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 CONVENTUALS

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CONVENTUALS

1 hicli wp have decreed for the Conventuals of the I ir.lrr of 8t. Francis >vc decree likewise for the Con- \ iiluals (if other orders".

Altlunigh all the religious professing the rule of the Iriars Minor continued to form one body under the ^ lino head for over three hundred years (1209-10 to I'll?), it is well known that even during the lifetime (if St. Francis a division had shown itself in the ranks . I ilie friars, some favouring a relaxation in the rigour nf the rule, especially as regards the observance of I'lverty, and others "desiring to adliere to its literal -irictness. The tendency towards relaxation became iMore marked after the death of the Seraphic founder rj-*ii), and was encouraged by his successor. Brother I li:is. The latter, a man of great abihty, but whose f lii;ious ideals differed vastly from those of St. Fran- n-^. c-ven oppressed such as opposed liLs views. The !i iii; and deplorable controversy which followed — a c niitroversy which called forth a mass of remarkable XV litings and even affected imperial politics — resulted III I wo parties beingformed within theorder, theZelanti, '■'■ 1m I were zealous for the strict observance of the rule

I who were afterwards named Observants, and the • s de communiUite who had adopted certain miti-

lons and who gradually came to be called Con- \' i.inals. In spite of the fact that a cleavage had been uridually developing between these two branches til iin at least the middle of the fourteenth century, it \Mis only in 1415 at the Couhcil of Constance that tin- Church authoritatively recognized this divi.sion in tlie order. Hence the Holy See decreed that all th- friars who died before that council may not be triaicd either Ob.servants or Conventuals, but simply 1 liars Minor (see Decrees of 25 Sept., 1723; 11 Dec, 17j:-l; and 26 Feb., 1737). Notwithstanding this .li\ ision of the order formally sanctioned in 1415 by till- Coimcil of Constance, both Observants and Con- \ I iituals continued to form one body under the same hrail until 1517.

1 II the latter year Leo X called a general chapter of

':■ whole order at Rome, with a view to effecting a

iplcte reunion between the Observants and Con-

I I uals. The former acceded to the wish of the sove- mi pontiff but requested permission to observe

uh- rule without any dispensation; the latter declared I'l 'y did not wish for the union if it entailed their re- iiicing the dis|3ensations they had received from the '\- See. Leo X thereupon incorporated with the - Tvants (Bull "Ite et vos in vineani meam", 29 •. 1517) all the Franciscan friars who wished to ob- e the rule without dispensation, abolishing the

■ rent denominations of Clareni, Colletani, etc.; he ii-ed that the members of the great family thus led should be called simply Friars Minor of St. 1 iicis, or Friars Minor of the Regular Observance, I should have precedence over the Conventiuiis;

moreover conferred upon them the right of ting the .minister general, who was to bear the of .Minister General of the Whole Order of Friars or, and to have the exclusive u.se of the ancient 1 of the order as the legitimate successor of St. ncis. On the other hand, those w-ho continued to under dispensations were constituted a separate \y with the name of Conventuals (Bulls "Omni- • rLs Deus", 12 June, 1517, and "Licet AHas ", I -c., 1517) and given the right to elect a ma.ster

■ ral of their own, whose election, however, had to .y lonfirmed by the Minister General of the Friars Minor. The latter appears never to have availed himself of this right, and the Conventuals may be re- garded as an entirely independent order from 1517, but it was not until 1.580 that they obtained a special cardinal protector of their own. Some years later tlip ma.sters general of the order began to call them- 's" Ministers General". F.ather Evangelist Pelleo, tc'd fifteenth master general in 1587, was the first

I- take this title, which has been generally accorded to

his forty-nine successors even in Apostolic letters, though the ordinance of Leo X was never formally revoked. Under SLxtus V (1587) tlic < '.Mivmiuals at- tempted to dispute the right of the Mini-in i ii'ueral of the Friars Minor to the title "Minister General of the Whole Order", but were unsuccessful. They re- newed their efforts under Clement VTII (1593 and 1602) but with no greater success. In 1625 they again reopened the question, which was discussed for nearly six years. On 22 March, 1631, the right of the Minister General of the Friars .Minor to the title in dispute was solemnly confirmed by the Sacred Congregation of Rules, and Benedict :illl by a Bull of 21 July, 1728, imposed perpetual silence upon the contestants.

In 1565 the Conventuals accepted the Tridentine indult allowing mendicant orders to own property corporately, and their chapter held at Florence in that year drew up statutes containing several impor- tant reforms which Pius IV subsequently approved (Bull "Sedis Apostolica;", 17 Sept., 155). Three years later St. Pius V (Bull "Ad Extirpandos", 8 June, 1568) sought to enforce a stricter observance of the vow of poverty and of the community life among the Conventuals, and the superiors of the order imme- diately enacted statutes conformable to his desires, which the pope approved (Bull "Ilia nos cura", 23 July, 1568). In 1625 new constitutions were ado|)ted by the Conventuals which superseded all preceding ones. These constitutions, which were subsequently promulgated by Urban VIII (Bull "Militantes Eccle- siis", 5 May, 1628), are kno%vn as the " Constitu- tiones Urbanse " and are of primary importance, since at their profession the Conventuals vow to observe the Rule of St. Francis in accordance with them, that is to say, by admitting the duly authorized dispensations therein set forth (see " Constitutiones Urbanse ordinis fratrum Minorum Sti. Francisci Conventuahum, .\ssisi, 1803). It would therefore be no less false than unjust to regard the Conventuals as less observant of the obligations contracted by their profession than the Friars Minor and Capuchins, since they are not bound by all the obligations as- sumed by either of the latter. The institution of several communities and even provinces of Reformed Conventuals, more especially between 1502 and 1668 (see "Constituzioni generali de' frati riformati de' Minori Conventuali da osservarsi per tutta la riforma, fatte per ordine del Capitulo generale de' Minori Conventuali celebrato in Orvieto I'anno 1611"), af- fords interesting proof of the vitality of the order, which for the rest has possessed many men of eminent virtue and has rendered important services to the Church.

St. Joseph of Cupertino (d. 1663), one of the greatest saints of the seventeenth century, and Bl. Bonaventure df Potenza (d. 1711) were both Con- ventuals, and the beatification of several other mem- bers of the order is now under way. The Conventuals have, moreover, given three popes to the Church: Sixtus IV (1471-84), Sixtus V (1585-90), and Clement XIV (1769-74), besides a number of cardinals and other distinguished prelates. Among the eminent theologians and scholars the order has jiroduced, the names of Mastrius, Pagi, Brancati, Papini, Sbaralea, and lOubel are perhaps most familiar. The Con- ventuals enjoy the privilege of guarding the tomb of St. Francis at Assisi and that of St. Anthony at Padua, and they furni.sh the penitentiaries to the Vatican Ba.silica and to the sanctuary at Loreto. At Rome they possess the famous church and convent of the Twelve .\postles, and it is here that their general resides. The habit of the Conventaals which was formerly gray is now black — whence they are some- times called by the people the "Black Franciscans", in contrast to the Friars Minor and Cajjuchins, whose habit is brown; it consists of a serge tunic fastened around the waist with a thin white cord with three