List of congregations of the Franciscan Third Order Regular in the United States

The Third Order of Saint Francis comprises the Secular Franciscan Order and the Third Order Regular. Many religious congregations follow the Rule of the Third Order Regular. There are approximately 80 congregations of Third Order Regular women and men in the United States.Neumann University

Friars By 15th century congregations of regular friars following the Rule of the Third Order had been established in Italy, Sicily, Dalmatia, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, and in the Netherlands.

The Congregation of the Brothers of the Poor of St. Francis was founded in 1857 in Aachen by John Hoever for the protection and education of poor, homeless boys. In 1866, they began establishing orphanages the United States, including ones in Teutopolis, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Cold Spring, Kentucky. By 1998 there were 24 professed members dispersed across several assignments at schools, prisons and hospitals. The Morris School for Boys, established in 1922 near Searcy, Arkansas, continues to be the brothers' primary ministry. The order's motherhouse remains in Aachen and the order maintains houses in Brazil, Holland and the United States.

In 1858 Bishop John Loughlin issued an invitation to the Brothers of the monastery in Roundstone, County Galway, to operate schools for the boys of the Diocese of Brooklyn. A group of six Brothers, soon arrived and opened St. Francis Monastery and St. Francis Academy (now the site of St. Francis College), the first Catholic school in Brooklyn. The monastery served as the base of operations for the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn as they spread out over the City of Brooklyn in their ministry of education. In 1989, Pope John Paul II raised the congregation to one of Pontifical Right, making them independent of the local bishop, almost entirely subject only to the Holy See. As a result, they have begun to serve in other parts of the United States. As of 2016 the Brothers minister in schools, parishes, and other pastoral ministries of the Catholic Church in the Dioceses of Brooklyn, Rockville Centre, Paterson, New Jersey and Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

The Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Cross (FFSC) was founded by Brother James Wirth in 1862 in Hausen, Germany, to care for orphans, the poor, the sick, and the suffering. In 1891, three Brothers settled in Bad Kreuznach, where they began working at St. Marienwörth hospital. The Brothers were invited to Springfield, Illinois in 1928 to establish a monastery and a trade school, which operated from 1930 to 1972. They later developed "Brother James Court", an intermediate care facility for the developmentally disabled. St. Joseph's motherhouse is in Hausen.

The Franciscan Missionary Brothers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were founded in Poland in 1888 and focus on medical care. They established a long term medical care facility in the U.S. in 1927. Located in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, they now operate a hospital and nursing home for mentally disadvantaged men and boys, as well as Price Memorial Hall, a general nursing home. As of 2002, there were 22 brothers.

The Amigonian Friars was founded in Spain in 1889 by the Capuchin Friar Luis Amigó y Ferrer specializing in working with young boys facing issues of juvenile delinquency and drug addiction. They soon established reform schools and trade schools to help these boys. In 1986 they took over the administration of two youth facilities in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Other Third Order Regular (TOR) communities were active in the USA, including the Franciscan Missionary Brothers of the Sacred Heart, Little Brothers of St. Francis, Franciscan Brothers of Christ the King, Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, Franciscan Brothers of the Sacred Heart, Franciscan Brothers of the Eucharist, Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit, Knights of the Holy Eucharist, and the Franciscan Brothers of Peace.

Sisters Congregations of religious sisters of the Third Order were also established; for instance, the Grey Sisters of the Third Order served in hospitals France and the Netherlands. In 1403 Elizabeth of Reute and several other young women who were Franciscan tertiaries, under the guidance of the provost of the Canonry of St. Peter in Waldsee, acquired a house in Reute on the outskirts of Waldsee. Angelina of Marsciano is generally credited with the founding of the Third Order Regular for women around 1395, but the Third Order Regular was not made official until Pope Nicholas V authorized it.. Unlike the Second Order of the Franciscan movement, the Poor Clare nuns, they were not an enclosed religious order, and lived under the authority of the local bishop of the diocese.

While many religious congregations have their motherhouse in Europe, some emigrated to the United States to establish new branches of their congregation. Others followed the examples of those from Europe and established their own communities. Some monasteries were established to pursue a purely contemplative life, usually in an urban setting; while other communities consider active works of charity, tending to the poor and sick as part of Franciscan charism.

