This article chronicles the spread of the Franciscan Order in Modern Times

Table of contents
1 New Congregations
2 Status in 1910

New Congregations

The regulations of Leo X. brought a notable increase of strength to the Observantist branch, and many conventual houses joined them-- in France all but forty-eight, in Germany the greater part, in Spain practically all. But this very growth was fatal to the internal unity and strength of the strict party. The need for new reforms soon became apparent, and the action of Leo X., far from consolidating the order, gave rise to a number of new branches. The most important of these are: the Capuchins (q.v.), founded in 1525 by Matteo Bassi and established in 1619 by Paul V. as a separate order; the Discalced Franciscans, founded as a specially strict Observantist congregation at Bellacazar in Spain by Juan de Puebla toward the end of the fifteenth century, compelled by Leo X. to unite with the regular Observantists, but soon afterward reestablished as an independent branch by Juan de Guadelupe (d. 1580), and subsequently obtaining some importance in Spain and Portugal; the Alcantarines, a very strict congregation founded in 1540 by Peter of Alcantara (q.v.), and distinguished by remarkable achievements in the mission field; the Italian Riformati, founded about 1525 near Rieti by two Spanish Observantists, and becoming comparatively wide-spread from the beginning of the seventeenth century through the favor of Clement VIII. and Urban VIII.; the French Recollects, originating at Nevers in 1592, formed into a distinct congregation by Clement VIII. in 1602, and important in later missionary history, especially in Canada.

Status in 1910

The Franciscans also rendered important services to the cause of the Counterreformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, rivaling the Jesuit order in zeal, and frequently suffering martyrdom for their faith in England, the Netherlands, and Germany. During the last hundred years the possessions of the order have been much reduced by the storms of the French Revolution, the German secularizations since 1803, and the political changes of Spain, Italy, and France. On the other hand, there has been a considerable extension in many parts of the order, especially in North America. The present statistics of the three principal male branches of the order are approximately as follows:

NEEDS UPDATING

Observantists

1,500 houses, comprised in about 100 provinces and Custodiae, with about 15,000 members of whom some 7,000 belong to the Regular Observance, 6,000 to the Riformati, and the rest to the Recollects and the Discalced Congregation;

Conventuals

290 houses, principally in Italy, but also in Bavaria, Austria, Romania, Turkey, etc

Regular Tertiaries

following the rule of
Pope Leo X: less than a score of houses-- two in Rome, five in Sicily, seven in Austria, and two in America.

These figures show a great contrast to the strength of the order at the end of the Middle Ages, when it had over 8,000 houses, of which the 1,300 Observantist communities alone numbered 30,000 members, or even in the middle of the seventeenth century when there were about 70,000 members, divided into 150 provinces. The noteworthy proportional decline of the non-Observantist section shows that the order to this day presents more attraction as it remains truest to its original principles.