FRANCESCANE DI S. GIORGIO MARTIRE IN THUINE (GERMANIA). – Dedicated to the care of the sick and orphans and to teaching, they were founded in 1869 by Mother Anselma Bopp (1835–87).
Incorporated into the Order of Friars Minor in 1906, they were approved by the Holy See in 1909. Spread throughout Germany, Holland, and the United States, the religious sisters also devote themselves to the apostolate in the missions (since 1920 they have been in Japan and since 1932 in Sumatra). There are now 1,440 sisters in 124 houses.
BIBL.: S. Eilers, Die Kongregation der Franzisbaierinnen vom Mg. Martyrer Georg zu Thaine, Werf in Westf. 1930; A. Sannien, Katholische Frauengenossenschaften Deutschlands, 2ª ed., Düsseldorf 1933, pp. 132–59. Cesario van Hulst