Congregations sorted by location California The Congregation of the Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception was founded in Lisbon, Portugal in 1871 by Libânia do Carmo Galvão Mexia de Moura Telles e Albuquerque (Sr. Maria Clara), and is represented in fifteen countries. They came to the United States in 1960 in order to aid Portuguese immigrants. They serve in the state of California in the dioceses of San Jose, Fresno, and Monterey. The majority of the California sisters now are involved in healthcare. The Motherhouse is in Lisbon.

In 2024, the Franciscan Friars of California Inc. filed for bankruptcy, joining a growing roster of Catholic entities that sought similar protections in 2023. The Oakland-based Catholic order, filed for Chapter 11 on Dec. 31 2023 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.

Colorado The Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration was founded in Olpe in 1863 by Blessed Maria Theresia Bonzel as the "Poor Sisters of St. Francis Seraph of the Perpetual Adoration". Introduced into the United States in 1875, St. Joseph Province is based at Mt. St. Francis in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Illinois The Hospital Sisters of St. Francis was founded in Telgte, Germany by Father Christoph Bernsmeyer in 1847. The General Motherhouse is in Münster. They arrived in the United States in 1875 and established St. John's Hospital (Springfield, Illinois), plus fifteen more throughout Illinois and in Missouri and Wisconsin. They also founded an orphan asylum and two nursing schools. The American province is based in Springfield, Illinois.

The Franciscan Sisters, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary were founded in Olpe, Germany in 1860 by Mother Clara Pfaender to care for the sick poor. They came to the United States in 1872 in response to a request for medical care for the German immigrant community of St. Louis, Missouri. Five Sisters were sent in 1875 to add to the fledgling mission, but all perished in a much-noted shipwreck commemorated by Gerard Manley Hopkins, in the poem "The Wreck of the Deutschland". The sisters established hospitals, schools, orphanages and other fields of ministry. They sponsor Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. The international congregational office is in Rome. The American provincial motherhouse is in Wheaton, Illinois.

The Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate (commonly known as the "Joliet Franciscans") were founded in Joliet, Illinois in 1865 by Mother Mary Alfred Moes with the assistance of Father Pamfilo da Magliano, OFM. Moes had emigrated from Luxembourg, having heard Bishop John Martin Henni of Milwaukee, Wisconsin recruiting teachers. Until 1880, the order used the Constitution drafted for the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, a congregation da Magliano had previously established. Although initially trained as teachers, the sisters broadened the scope of their ministry to serve as nurses and social workers.

The Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart was founded in 1866 in Seelbach, then part of the Grand Duchy of Baden, by the Reverend Wilhelm Berger. Due to the Kulturkampf between the German government and the Catholic Church, in which only religious communities which provided nursing were allowed to remain functioning, in 1876 the community emigrated to the United States and established itself in Avilla, Indiana. They have taught in schools throughout the Midwestern United States. The motherhouse is in Frankfort, Illinois.

The Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George was founded in 1869 in Thuine, Germany. St. Elizabeth Province in the United States began in 1923 when five sisters were sent at the request of Father Dunne, of St. Louis, Missouri, then a center of German immigration. The Sisters moved to Alton, where they established Saint Anthony’s Infirmary, a residence for the elderly. As of 2010, there are over 100 Sisters in the United States (the total congregation numbers more than 1,600). They operate facilities for elderly care for both the general public and also with special facilities for the clergy, as well as child care and education. The Provincial motherhouse is in Alton, Illinois.

The Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth was founded in Rome by Frances Siedliska in 1875. In 1885, Siedliska and eleven sisters traveled to the United States, where they had been invited to minister to the needs of Polish immigrants in Chicago.

The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Peoria was founded in 1877 by Rev. John Lancaster Spalding, Bishop of Peoria, and M. Frances Krasse from a local community of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Dubuque, Iowa. Their motherhouse is at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, a Level I adult and pediatric trauma center affiliated with the OSF Saint Francis College of Nursing and the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

In 1893, at the request of Father Thomas Mackin, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Rock Island, Illinois, sisters from the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Little Falls traveled to Rock Island, Illinois to open St. Anthony's Hospital. In 1901, the Rock Island congregation became an independent community but merged with the Sisters of St. Francis of Peoria in 1989.

In 1894 Josephine Dudzik founded the "Franciscan Sisters of St. Kunegunda", to assist the poor, sick, elderly, and abandoned in Chicago's predominantly Polish northwest side. Now known as the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago, the congregation is particularly involved in the enhancement and expansion of retirement communities and other senior services. The motherhouse is in Lemont, Illinois.

Indiana