Minister General is the term used for the leader or

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...

of the different branches of the Order of Friars Minor. It is a term exclusive to them, and comes directly from its founder, St.

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

. He chose this word over "Superior" out of his vision that the brothers of the Order were all to be equal, and that the

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

supervising his brothers was to be a servant who cared for ( ministered to) them, not one who lorded over them. The original term is ''minister generalis'' in Latin and is found in Chapter 8 of the ''Rule of St. Francis''. The term is sometimes written as "General Minister", but this is the official form in the English language, in keeping with other official titles. Francis chose this term to designate the leaders of the various communities scattered around Europe even within his lifetime. In the 20th century, the term also came to be used as well by many

religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – in that members take simple vows, whereas members of relig ...

s of the

Third Order of St. Francis The Third Order of Saint Francis is a third order in the Franciscan tradition of Christianity, founded by the medieval Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi. The preaching of Francis and his disciples caused many married men and women to w ...

, in the effort to follow more closely the spirit of the founder of their Order.

References

{{Catholic Church-stub

See also

References