Capuchin Franciscans
Our Ministries
What the friars actually do — in the parish, at the bedside, in the kitchen and with the young.
Care of the Sick and the Elderly
A brother sits at a bedside. He brings Communion, he brings the anointing, and often he simply brings company. Much of this work happens in rest homes, in hospital rooms and in front rooms, where nobody is watching and nothing is announced.
Food and Outreach
Francis sent his brothers to the poor, and the kitchen is where that begins. The friars cook, they carry, and they stand alongside the volunteers who hand out the food parcels. It is ordinary work, and it is the heart of the Capuchin life.
Young People
Camps, retreats, youth groups and the long unglamorous business of being there each week. Young people are not a project for the friars; they are part of the fraternity, and the photographs show them in the middle of it.
Parish and the Sacraments
The friars serve parishes. That means Mass, confession, baptism, the blessing of a marriage, and the procession through the street with the Blessed Sacrament under the canopy. Everything else on this page grows out of the altar.
Preaching, Retreats and Formation
Capuchins have preached since the beginning — in churches, in halls, and now with a microphone and a projector. The friars lead retreats, give talks, and teach; and they still set up the chairs themselves.
One Faith, Many Cultures
Aotearoa New Zealand brought its own peoples to these parishes, and the friars themselves come from more than one country. Feast days here are sung in several languages and dressed in more than one set of colours.
Fraternity Life
Before the friars are anything else they are brothers to one another. They pray together, eat together and celebrate together, and a man who joins the Capuchins joins this table before he joins any ministry.
