Our founding father,
St Francis of Assisi
The Capuchin Franciscans
Friars of St Francis, here since 1953.
The parish is entrusted to the Capuchin Franciscan friars of the St Bonaventure Province, Maharashtra, who have served here since 1953.
Who the Capuchins are
A return to the Gospel life of St Francis.
The Capuchins began in Italy in 1525, when Br Matteo da Bascio and a few companions set out to live the Rule of St Francis more simply and more closely. Pope Clement VII approved the reform on 3 July 1528. The name comes from the long pointed hood, the cappuccio, of their brown habit.
Capuchins live as brothers in community. Their life is built on prayer, poverty and service, above all to the poor and to anyone who needs someone to listen. Every friar, priest or not, is a brother, which is why you will hear “Br” before their names.
In India and in Maharashtra
From Pondicherry to Vidyavihar.
- 1632 The first Capuchin missionaries land at Pondicherry. Their work takes them north, to Agra and Patna.
- 1922 The Order’s first novitiate for Indian friars opens at Sardhana, on 26 February.
- 1951 The Capuchins take charge of St Ignatius Church, Mandvi, at the Archbishop of Bombay’s request: their first home in Maharashtra.
- 1953 Our Lady of Fatima parish is born at Kirol, Vidyavihar, on 10 September.
- 1972 The Province of the Holy Trinity is formed, for Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.
- 1998 The Vice Province of Maharashtra is established at Fatima Friary, on 17 December.
- 2008 St Bonaventure Province of Maharashtra is proclaimed at Fatima Friary, on 4 June.
At Vidyavihar
A chapel among the paddy fields.
In 1953 Valerian Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, invited the Capuchins to begin their Indian presence in the city. Holy Cross parish, Kurla, was divided, and its small chapel of Our Lady of Fatima became a parish of 940 people from the hamlets of Kirol, Khalai, Asalpha, Bhatwadi and Ghatkopar.
The foundation stone of the church and friary was laid on 31 May 1953, and on 13 September Br Michael Pais, the pioneer, was installed as the first parish priest. The first feast of Our Lady of Fatima was kept that October. A year later Fatima School opened in a single room of the friary; today Fatima High School teaches more than 4,000 children.
The friary has been at the heart of the Capuchins in Maharashtra ever since: the Vice Province was established here in 1998, and the Province itself proclaimed here in 2008.
St Bonaventure Province
Twelve friaries across Maharashtra.
Today the province serves through parishes, schools, houses of formation and a mission band, and it accompanies the Secular Franciscans, who have had a fraternity at Fatima since 1958. The province is led by its Provincial Minister and council, and is one of the provinces of the worldwide Capuchin Order, which is governed from its General Curia in Rome.
- Mandvi, Mumbai St Ignatius Church
- Vidyavihar, Mumbai Fatima Friary and Fatima High School
- Pimpri, Pune Our Lady Consoler of the Afflicted Church
- Pune La Verna, the Capuchin theologate
- Umralla, Vasai St Joseph Church and Fatima School
- Latur St Francis of Assisi Church
- Osmanabad Hartman Ashram and Vidyamata High School
- Katta, Malvan St Joseph Church and St Padre Pio Novitiate
- Devbag, Malvan St Peter Church
- Songaon Sacred Heart Church and St Padre Pio School
- Nashik Capuchin Ashram, the philosophate
- Sangli Assisi Vihar
Pace e bene
Peace and all good.
The greeting St Francis taught his brothers, and the one you will hear from the friars at the church door. This year the whole Franciscan family marks 800 years since his death.
The Year of St Francis