FRANCISCAN SISTERS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF BONLANDEN. – They were founded in 1856 at Bonlanden in Germany by the priest Faustino Mennel (1824–89) and Paolina Gross, according to the rule of the Third Order, to assist the poor and the unemployed. Widespread in Germany, they have been present in Argentina since 1906, and since 1928 in Brazil and the United States. The Congregation currently numbers 19 houses with 290 religious.
BIBL.: Kloster und Kongregation Bonlanden, Nuremberg 1931; A. Sannien, Katholische Frauengenossenschaften Deutschlands, 2nd ed., Düsseldorf 1933, pp. 112–15. Cesario van Hulst