From the National Office
From the Executive Director
Julianne Wallace
It is with great enthusiasm and a sense of homecoming that I step into the role of Executive Director. My journey through Catholic higher education has prepared me for this moment, where I find myself drawn back to the rich tapestry of Franciscan spirituality. As we stand at this pivotal juncture, I am eager to weave together the threads of our community, focusing on nurturing our membership and ensuring our fiscal sustainability. The wisdom of St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi continues to guide us, and I am committed to honoring their legacy while addressing the evolving needs of our Federation.
As we embark on this journey together, I want to express our deepest gratitude to the religious congregations who have fostered and sustained the Franciscan Federation up to this point. Your dedication has laid the foundation for our continued growth and success. I am inspired by recent initiatives such as the Year of Listening and Learning, and I look forward to building upon these efforts. Together, we will nurture a vibrant community that embodies Franciscan principles and responds to the needs of our time, continuing to inspire a deeper understanding and love for Franciscan spirituality across our communities.
As part of my onboarding, I’ve been meeting with board members, constituents, and partners of the Federation. I’m particularly looking forward to meeting with the Convocation of Canonical Leaders in April and then the Associates leaders soon after. In the meantime, I invite you to share your Federation story with me. Your thoughts, questions, or concerns are valuable as I begin my role. Please feel free to reach out via this online form or email me at julianne@franfed.org. I’m in a listening and learning phase of my own, eager to hear from you, our members, as we chart our course together for the future of the Franciscan Federation.
Thank you for your words of welcome in the last few weeks. And please know of my prayers for all our members. Peace and all good.
From the Interim Executive Director
Eunice Park
In looking back at my 5 years of involvement with the Federation – first with the Emergent Group, then as the Commission Coordinator, then Associate Director, and finally as the Interim Executive Director – I have had the joy and privilege of connecting with countless wonderful Franciscans around the country. So many of you have become such good friends. You have welcomed and hosted me in this wonky itinerant life that I live. You have fed me, encouraged me, supported me, prayed with and for me, and shared so many laughs with me. And I appreciate all of you so incredibly much. I will hold you in my heart as I go forward into my next adventure, whatever that may be and wherever it may call me. Because despite it all, the mission always continues on! Pace e bene!
Please stay in touch, I can be reached at: franciscan.eunice@gmail.com
Thank You! Good and Faithful Friend
Jeanne Connolly
As the well-known quote goes, “The only constant in life is change,” and that certainly goes for the Federation. With sadness, the Board of Directors announces that Eunice Park, the Interim Executive Director and Associate Director, will be stepping down from her role effective March 31, 2025.
We are deeply grateful for Eunice’s dedication and commitment during this transition period. She has made significant contributions to the development of the National Office and the Federation during her time on staff, particularly in completing the year of listening and learning, launching The Damiano newsletter, and enhancing the communication between the Commissions.
Eunice has faithfully worked with Julianne Wallace, our new Executive Director, to ensure a smooth transition for the National Office. She has also committed to staying connected to the Federation as a volunteer. Please join the Board of Directors in expressing our gratitude for Eunice’s contributions to the Federation and wishing her the best as she seeks God’s call for her next ministry in service to God’s people.
Member Spotlight
Always a Franciscan
Hello, my name is Nancy Knipper and I am an Associate with the Sisters of St. Francis of Dubuque. When people ask me why I became an Associate, my response is usually something like “I’ve always been Franciscan!”. Reflecting on my childhood, I realize my parents raised me and my siblings with many Franciscan values. Living on a farm, I experienced care for the earth through the ways my dad farmed and the way we all cared for the outdoors. We lived simply by not purchasing many new items, but using what we had, and realizing that was enough. As a family, we prayed together often and, in that, I learned the importance of my faith. I had two aunts who were/are Franciscans and from them I observed a spirit of joy and faithfulness in their daily lives. My older sister also followed her call and became a Franciscan Sister and in her, I see acceptance and a loving presence to all she meets, both in her ministry and her personal life. Hence, I truly have always been around Franciscans and because of that my life has been shaped with Franciscan values.
