About The Friars

About The Friars

Since 1888, the Franciscan friars have been stewards of the National Shrine of St Anthony in Cincinnati.

The friars also serve as parish and campus ministers; as hospital, military and prison chaplains; as counselors; as educators and administrators in high schools, colleges and formation program; as preachers and retreat directors in evangelization efforts; as directors of anti-poverty programs; as skilled craftsmen and in support services; as writers and communicators; and as missionaries—all ways of spreading the Good News.

The 130 friars of St. John the Baptist Province (SJB) are members of the Order of Friars Minor, a Franciscan brotherhood inspired by the 13th-century example of St. Francis of Assisi serving the Catholic Church as brothers and priests, in devotion to the search for God in a communal life of poverty, prayer, and service to others.

Globally, the Order is divided into geographic areas known as “provinces.” Most of the Friars from SJB province, which has its headquarters in Cincinnati, live and work in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan and Jamaica. Others serve in New Mexico, Arizona and Washington, D.C. Individual friars presently minister in the Philippines.

History of the FriarsProvince Ministries