| Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Fratrum Franciscanorum Immaculatae |
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|---|---|
| Abbreviation | F.F.I. F.I. (post-nominal) |
| Motto | Ave Maria (English: Hail Mary) |
| Formation | August 2, 1970 |
| Type | Institute of Religious Life with Pontifical Right |
| Headquarters | Casa Mariana Piano della Croce, 6 Frigento (AV), Italy |
| Membership | 305 friars and 120 postulants (as of 2008)[1] |
| Website | www.immacolata.ws |
The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (Latin: Congregatio Fratrum Franciscanorum Immaculatae; F.F.I.) is a Roman Catholic Institute of Religious Life with Pontifical Right established by Pope John Paul II on 1 January 1998.[2] The F.F.I. was founded by two Franciscan Conventual priests on 2 August 1970 and is a reformed Franciscan Conventual religious institute living the Regula Bullata of St. Francis of Assisi according to the Traccia Mariana.[3]
The F.F.I. is the male branch of the Franciscan Family of the Immaculate. The female branch are the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate; the last branch of the family is the Franciscan Tertiaries of the Immaculate, which is composed mainly of lay people. An offshoot of the Tertiaries are the Third Order Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate.
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The founders of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate and the other branches of this Franciscan family are Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli and Fr. Gabriel Maria Pellettieri. Both are originally from the Conventuals of the First Order of Franciscans. Fr. Pellettieri was one of the first four original Conventual friars sent by the Minister General of the Conventuals to start the mission in the Philippines.[4]
The F.F.I. started on 2 August 1970 at the Casa Mariana, Mary Most Holy of Good Counsel at Frigento in the province of Avellino, Italy.[5]
The Traccia Mariana is the way of life that the F.F.I. lives, a Marian plan for Franciscan life. The Traccia Mariana was submitted by Fr. Manelli and approved by the Minister General of the Franciscan Conventuals in the summer of 1970. It was first lived in the Casa Mariana in Frigento, Avellino, Italy.[3]
The entire Traccia Mariana formation program has been established in the Franciscan Conventual Province of Naples and the mission in the Philippines, which was then under the custody of the Province of Naples.[4]
On 23 June 1990, the Archbishop of Benevento, Carlo Minchiatti,[5] with the express permission of Pope John Paul II, erected as the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate the approximately thirty Franciscan friars who lived at Casa Mariana as a religious institute of diocesan right. On 1 August 1993, the ordinary of Monte Cassino erected the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate, a religious institute of women, also living the Regula Bullata according to the Traccia.[3]
On 1 January 1998, Pope John Paul II elevated the F.F.I. to an Institute of Religious Life with Pontifical Right while the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate was elevated to a Pontifical Right on 9 November 1998.[5]
Today, both the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Immaculate are composed of at about 400 professed members each.[3] The F.F.I. is present today on the six continents of the world with friaries in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Chad, England, France, India, Italy, Portugal, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the Philippines, and the United States.[6]
The friars celebrate Mass in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite as well as in its pre-Conciliar form according to the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. Their habits are ash-blue, and they wear the Medal of the Immaculate Conception on their chests. The friars publish Missio Immaculatae, a bimonthly Marian/missionary magazine.