THIRD ORDER REGULAR OF ST FRANCIS. — It derives from the Third Order of Penance, instituted by St Francis of Assisi in 1221 for the laity.
In the course of time many of these tertiaries, drawn by a desire for greater perfection, abandoned their homes to live in hermitages, even taking religious vows. These communities of hermit tertiaries were often accused of heresy and lumped together with the Fraticelli, but unjustly, so much so that at the request of some of them living in Umbrian hermitages, Pope John XXII in 1323 approved their manner of life “as praiseworthy and most useful.” In 1447 Pope Nicholas V with the apostolic letter *Pastoralis Officii* recommended to all tertiaries in Italy that they gather in a General Chapter and elect for themselves a “Visitor and Principal Father.” Thus the various autonomous congregations were united into the Congregation of Italy, while the others gradually died out. At present the Order, which has given to the Church men outstanding for holiness and learning, is spread through Europe, the Americas and the Indies; it engages in sacred ministry, teaching and missions among the infidels; it numbers 700 professed members. The generalate is in Rome, near the basilica of SS Cosmas and Damian.