Friar director: Fr. Herbert Schneider ofm

The Office for the franciscan Institues (Officium pro Congregationibus et Institutis Franciscalius - OCIF), at the General Curia of our Order in Rome, is at the service of the sisters and brothers of the Third Order Regular. The General Statutes of our Order mention this office in Art. 134, paragraph 1.

The head of this office is also the head of the office for nuns, (that is, the Seconcd Order), which is called the Office Pro Monialibus. The purpose of the office for the sisters and brothers of the Third Order Regular is to support the various Institutes in their franciscan spirituality and in their continuous renewal.

Of late, the following events had to be considered:

• The aggregation of Institutes to the Order of friars Minor.
• Advice offered on the subject of composing or altering statutes.
• Help offered with the formation of federations of various congregations.
• The passing on of petitions to the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated life.
• The developenent of new communities of sisters as well as of brothers.
• Co-operation with the permanent secretariat of the International Franciscan Conference (Conferenza Francescana Internazionale - CFI).

  The new Rule of the Third Order Regular, in spirit and in letter - stressing the paticular charism - has been very closely aligned to the Rule of saint Francis and the Rule of saint Clare. This has a positive effect on the co-operation of OCIF with the Third Order Regular.