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Franciscan Studies
The CCS is a permanent home for Franciscan Studies in the English-speaking world and beyond.
In January 2025, Dr William Crozier became the inaugural holder of the Duns Scotus Chair in Franciscan Studies, an endowed Chair made possible through generous benefaction by Franciscan communities in Ireland, Great Britain, the USA, Canada, and Australia. The Chair’s appointment consolidates the long-term interests of the CCS to develop a research programme area in Franciscan Studies in partnership with global Franciscan communities.
Dr Crozier, known as Billy, will provide academic leadership for and development of the Franciscan Studies programme within the CCS.
Through international conferences, scholarships, doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships, online summer schools and Distance Learning programme, the CCS continues to build a global reputation as a centre for world-leading research into the Franciscan tradition in all its breadth and depth.
Working with a number of Franciscan partners since 2019, the CCS’s growing programme in Franciscan Studies builds on existing strengths across the Department of Theology and Religion. These range from the medieval Franciscan intellectual tradition, Franciscan spirituality, and Franciscan history, through to contemporary Franciscan perspectives on Catholic Social Thought and Practice.
The CCS is a growing presence for Franciscan Studies at Durham University, providing the intellectual leadership to deliver quality research, outreach, and impact.
Research Projects
There are a number of innovative research projects in Franciscan Studies being undertaken at the CCS. Below is a flavour of a few of them.
The Science of the Saints: St Bonaventure of Bagnoregio’s Quaestiones De Colore
After completing his PhD at the CCS, Dr William (Billy) Crozier was awarded a three-year Leverhulme post-doctoral fellowship in Franciscan Theology in 2021. Billy’s project will lead to the production of an edition, translation, and commentary of the Quaestiones de Colore. These are found in a little Assisi manuscript which is believed to be a notebook belonging to St Bonaventure from his time as a student in Paris c.1250 and which is written in his own hand.
The scholarly consensus maintains that Bonaventure, unlike Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great, produced no truly scientific or philosophical works, but instead confined his attention to ‘purely’ theological writings. The Quaestiones de Colore are the only example of a piece of ‘scientific’ work attributable to St Bonaventure and, thus, are highly important. If their authenticity is accepted, they would offer the basis for a fundamental shift in how we view Bonaventure’s place within the theological-philosophical milieu of the 13th century.
The project will also show how Bonaventure, as well as several other of the early Franciscans – Roger Bacon, Robert Grosseteste, Alexander of Hales, Richard Rufus of Cornwall etc. – all made important contributions, equal to those made by the Dominicans, Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas, to the scientific theories of light, colour, matter, vision, and motion.
Researching the Capuchin History in Australia
From January 2025 Liam Temple will begin a new three-year research project exploring the history of the Capuchins in Australia. This project, generously supported by the Australian Capuchin Province of the Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary, will explore the spread of the friars in Australia in the context of the Second Vatican Council and the rise of transnational Catholic migration. The project will result in a monograph on this history.
The Theology and Spirituality of the Early Modern Capuchins
Br Benjamin Johnson, OFM. Cap (Australia Province) joined Durham in 2024 as a post-doctoral fellow. His project investigates the theological impulses within the early modern Capuchins. It has become a general maxim of scholars to say that the Capuchins had a particular reverence for the teachings of St Bonaventure (especially his mystical theological writings), yet this appears to be an oft-repeated tradition rather than based on modern scholarly analysis. A particular facet of this project will be to look at the early modern Capuchin relationship with the works of Bonaventure, investigating how and why they engaged with his works. Did they repurpose Bonaventure, or rehabilitate him for the religious upheaval of the early modern period? What influence did Bonaventure have on the Capuchins, in particular their spirituality? Special attention will be paid to how this affected the sacramental theology of Capuchins in the Catholic Reformation. As such, the project will break new ground, recovering the theological impulses behind one of the most significant new congregations of religious in the early modern period, potentially touching on areas as diverse as globalization, adaptation and inculturation within the Capuchin missions. It will also add to a recent scholarly trend to re-discover the innovation in early modern Catholic theology. The project will result in a book-length study.
Completed Projects
Capuchin Fellowship in the History of Catholicism
From 2021 to 2024, Dr Liam Temple has held the position of ‘Capuchin Fellow’ at the Centre for Catholic Studies, a position made possible through the generous support of the Capuchin Delegation of Great Britain. Trained as a historian of religion, Liam’s project explored the history of the Capuchins in Britain from the early modern period through to the present day. Through this project, Liam also developed his wider interests in the Franciscan tradition and the history of the Franciscans more generally.
The first major output of Liam’s research is a solo-authored monograph under contract with Bloomsbury with the working title Radical Poverty: The Capuchins and Catholicism in Britain, 1850-2021. The book draws on a range of international archives to support its findings and recovers the important influence of the Capuchins on Catholicism in Britain in the past two centuries. It is due to be published in 2026. A second solo-authored monograph, tentatively entitled The Capuchins, Transnational Catholicism and Britain, 1580 – 1700, is currently undergoing peer-review with a leading academic press.
