Our partner in encouraging the study of the Franciscan cultural heritage, the Academy of American Franciscan History is a research institute presently affiliated with the Franciscan School of Theology in San Diego, California. Founded in 1943, the Academy
On August 5, Franciscans and many Canadian Catholics remember Blessed Frédéric Janssoone (1838–1916), a Franciscan friar noted as “God’s pedlar (peddler),” a missionary evangelizer and pastoral organizer.
On August 4, the Church celebrates the memory of Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie (John) Vianney (1786-1859), the most noted of the many diocesan priests who have been attracted to Franciscan values and joined the Secular Franciscan Order.
On July 30, US Franciscans especially celebrate the feast day of Blessed Solanus Casey (1870-1957), a Capuchin friar noted for his deep prayer, compassion for the sick, and outreach to the poor.
Visit our new, more powerful digital collections. Enjoy the early sources for Francis and Clare and much more. Advanced search, zoom, rotate, flip, colorize, save favorites, save searches, apply filters, and so much more.
"The Franciscan Intellectual Tradition - a Tradition 'Turned Upside Down'" by Johannes Freyer, OFM, is the latest lecture of the Franciscan Zoom Lecture Series, hosted by the Franciscan School of Theology at the University of San Diego.
"The Promise and Limits of Personal Climate Action: Can 'Thinking Globally, Acting Locally' Be Enough?" by Ed Tverdek, OFM, PhD, is the latest lecture of the Franciscan Zoom Lecture Series, hosted by the Franciscan School of Theology at the University of San Diego.
"The Shape of Holiness: St. Bonaventure's Theology of Grace for Troubled Times" by Katherine Wrisley Shelby, PhD, is the third lecture of the Franciscan Zoom Lecture Series - Winter 2025 Semester, hosted by the Franciscan School of Theology at the University of San Diego.
In this presentation, Fr. Johannes Freyer, OFM, will outline the distinct concepts and thought patterns that emerged when the Franciscan form of life interacted with the patristic tradition and the newest scholastic theology.
In this discussion about the promise and limits of personal climate action, Ed Tverdek, OFM, PhD, suggests that our shortcomings can be attributed to a failure to take seriously Pope Francis’ message in his encyclical Laudato Si’ and his subsequent apostolic exhortation, Laudate Deum – and that the transformative vision of a culture less wed to consumerism and growth – long expounded by “radical ecologists” and now by Pope Francis – remains our best vehicle for evangelization as Franciscans.
This presentation by Katherine Wrisley Shelby, PhD, will explore the relevance of St. Bonaventure's teachings on grace for our 21st-century context -- namely, within a culture that largely interprets grace as an individual ticket to personal salvation at the expense of all others, Bonaventure rather calls us to understand how grace necessarily invites us into communion with our "neighbor" and the broader world around us.
