On July 1, Catholics in the United States and Franciscans throughout the world celebrate the memory of Saint Junipero Serra (1713-1774), the "Apostle of California."
Our partner in encouraging the study of the Franciscan cultural heritage, the Academy of American Franciscan History is a research institute presently affiliated with the Franciscan School of Theology in San Diego, California. Founded in 1943, the Academy
On July 1, Catholics in the United States and Franciscans throughout the world celebrate the memory of Saint Junipero Serra (1713-1774), the "Apostle of California."
On June 30, the Franciscan family honors the memory of Blessed Ramon Llull, a Secular Franciscan scholar committed to mission to the Islamic world (1232-1316).
What does it really mean to live a penitential life today? For members of the Secular Franciscan Order—or anyone drawn to Franciscan spirituality—this question echoes through centuries of tradition, personal devotion, and communal renewal. St. Francis and the Third Order: The Franciscan and Pre-Franciscan Penitential Movement offers a rich historical and theological exploration of this path, grounding the contemporary Third Order in its earliest roots.
On June 19 Franciscans recall the memory of Venerable Matt Talbot (1856-1925), an Irish Secular Franciscan considered a patron of men and women struggling with alcoholism and other forms of addiction.
Visit our new, more powerful digital collections. Enjoy the early sources for Francis and Clare and much more. Advanced search, zoom, rotate, flip, colorize, save favorites, save searches, apply filters, and so much more.
"The Franciscan Intellectual Tradition - a Tradition 'Turned Upside Down'" by Johannes Freyer, OFM, is the latest lecture of the Franciscan Zoom Lecture Series, hosted by the Franciscan School of Theology at the University of San Diego.
"The Promise and Limits of Personal Climate Action: Can 'Thinking Globally, Acting Locally' Be Enough?" by Ed Tverdek, OFM, PhD, is the latest lecture of the Franciscan Zoom Lecture Series, hosted by the Franciscan School of Theology at the University of San Diego.
"The Shape of Holiness: St. Bonaventure's Theology of Grace for Troubled Times" by Katherine Wrisley Shelby, PhD, is the third lecture of the Franciscan Zoom Lecture Series - Winter 2025 Semester, hosted by the Franciscan School of Theology at the University of San Diego.
In this presentation, Fr. Johannes Freyer, OFM, will outline the distinct concepts and thought patterns that emerged when the Franciscan form of life interacted with the patristic tradition and the newest scholastic theology.
In this discussion about the promise and limits of personal climate action, Ed Tverdek, OFM, PhD, suggests that our shortcomings can be attributed to a failure to take seriously Pope Francis’ message in his encyclical Laudato Si’ and his subsequent apostolic exhortation, Laudate Deum – and that the transformative vision of a culture less wed to consumerism and growth – long expounded by “radical ecologists” and now by Pope Francis – remains our best vehicle for evangelization as Franciscans.
This presentation by Katherine Wrisley Shelby, PhD, will explore the relevance of St. Bonaventure's teachings on grace for our 21st-century context -- namely, within a culture that largely interprets grace as an individual ticket to personal salvation at the expense of all others, Bonaventure rather calls us to understand how grace necessarily invites us into communion with our "neighbor" and the broader world around us.