Liam wrote an article for the 150th anniversary of the English Province of Capuchins for The Tablet entitled ‘In the Footsteps of Francis’. The article can be read here. He has also worked with Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher to the Papal Household, on the English edition of his papal sermons, to be published in 2024 as Faith, Hope, and Charity. He was the co-editor of Volume II of The Oxford History of British and Irish Catholicism with Professor John Morrill (Cambridge), which was published in 2023.
FMDM Fellowship in the History of Catholicism
Between 2020 – 2024 Dr Brian Casey held a post-doctoral research fellowship exploring the history of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood (FMDM) as part of global Catholicism and within the context of shifting understandings of the Franciscan charism. The FMDM archives at Ladywell represent an important body of material evidence for research of the history of global Catholicism, and the Franciscan contribution to that movement. Brian researched and analysed this largely unexplored archive in order to develop a picture of the FMDM as a global congregation, to link the history of the Congregation to the wider global context, and to highlight the unique significance of the archival collections for the study of the history of Catholicism in this period, and the importance of the Franciscan vision that motivates its mission. With the primary focus of placing the FMDM and the Franciscan charism in the context of global Catholicism, the fellowship also allowed for the exploration of archives in various sites of FMDM activity around the world. Brian is currently preparing publications from this project. This position was generously funded by the FMDM.
Ratio finiendi: The Finality of the Holy Spirit in the Theology of St. Bonaventure
Br. Thomas Piolata, OFM. Cap (St Augustine’s Province, USA) joined Durham from 2021 to 2024. He pursued a cotutelle doctorate in theology at Durham and the Pontifical Antonianum University (Rome) and was also a doctoral fellow of the Collegium Sancti Bonaventurae (Rome). His research focused on the finality of the Holy Spirit in St. Bonaventure’s theology. Br. Thomas holds a BA from Saint Louis University (2012), an MA in philosophy as well as an MA in theology from The Catholic University of America (2016 & 2018), and an STL from the Pontifical Gregorian University (2021). He has also edited a volume with David B. Couturier entitled The Earlier Rule of 1221: History, Theology, Vision which was published in 2023 by the Franciscan Institute. His research in Durham was supported by a AHRC Northern Bridge 2 Doctoral Studentship.
Conferences
The Third International Franciscan Conference - April 2026
Life and Love Transfigured: Exploring New Horizons in the Franciscan Tradition
A Conference to Mark the 800th Anniversary of the Death of St. Francis of Assisi
Tuesday 14th to Thursday 16th April 2026
Durham University, UK
Call for Papers and Workshop Proposals
To mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, the Centre for Catholic Studies (CCS) at Durham University will hold its third international Franciscan Studies conference. The Transitus of Saint Francis in 1226 completed the Poverello’s earthly life. Successive generations have interpreted and carried forward the witness and teachings of the Saint and his early followers. This conference seeks to celebrate and share the fruits of this legacy against new horizons, addressing contemporary challenges and concerns.
The aim of the conference will be to bring together people from different walks of life – academic and non-academic, religious and lay – who have a deep love for St. Francis of Assisi, the Franciscan tradition, and the abiding relevance of the Franciscan charism for the modern world. The conference will be held at locations in Durham itself as well as at Ushaw College, a former Roman Catholic Seminary a few miles outside of Durham.
The conference will consist of academic panels and plenary lectures by world leading scholars of the Franciscan tradition, as well as public talks by those working in contemporary Franciscan evangelisation, workshops on the Franciscan way of life and Franciscan ministry, ecumenical worship, and opportunities for fellowship and communal reflection.
The conference will have three main strands: (1) Franciscan theology and philosophy; (2) Franciscan history; and (3) Franciscan spirituality, aesthetics, and evangelism. The conference organisers welcome papers from researchers in fields including, but not limited to, Franciscan theology, Franciscan history, Franciscan science, Franciscan literary studies, Franciscan philosophy, Franciscan spirituality, the Poor Clare and wider female Franciscan traditions, the Franciscan Tertiary tradition, Franciscan ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, Franciscan art, poetry, and music, Franciscan education, Franciscan liturgical thought and practice, Franciscan economic and political philosophy, as well as Franciscan ministry and Franciscan contributions to peace studies, outreach, and pastoral-social work.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Fr Casey Cole, OFM (Digital Evangelist and Creator of Breaking in the Habit podcast).
- Prof Richard Cross (University of Notre Dame, Indiana)
- Fr. Dr. Michael Cusato OFM (Scholar-in-Residence, St. Bonaventure Friary, NY)
- Prof Daniel Horan (St Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana)
- Dr William Hyland (University of St Andrews)
- Prof John McCafferty (University College Dublin)
- Dr Darleen Pryds (Franciscan School of Theology, University of San Diego)
- Prof Lydia Schumacher (Kings College London)
We invite proposals for 20-minute papers. Panel proposals consisting of three speakers are also encouraged.