Becoming an Associate in 1987 provided an opportunity for me to formalize my commitment to live the values in my daily life along with others who desire to do the same. One Franciscan value I strive to live daily is relationship. I try to carry that value into meetings I attend, my social interactions, and my faith communities. I even try to bring this value into zoom meetings! Five years ago, I began my current ministry, which is serving as the Associate Director for the Sisters of St Francis, Dubuque, as well as coordinating our two-year Franciscan Way of Life (FWL) process. This process invites participants to learn about Franciscan values and to discern how they are called to live those values in daily life.
Serving as the Associate Director is what brought me to my first Franciscan Federation Annual Conference in 2022 which was held in Pittsburgh, PA. Meeting Associates from other Franciscan congregations was life-giving and energizing! We were able to share ideas and learn from each other. It was such a positive experience that I was eager to attend the 2023 Franciscan Federation held in St. Louis, MO. Again, the opportunity to meet with Associates and share hopes and dreams for the future was invaluable!
I look forward to what will unfold in the future of Associate relationships. I appreciate connecting with other congregations and realize we are all living in a time of both an unknown future AND a time that is filled with possibility and hope! Together we will move into the future trusting we are not alone and that we have one another.
Ministry Highlights
The Canticle House Franciscan Intentional Community Welcomes Its First Members
The Canticle House Franciscan Intentional Community became a member of the Franciscan Intentional Community Network (FICN) while the Sisters of St Francis of Philadelphia were dreaming and planning for this new initiative. Named after St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures, “Cantice House invites spiritual seekers to live together in community as sisters and brothers.” This includes Franciscan sisters and young adult residents who come together “to nurture hope, celebrate diversity, and make choices for the healing and well-being of our Earth through the daily practice of simple, authentic, relational, and sustainable living” (Mission Statement). The new community began in March 2024, when Sisters Diane Tomkinson and Pat Millen, OSF moved into a rented three-story home in Chester, Pennsylvania, a multicultural municipality not far from the sisters’ motherhouse in Aston. After almost a year of planning, renovations, promotion, and relationship-building, Canticle House Franciscan Intentional Community welcomed its first young adult resident members in early 2025. While Canticle House was conceived as an intentional community open to both women and men in their 20s and 30s, the initial community members gathered by the Holy Spirit include three young men, the two Franciscan sisters, and a dog.
Emmett was the first young adult member to move into Canticle House in late January. Emmett grew up in upstate New York on a family farm, pursued his doctorate in psychology, and now serves as a school psychologist. He was drawn to Canticle House’s core values of nurturing mutual relationships, offering hospitality, seeking environmental and social justice, and living contemplatively. Emmett’s furry companion, Todd, also joined the community. Todd is trained as a certified therapy dog, whom Emmett hopes will soon be assisting in his counseling ministry with school children. Emmett leads the young adult ministry in his parish of St. Vincent de Paul in Germantown and is active with other groups in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, helping the Canticle House community build connections between young adults in Chester and the greater Philadelphia area.
Emmett was still unpacking when the Canticle House community welcomed two more residents on February 1. Chibuzorand Chimaare brothers and international students from Nigeria who currently study at Widener University, within walking distance of Canticle House. Chibuzor is studying mechanical engineering, while Chima majors in computer science. The brothers are active members of the Catholic campus ministry group at Widener and the nearby St. Katherine Drexel Catholic Church where they serve at Mass and sing in the Gospel choir. Chima and Chibuzor are sharing the large, double bedroom on the upper floor of Canticle House, leaving one single room still available for another young adult resident member.
