The Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit is a Catholic religious community of men established in the Diocese of Phoenix under the guidance and direction of Bishop Thomas Olmsted. We follow the Rule of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. This means that we live in imitation of our father, St. Francis, and that our primary charism is metanoia, or ongoing conversion.

We are penitents, striving always to take up our crosses and follow closely after Jesus Christ. In union with Him, we offer prayer and sacrifice for our own sins and those of the whole world. This takes on concrete form by “the spiritual martyrdom of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. By professing the promises of poverty, chastity, and obedience, men become members of a brotherhood that is founded on the Gospel and enlivened by the Holy Spirit. This brotherhood exists to glorify God, to sanctify the Holy Church, to spread the Gospel, and for the perfection of its members in the service of charity” (Statutes 5).

We are missionaries and our charism of metanoia/ongoing conversion is central to our fraternal life and motivates our prayer and evangelical apostolates through which we seek to humbly serve the communities entrusted to us by the Church. We currently serve the Native American communities in the Diocese of Phoenix, the parish of St. Mary of Redford in Detroit, and St. Anthony Indian Mission in Zuni, NM.