Franciscan Institute
The Franciscan Institute, located on the St. Bonaventure University campus, engages in three principal areas of scholarly concern: research, publications and academic conferences, workshops and seminars on the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition.
Franciscan Institute Research
Founded as an international center of research on the Franciscan intellectual tradition, with the highest standards of scholarly production, the Franciscan Institute exists to serve the scholarly and educational needs of the Franciscan family and the wider community.
It is a center for promoting the study of Franciscan sources, history and theology, with a focus on a critical study of the origin and early development of the Franciscan movement.
For the first decades of its existence, the research team of the Institute dedicated its energies to preparing the critical editions of the works of William of Ockham and Adam of Wodeham. More recently, it has turned its attention to completing the philosophical works of John Duns Scotus — a project in collaboration with scholars at The Catholic University of America.
It continues research projects on Peter of John Olivi, the works of St. Bonaventure, and Alexander of Hales. Learn more at
Franciscan Research.
Franciscan Institute research grants are made available periodically to help foster the critical study of the Franciscan movement and its significance as a vital force in the contemporary church and world.
Go to our online grant application
Franciscan Institute Publications
Known for many years for its critical editions of leading medieval Franciscan philosophers and theologians,
Franciscan Institute Publications has more recently endeavored to make available to a wider reading public the very best of modern scholarship on the history, spirituality and intellectual tradition of the Franciscan movement.
The newly reinvigorated Bonaventure Texts in Translation Series is a case in point. The latest online version of the FIP catalog reveals a good number of monographs, translations and several new scholarly series that attempt to bridge the medieval and contemporary worlds.
Franciscan Studies: An annual academic journal
Franciscan Studies is a scholarly (peer-reviewed) journal published by the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University. It deals with Franciscan matters: history, philosophy, theology, and culture.
“
Franciscan Studies is an important journal in the English-speaking world, not just for those of us who study Francis and early Franciscans but more broadly in the fields of medieval and modern history, theology, philosophy, spirituality, literature, etc." -
Dr. Aaron Gies, Associate Editor
Franciscan Connections blog
Franciscan Connections is an international Franciscan blog that connects, communicates, and conveys the best of Franciscan learning in the twenty-first century.
Programs & conferences
Institute seminars, workshops and conferences for engaging people in historical and contemporary issues related to Franciscan thought and charism.
Learn about upcoming offerings on our
Programs & Conferences webpage.
Franciscan Institute Library
The Franciscan Institute Library boasts the largest and finest collection of Franciscan sources in North America.
The library constitutes one of the special collections of Friedsam Memorial Library at St. Bonaventure University, and includes more than 18,000 volumes, 110 current periodical subscriptions and 470 other periodical titles..
In its coverage of the Franciscan movement, the collection is unique in North and South America and can only be matched by a few European libraries.
The Franciscan Institute Library supports not only a teaching program, but also research by various scholars worldwide.
The Holy Name Library for the Franciscan Institute (pictured above), which is attached to Friedsam Memorial Library, protects the university's collection of rare books, described by the National Endowment for the Humanities as "a unique national asset of great value to American humanistic scholarship."
It includes the most important collection of Franciscana in North America, more than 9,000 rare books and manuscripts dating from the 12th century up to and including the seminal journals of renowned monastic Thomas Merton, who taught English at St. Bonaventure in the early 1940s.
Learn more at
Franciscan Institute Library.
Endowed support of the Franciscan Institute
The mission and programs of the Franciscan Institute are supported in part by a number of key benefactors.
Father Joseph A. Doino, O.F.M., Visiting Professor of Franciscan Studies Endowment
This was established in 1997 in memory of this masterful Franciscan teacher who served the University and the Franciscan Institute for many years. It enables a scholar of international reputation to be in residence at the Franciscan Institute in
order to pursue his/her own research projects, collaborate with faculty and students and occasionally teach a course in the School of Franciscan Studies.
Ignatius Brady Memorial Endowment
This was established in 2002 through the generosity of the Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist Province (Cincinnati, Ohio) in memory of an illustrious member of the province who was one of the most outstanding scholars of Franciscan thought in
the twentieth century. This endowment aims to provide funding for the research projects and general needs of the Institute, scholarship monies for graduate students and for the organization of an annual lecture in honor of Ignatius Brady on
themes related to the Franciscan intellectual tradition.
Poor Clare Endowment
Established by the Poor Clares of Chicago after the closing of their monastery in Lagrange, Illinois is intended to help serve the spiritual enrichment, education and ongoing formation needs of the Poor Clares by providing programs and workshops, especially
for those in leadership and formation. In addition, it also supports the ongoing needs of the Institute and its multiple programs.
International Center for Secular Franciscan Studies Endowment
A trust established by the Secular Franciscan Order, and the Alma Kraus Memorial Endowment, endeavor to to provide programs, workshops and publications of importance and interest to Secular Franciscans. They also provide financial assistance for
members of the Secular Franciscan Order to participate in programs offered at the Franciscan Institute.
Oct 03, 2024 | The Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University has partnered with the Franciscan Study Center at Tilburg University, Netherlands, to launch a new association of scholars, teachers and students around the world to collaborate in the study of the Franciscan movement.
Jun 13, 2024 | The Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University celebrated the achievement of 23 people today as they completed the Padua Program, the Franciscan mission-based leadership program, on the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua (June 13).
May 23, 2024 | Four scholars from the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University have joined in the publication of a new international volume edited by Krijn Pansters and Anton ten Klooster titled “Moral Conversion in Scripture, Self, and Society.”