We also invite proposals for 90-minute workshops offering a space for delegates to come together to discuss issues or subjects important to Franciscans, e.g. ministry, outreach, issues relation to community life, the Franciscan voice in the church, etc.
Please submit proposals for papers or workshops (c. 200 words) via the form at
https://forms.office.com/e/s06nt9CrNW by 30 October 2025 at the latest.
Contact for any queries: Dr William Crozier – william.e.crozier@durham.ac.uk
The First Conference
In November 2019 we held our first Franciscan Studies conference with the title ‘The Franciscan Legacy from the 13th Century to the 21st’. The conference was funded by generous support from the Franciscan families of the UK and Ireland. Around 200 religious, academics, students, and lay people attended for an intellectually and spiritually lively three days, discussing the continuing significance of St Francis and Franciscan traditions of theology, spirituality, and action. One of the many themes of the conference was interfaith encounter and ecumenism, honouring as it did the 800th anniversary of St Francis’ meeting with Sultan Malek Al-Kamil. There are archive recordings and papers from the 2019 Franciscan Studies Conference available at this page.
The Second Conference
In March 2024 we held our second Franciscan Studies conference with the title ‘Retrieval and Innovation’. The conference was supported by several Capuchin Franciscan families, the Community of St Francis, the FMDM, and the Society of St Francis. The programme for the conference is available here.
Recordings of the keynotes are available below, and at the CCS's Soundcloud account.
Mary Beth Ingham, CSJ (Franciscan School of Theology, University of San Diego): Reading Scotus today: Franciscan foundations for a renewed Christian humanism.
Giuseppe Buffon, OFM (Pontifical Antonianum University): A rule that saves? The Capuchin response to the institutional crisis.
Margaret Carney, OSF (St Bonaventure University): The Third Order Rule of 1982: Discovery, Disruption and Renewed Dedication.
Franciscan Summer Schools
The Second Summer School - 2025
The second fully online Franciscan Studies Summer School will be held 9-20 June 2025.
Building on the momentum of our first Summer School and past Franciscan Studies conferences in 2019 and 2024, the Summer School is intended to share the riches of the Franciscan tradition with a wide range of audiences, both lay and religious.
The Summer School will have two weeklong courses on the themes of ‘Franciscan Reform and Renewal Movements’ led by Br Bill Short OFM (Franciscan School of Theology, University of San Diego), and ‘Heart speaks to heart: Franciscan foundations for Moral Theology’ led by Professor Mary Beth Ingham CSJ (University of San Diego).
Dr Billy Crozier, Duns Scotus Chair in Franciscan Studies (Durham University), will also lead an advanced seminar on ‘The Heart Ascending: St Bonaventure on Love, Wisdom and the Quest for Holiness’.
The Summer School will feature public lectures by Prof. John McCafferty (University College Dublin), ‘Sandals, Spaniards & Scotus: defending Francis & his friars 400 years after his death’, and Margaret Carney OSF (St Bonaventure University), ‘Francis of Assisi, Francis of Rome and a Church Re-imagined’.
Registration is now open for the Summer School, 9-20 June 2025. Further details, including booking information, can be found at: Franciscan Studies Summer School 2025.
The First Summer School - 2021
Our first Franciscan Studies Summer School was held in May 2021. It built on the momentum of our first Franciscan Studies conference in 2019 and was designed to share the riches and significance of Franciscan theology with both lay and religious audiences.
The Summer School featured a public lecture by Professor Jacques Dalarun on the topic of ‘Clare of Assisi and Thomas of Celano: An Essential Relationship’ which is available online here.. It also included a joint Francis Studies/Teilhard Lecture by Sr Prof. Illia Delio OSF on the topic of ‘Teilhard’s Evolution and the Body of Christ’ which is available to watch here.
The Summer School had two weeklong courses on the themes of ‘Francis and Clare’, led by Br William Short, OFM (Franciscan School of Theology, University of San Diego), and ‘Franciscan Global Vision’, led by Br Daniel P. Horan, OFM, PhD (Catholic Theological Union, Chicago). Videos from both these courses can be viewed here (Francis and Clare) and here (Franciscan Global Vision). An advanced seminar on ‘Bonaventure: Love and Knowledge’ was led by CCS member Dr Billy Crozier.
We intend to build on the success of the Summer Schools and Conferences with future events which will continue to share the riches of the Franciscan tradition with a wide range of audiences.
Franciscan Studies embedded in Durham's Undergraduate and MA curriculum
There are currently two taught modules in Franciscan Theology within the curriculum, with another to be announced at a later date.
- Introduction to the Theology of St Bonaventure (2nd year UG).
- Trinity, Incarnation, Creation: High Medieval Franciscan Theology (DL MA module).
Distance Learning
Our DL MA in Catholic Theology includes a module on High Medieval Franciscan Theology. View our available distance learning options here.
St Francis' Friary
Visit the website of St Francis' Friary, based at the Parish of the Durham Martyrs, where four Franciscan Friars are currently in residence.