qufranciscanpress

© christian.senger

Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida is co-hosting an International Franciscan conference called "From La Florida to La California: The Genesis and Realization of Franciscan Evangelization in the Spanish Borderlands" at the end of March.

The conference will highlight Franciscan history and the role that the Franciscans played in bringing Christianity to North America. Scholars from the US, Germany, England and Mexico will be in attendance to hear talks by keynote speakers including The Rev. Michael Cusato, one of the foremost historians of medieval Franciscan history. Another speaker will be Gert Melville, an internationally known scholar whose institute at the University if Dresden studies religious life in the Middle Ages. The first Franciscans came to Florida in 1573, and the first school in the United States in 1604 was a Franciscan school.

© bazylek100

The Academy of American Franciscan History is one of the sponsors of a new museum exhibit in Oakland, CA that displays artwork from New Spain Missions. Pieces on display range from the years 1600-1821. These pieces are sourced from missions in California, the southwestern United States and Mexico for the exhibition "Splendors of Faith/Scars of Conquest: Art of the Missions of Northern New Spain, 1600-1821".

The exhibit, which originated in Mexico, will run through the end of May. There are over 110 objects on display that include paintings, sculpture, furniture and liturgical objects and vestments. The Oakland museum is the only museum in the state that will be a venue for this traveling exhibition. There will also be a panel discussion with curators on contemporary reflections on the Spanish conquest.

© seier+seier

The history of Franciscans is a very diverse one. For those of you that do not know what a Franciscan is; they are a group brought together by Saint Francis of Assisi. It is originally affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. It is not a specific religion but more of a brotherhood put together for men of like mindedness. They had the idea to follow God but to follow him in poverty like Jesus had lived.

This choice fueled controversy between the church and the Franciscans. The idea of living in poverty seemed to be nonsense and not needed to prove the love they had for Christ. Although they had trials and tribulations, Franciscans are still around today. They are generally called by their group name; Order of Friars Minor.