Where We Live
How we live
The Order of Friars Minor (OFM) is a worldwide Catholic religious Order with its headquarters in Rome. The Order is divided into entities known as Provinces and Custodies.
The Holy Spirit Province (Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei) is led by a Provincial Minister who is elected for a six year term. He is assisted in this duty by a provincial vicar and a provincial council – a total of six friars who share this service of leadership within the brotherhood.
As followers of St Francis, the friars live as he did, in fraternity with their brothers in Christ. Each community of friars lives in a household or “friary” where all goods are shared by all and yet not owned by any one person. It is a simple life of prayer, ministry and brotherhood.
Each friar also has his own “job” or ministry, such as parish priest, counsellor, chaplain, lecturer, ethicist, retreat giver, teacher, and he conducts this in the Franciscan charism. Despite their various roles in ministry to others, the friars come together for daily prayers, meals, celebrations and recreation time.
As well as the friars who belong to the Holy Spirit Province, there are other friars living in Australia who originate from overseas Provinces, including Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovenia. These friars serve as migrant chaplains to their compatriots living in Australia.
There are some friars who live outside of a community due to study or postings overseas. Currently, there are Australian friars living in the Holy Land, Jordan, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States of America.
How to help
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The Christians living in the Holy Land are a small minority. It is our job as Holy Land Franciscans to protect them. Find out how you can help us with this mission.
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