THE CAPUCHINS
A BRAND OF FRANCISCANS

Introduction

Cappuccino coffee is currently a popular hot drink shared by many to accompany friendship and conversation. Interesting though, it was so named originally because Italians saw its colour resembling the familiar brown robe of the CAPUCHIN friar.

In recent years some Australian Catholics have become familiar with the spiritual calibre of a visiting Capuchin preacher Fr. Rainiero Cantalamessa. He is the humble, joyful, prayerful and gifted Capuchin chosen by the Pope to deliver annually a course of Advent and Lenten sermons to the Papal household.

Most people also, have heard of Padre Pio. This Capuchin mystic and stigmatist, who died in 1968, bore the marks of Christ's wounds in his hands, feet and side for over 50 years. Though confined most years to the one friary of San Giovanni Rotondo near Foggia, Italy, his gift of miracles, bi-location, ability to read the heart of his penitents were only a few of the ways in which the Lord used him to touch with conversion the lives of innumerable pilgrims drawn to see him and scores of others in distant lands unable to journey there. An unforgettable privilege, which perhaps many still alive can never forget, was to be present at the celebration of one of his daily Masses. Padre Pio, during that one and a half hours, in the presence of a packed church of people, witnessed to, in the flesh, and re-lived the moments of Christ's bitter sufferings and death. The reality of this fact was evidenced by the atmosphere of reverent silence during which you could hear a pin drop - a surprising and amazing point to one who is accustomed to the boisterousness of Italians even when in church.

What is not so well known to present day Australian Catholics isthat the Capuchin sons of St. Francis did pioneering work here in Australia in the last century. Elzear Torreggiani, a Capuchin, was the second bishop of Armidale (NSW). A second wave of Capuchins arrived in 1945 and have served the Australian Church for half a century. Golden Jubilee celebrations commemorating this period of presence have only recently been held.

St. Francis and Capuchin Beginnings

Francis embraced sister death on October 3rd, 1226 after saying to the friars kneeling around him: "I have done my part; may Christ teach you yours".

The followers of Francis have struggled, almost from the beginning, with the twofold need to accept required changes and to preserve the principles on which the Franciscan family was founded.

Often, during the eight centuries of Franciscan history, groups of friars, usually with the blessing of the Church, have joined efforts in renewing the Order by more closely striving to imitate the spirit and life of Francis. In fact, by 1897, such reform movements had split the friars into six separate branches.

It was then that Pope Leo XIII reduced their number to three, by leaving independent the two extremes, the Capuchins and the Conventuals and joining the other four into a branch known simply as the Franciscans.

The CAPUCHIN REFORM had begun through the personal efforts at renewal by Matthew Serafini from Bascio (Italy) in 1525. The split between Conventuals and the Observants had no sooner become permanent in 1517, than Matthew and other Observant friars set out to take the reform a step further by simplifying the structure of the community and returning to the concept of small hermitages and wandering preachers. The resulting Capuchin reform obtained its charter from the Pope on 3rd July, 1528.

Capuchins throughout the World

Despite a difficult beginning, the Capuchin reform grew rapidly and soon became the second largest Religious Order in the Church.

In the sixteenth century, the Capuchins greatly endeared themselves to the people by serving the sick and dying, during the plagues. This was immortalised in the renowned Italian novel, "I Promessi Sposi" (The Betrothed), by Alessandro Manzoni. They became notable also for their outstanding work in the Catholic Counter Reformation. It has been said that the newly founded Jesuits of the time were a force in preserving the intellectual class from the errors of Protestantism, whilst the Capuchins protected the working class.

The seventeenth century saw the Capuchins spreading from Italy and France throughout Europe and also into North and South America, Africa and the Middle East.

Today, the Order is active in seventy-six countries and growing vigorously especially in the Third World. This growth is particularly evident in countries closer to us like India and Indonesia, where the expansion and development is such that Capuchin bishops have been selected from the native-born friars. In the Asia and Oceania area, there are Capuchins working now in Okinawa, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.

Being available for the requests of the leaders in the Church and always ready to respond to the call of the Missions have always featured as a high priority for the Capuchins. In Africa alone, at present, 973 friars are labouring in 26 countries. They have never feared taking on the most daunting tasks nor the most remote outposts in the Lord's vineyard.