Who We Are

We serve the Catholic Church as brothers and priests, devoting our lives to the search for God in a communal life of poverty, prayer, and service to others. Our province is only a small part of a great movement of women and men, filled with a passion for the Gospel, keeping the spirit of St. Francis alive all over the world.

He was a saint for all times.

Why We Love Francis

He preached peace in an era when life without war was unthinkable. He embraced the poor while others treated them with scorn. And he allied himself with nature centuries before humanity understood its connection to every living thing.

Friar Ministry

Some friars, like Fr. Roger Lopez, OFM, teach in high schools, forming the next generation of Catholic Christians. This “day in the life” video follows him as he balances life as an educator and priest, living in a prayerful community of Franciscans.

Friar Flashback

At St. Francis Seminary in the 1960s, young friars in formation pulled their own weight, making shoes and habits, cooking, cleaning, building and repairing, grooming the grounds while they also went to school.

Our Heritage

In 1844, a call to aid immigrants took friars 4,700 miles from their home in the Tyrolean Alps to a frontier city on the Ohio River. There they laid the foundations for the wide-ranging ministries of St. John the Baptist Province.