In their first few months together, the members of this new intergenerational, intercultural, and interspecies community are enjoying getting to know one another over shared meals and prayers. Monthly community meetings focus on living the core values, including sorting out varied schedules and shared household chores. Community members have enjoyed cheering on the Eagles on Super Bowl Sunday, playing in the snow, and competing in a young adult three-on-three basketball tournament. Sunday evenings are set aside for a community meal and faith-sharing on the Sunday Gospel. Other young adults from the greater Philadelphia area join the resident community every third Sunday, for a “Soup and Sharing” evening, begun by Sisters Diane and Pat in the fall. In collaboration with Brianna Noce, the Young Adult Outreach Minister for the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, the Canticle House community has also hosted various opportunities for young adults to explore Franciscan eco-spirituality and practice care for creation, including “Sustaining Hope: Responding to the Climate Crisis” during the Season of Creation in September; “Cultivating Beauty,” a day of service preparing a native pollinator garden in November; and a group viewing of the Franciscan Federation’s annual retreat by Fr. Bill Short in February. As the newest community in the Franciscan Intentional Community Network, Canticle House members look forward to sharing with other FICN members when they gather for their annual meeting, to be held in Aston the first full week of April. Further details about Canticle House Franciscan Intentional Community and upcoming young adult events are posted at https://osfphila.org/youngadults/.
Get Involved with the Federation!
RESOURCES: SEARCHABLE DATABASE
Why would I want to use an online resources database?
By: Fr. Bernie Tickerhoof, TOR
When I first went to college, back in another century, one of my professors assigned a ten-page paper early in the semester. It was accompanied by a due date, which meant that most of the students, including me, placed it completely out of our minds. As that date loomed ever closer, I thought I had better get with the program and write the paper. At that point I experienced a revelation. Twelve years of what I had considered a good Catholic education had not prepared me for the task at hand. This is not to blame my educators; it is to point out that having the idea of doing something is dramatically different than knowing how to do it.
I knew enough to recognize that I needed some sources, some quotes, and some information readily available to complete the assignment. This was in days prior to any knowledge of something non-existent that would be called the internet, and I had only a vague idea of what a computer was. Still, I knew enough that I had better go to the campus library. I looked at a handful of unfamiliar books, wrote out a series of disconnected quotes sufficient for what I perceived would be necessary for the task, returned to our postulant house, and set about the task of piecing it all together. To be clear, we are talking about multiple sheets of paper in a bound tablet, manual typewriter, carbon paper, and white-out—the existing tools of the trade. It all concluded with my one and only “all-nighter,” an experience I never wanted to repeat.
The lesson to learn here, of course, is to be grateful and appreciative of what is presently available to you. The Resources Searchable Database in the Franciscan Federation website contains an expanding reserve of useful, and sometimes necessary, topical and practical information gleaned from Franciscan scholarship and lived experiences of the last fifty years or more. In the broadest sense, there are two primary motivational reasons why I might explore this or any other similar database: 1) for the benefit of myself, and 2) for the benefit of others.
First, what benefit will research be for me? In a story titled “the Parable of the Cave,” created by Paula Ripple, three traveling seers, after a long and grueling journey, stand before the cave of wisdom and life. The guard at the cave’s mouth asks, “How far into the cave of wisdom and life do you want to go?” The seers respond, “Oh, not very far, just far enough to say we’ve been there.” Where have you been? How far into life’s cavernous depths of wisdom have you come? And how far into life’s wisdom do you still intend to journey?
As to the benefit for others, the question is: how much of your journey do you wish to share? Are you ever asked to speak of your Franciscan values, to tell of your vocational choices, to teach or instruct others about Francis, Clare, or their myriad followers? In church groups? In spiritual direction or faith sharing? In academic settings? In the published word? What resources will you use? And where will you find them?
This database, of course, contains a great amount of knowledge and wisdom, which in turn should be adequately honored and protected. As a result, a large portion of its content has been reserved for those who have an active membership with the Franciscan Federation. This content of material, to continue the metaphor of the cave, lies deeper within its recesses than can be obtained by those who are content to wish to enter “just far enough to say I’ve been there.”
For those who would journey farther, I would suggest you take your time, explore new resources, allow your interests to lead you, and be open to new insights and possibilities.
Member Engagement Commission’s Franciscan Connection Circles
Earlier this month, we launched the Franciscan Connection Circles, a monthly gathering which offers any who are interested a chance to connect and share with other Franciscans. Each month, a facilitator will offer a different Franciscan story, followed by a brief reflection, after which we have an opportunity for small and large group sharings.
The Franciscan Connection Circles meet on the second Monday of the month, and our next meeting is on April 14th at 4:30pm PT / 7:30pm ET. If you are interested in joining us or in volunteering to lead, please contact Sr. Meg Earsley at memberengagement@franfed.org.
