We are grateful that you have taken time to look a little more closely at the possibility of helping us in our Capuchin life and our ministries. As the title of the previous page states, our life is not possible without your help and the help of our benefactors, many of whom give what might appear to be small donations, but we know they are a sacrificial contributions, for which we are appreciative and humbled.

It is true that Capuchins take a vow of poverty, but we realize that our way of life requires financial resources, sometimes in what looks like staggering amounts. For instance, the two biggest costs that we have are the same that most families have: making sure that the next generation gets a good education and the older generation is able to retire with dignity. The big difference between a community of Capuchins and an ordinary family is that we have almost forty men to educate and nearly as many who are already retired. What makes that difficult is the fact that many of our active priests and brothers receive only an adequate salary for their work, and some receive less than adequate salaries or none at all.

Obviously, we are not "in it" for the money. No matter what happens, some of our men will continue to serve in capacities that do not pay well because we want to make sure that the poor and needy are served, that struggling urban and rural parishes have priests, that we continue to send friars to the missions, and that some of the friars will train our newest members for their future ministries and religious life.

The friars wouldn't be able to do very much without your help. This "Helping the friars" section of our website gives you a view of our needs and some of the opportunities to help. However, to get a fuller picture of our life, we ask that you take a look at the entire Capuchin.com website. You will find sections on our history, our spirit and life, and the many ministries of our friars. You will discover what makes us tick. Hopefully you will quickly see that we are loyal sons of the Church, eager to do God's will, and thankful for our Capuchin vocation and the inspiration of our founder, St. Francis of Assisi. We know that God is doing great things among us and for us.

The Capuchin Development Center was established some years ago to coordinate our efforts to raise the needed resources for our life and ministries. Mr. Jerry Gaughan was the first director (sixteen years ago) and remains director today. He and his staff know how to help you help the friars. If you have any concerns, questions, ideas or proposals, I am sure he and his staff will welcome your help. You can contact Jerry by email: jerryg@capuchin.com.

Of course, I also look forward to hearing from you. You can email me at jpfann@capuchin.com. If there are problems with the website, questions that you might have about helping the friars, or any other questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I promise that we will pray for you and ask that you pray for all the friars.

Thank you for your interest, prayers and help.

 

Father John Pfannenstiel, OFM Cap, Vicar Provincial Minister