The six novices currently participating in the OFM Interprovincial Novitiate all received their habits in a service attended by friars from around the province (of St. Barbara) and across the country at Old Mission Santa Barbara on Tuesday, November 14.

In December 2016 Domenico Sorrentino, Bishop of Assisi – Nocera Umbra – Gualdo Tadino has established a new shrine and issued a pastoral letter on "renunciation."

Victor is a simply professed friar from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Province who is in the process of joining the Immaculate Conception Province. Victor will be assigned to the Convento San Francisco. See Victor's profile in the formation section. Welcome Victor!

The celebrations for the Franciscan presence in the Holy Land continue. Christian Media Center is offering updated news and live streaming conferences. Visit: https://www.cmc-terrasanta.org/en/

A weekend of discernment was held at Immaculate Conception Friary, Boston on the weekend of October 12th. Two men joined the postulants and friars to explore Franciscan life. Read the full story on the "Join Us" page or just click the title.

On Friday, November 3, 2017 Dr. Dennis R. DePerro will be inaugurated as the 21st President of St. Bonaventure University.

Our brother Mark Brown passed into eternal life on October 7, 2017. Mark was 79 years of age at his passing. He was stationed at St. Paul's, Clearwater Beach, FL.

Throughout the world the Feast of St. Francis was celebrated on October 4th. People throughout the world gathered for the Blessing of the Animals, the Transitus, and the Feastday itself. Visit our photo gallery for updates on activities held throughout the province

Our brother, Friar Francis de Sales Paolo, OFM, passed into eternal life during the evening of October 2nd. At the time of his passing, Fr. Francis was affiliated with the community of Saint Paul Friary, Clearwater Beach, Florida, while under hospice care by the staff of Morton Plant Hospital, Clearwater, Florida. He was 85 years of age. Fr. Francis was the son of the late Emily (Quarantiello) and Domenic Paolo, having been born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 11, 1932. He is survived by his sister-in-law Louise and brother Ronald Paolo, Sr., of Mashpee, Massachusetts, his niece Rhonda Paolo and nephew Matthew Paolo of Mashpee, Massachusetts, and his nephews Domenic Paolo and Ronald Paolo, Jr., of Saugus, Massachusetts.

On Thursday, September 28, 2017, Friar Joachin Mejia took his oath and became a citizen of the United States.

Citing declines in attendance at Mass, enrollments in schools, numbers of priests, and reduced requests for sacraments, the Diocese of Pittsburgh is unveiling a plan for a restructuring and reallocating of resources. The friars have long served in the diocese, having staffed Serra High School, St. Peter's and Our Lady Help of Christians parishes, the University of Pittsburgh, and still remain at St. Pamphilus Parish in Beechview.

The Provincial and Definitorium of the Province of St. Casmir visited New York.

Cloth from a bag that was purported to have held bread sent by St. Francis to the friary in Folloni, Italy and delivered by an angel may have some scientific proof to back the claim.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini had a strong association to the Province. Fr. Francis Oppici, OFM, served as her confessor.  St. (Mother) Cabrini herself taught religious education at St. Anthony's parish and was associated with the Italian apostolates in New York City and Our Lady Help of Christians in Pittsburgh.   Read the full text by clicking on the story headline.

St. Francis Parish, East Cambridge, MA, a parish staffed by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Conception Province for much of its history, will celebrate its 100th anniversary on October 1.

On December 17th parishioners will be welcomed into the church to find completely new floors, new pews, and a new beginning. And it has taken the hands and hearts of so many craftsmen and woman to complete this project. To endeavor to undertake such a project take courage and co-operation. But it also takes so much more. Over the last year it has been the people…the parishioners…the families who live within the parish and who visit, who have given so generously that have allowed this to happen.

The Tau Cross investiture ceremony took place during Evening Prayer at St. Anthony Church, Manhattan, on Sunday evening, September 17 2017. Click the heading to view video of the ceremony.

Friar Orlando Ruiz, pastor of Our Lady of Peace Parish, Brooklyn, NY preached a novena (August 19-26, 2017) in preparation for the feast of Nuestra Señora de la Nube (Our Lady of the Cloud) in La Colina, Deleg, Ecuador.

Members of St. Christopher Friary have made a donation to the relief efforts of Hurricane Harvey.

The Association of Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro has bestowed upon the Province and Provincial Minister Robert Campagna the Order of Santo Hermano Pedro Award.