Missionary Brothers of St. Francis
The missionary brothers of St. Francis , also in the spelling ... of St. Francis of Assisi , Latin Congregatio Missionaria Sancti Francisci ; Order abbreviation CMSF, are a religious community in the Roman Catholic Church . The congregation of papal law is represented in eight countries. In Germany they were sometimes called the Haselünner Brothers after their first settlement .
history
The congregation was founded with the support of the then Bishop of Lahore, Goffredo Pelckmans, as an order of brothers for work in the Indian mission . The formal establishment of the first branch on February 21, 1901 took place in Nagpur in the Khandwa district at the invitation of the Archbishop of Nagpur , Jean-Marie Crochet. On January 8, 1921, the new foundation was confirmed by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples .
The community currently has around 500 brothers in 80 branches worldwide. The members are all friars and work mainly in India and Sri Lanka . The mission house in Bug near Bamberg is the only branch of the religious order in Germany.
General Superiors
- Hermann Paulus Moritz (1930–1940)
- Mathew Pereria (1940-1949)
- Leonard Aguiar (1949–1961)
- Modestus Kern (1961–1967)
- Hubert Kumpuckal (1967–1973)
- Columban Keller (1973–1979)
- Modestus Kern (1979–1985)
- Columban Keller (1985–1991)
- George Thottiyil (1991–1997)
- Pius Kizhakebhagam
- Joseph Karimalayil
- Jose Valliara (since 2009)