Events
Mark Your Calendars!
Please join us on Saturday, June 28th as we continue to celebrate the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ Canticle. In collaboration with Franciscan Media, we celebrate the recent publication of an expanded edition of the book, Care for Creation: A Franciscan Spirituality of the Earth book with its three authors, Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF, Br. Keith Douglass Warner, OFM, and Pamela Wood. At a round table discussion, the authors will answer questions and share their insights on our world, especially since the book’s original publication in 2008. Don’t miss this special event, all are welcome. Mark your calendars, registration details are coming soon.
*20% off the purchase of the book is available at Franciscan Media’s online store. Discount will automatically appear at checkout, click the link here: CARE FOR CREATION.
From the Franciscan Family
Franciscan Action Network’s 2025 Leadership Conference
Discover the Power of Franciscan Community & Civic Engagement! Join Franciscan hearted people from across the country this October 18-20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. for the 2025 Franciscan Justice Leadership Conference: Love in Action.
Together, we will learn, grow, and connect, empowered to make an impact in our communities and beyond. This transformative event is brought to you by the Franciscan Action Network (FAN) and the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities (AFCU). This transformative event is brought to you by the Franciscan Action Network (FAN) and the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities (AFCU). Rooted in the Franciscan tradition, we will amplify our collective voices on pressing national and global issues.
Register HERE.
Online Degree and Certificate and Programs from FST
The Franciscan School of Theology in San Diego offers a number of certificate and degree programs that are available fully remotely, including a Master of Theology Studies (MTS) Franciscan Theology online degree, as well as certificate programs in Franciscan Studies or Asian Pacific Islander Ministry.
More information and registration is HERE.
The Franciscan Intellectual Tradition
The Franciscan world has a long and incredibly rich history of intellectual and scholarly work. The Commission on the Franciscan Intellectual-Spiritual Tradition (CFIT) was established in 2001 to promote a contemporary retrieval of this Franciscan movement. From their website:
“CFIT is convinced that our Franciscan tradition has a powerful ‘word’ to speak to people today, one that responds to deeply-felt needs in our Church and our world….Our mission is to retrieve, preserve, and articulate that tradition in a language that is understandable to contemporary men and women and addresses the issues of our day.”
The CFIT website has a wealth of resources to read, including this ARTICLE by Fr. Dominic Monti, OFM on St. Joseph, whose feast day we recently celebrated.
Franciscan Media
Franciscan Media has a daily newsletter that includes Saint of the Day, Pause and Pray, and Minute Meditations, which are great resources for anyone with a busy schedule. These are short daily reflections written by a different person each day, on a topic that is brief yet meaningful.
Sign up for their daily newsletter HERE.
And subscribe to or read articles from their magazine St. Anthony Messenger HERE.
Franciscan Thoughts…
Today I met God in a Bold Declaration
By: Sr. Meg Earsley, FSPA
“No one is disqualified from my holy activity.”
That’s a bold statement! And the stirring in my soul when I received that message was equally strong. We had been reading and reflecting on a passage from Numbers – the part where a couple of elders (Eldad and Medad) missed the big get together in the tent where God gave everyone there a bit of the Spirit, so they could help relieve Moses’ burden of caring for the people. Even though they weren’t there, they were acting the same as the others, prophesying in the camp. Someone tried to be helpful and told Moses to “stop them.” Moses expressed a prayer, his “if only” ALL would receive the Holy Spirit. This comes to fruition at Pentecost and continues today on all who are baptized. There are many well-meaning “you’re not doing it right” speakers out there, like the one who told Moses to stop Eldad and Medad, who no doubt believe they are helping. No one is disqualified from my holy activity. May you live out some holy activity in your life – you’re qualified! Make peace with your enemy, love your neighbor…oh, you know what God’s calling you to! God bless you! #todayimetgod
See more of Sr. Meg’s Lenten reflections on her Facebook page.
We are grateful all your support through your membership dues. If you would like to further support our ministry, please be generous and donate here, every dollar helps. Your generosity will help us create programs and resources for our Franciscan family.
