Francis of Assisi wanted his friars to show respect and reverence “to priests who live according to the rite of the holy Roman Church” (Test 6). His Order was originally made up mostly of lay brothers, but by 1240 it had developed into a clerical Order, in which many of the brothers were preachers, missionaries, lecturers and confessors.

This development in the Order was influenced by the twin Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans), who were founded as a clerical Order. By the time of Saint Bonaventure, who was Minister General between 1257-1274, the friars in the Paris university had entered into a conflict with the secular clergy. The bishops and diocesan priests were challenging the rights and privileges which the Franciscans and Dominicans had acquired by papal declarations, giving them permission to build their own conventual churches in the towns, and minister to the faithful in the same fashion as the parochial clergy. Was this new trend a denial of what Francis had intended? What are the rights and duties of Franciscans today as regards pastoral ministry?

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