary. Despite many obstacles, financial and physical, the St. Joseph Province rapidly expanded and thrived, eventually stretching from New York to Montana. In 1952 the St. Joseph Province, established by Fr. Bonaventure and Fr. Francis, was divided into two provinces, with the Province of St. Mary being established in New York.

Today, the St. Joseph Province, of which St. Lawrence Seminary is a part, is filled with new and exciting ministries and is becoming increasingly involved in ministries concerning justice, peace and ecology. The province reaches from Michigan to Montana and into Central America. The Provincial Headquarters are in Detroit, Michigan.

The friars of the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph are serving God's people in many different ministries including the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit, House of Peace in Milwaukee, retreat houses, parish ministry, and as missionaries in Central America.