The superiors of the four main branches of the Franciscan friars formally asked Pope Francis for permission to allow their communities to elect brothers to positions of leadership in their communities.
"With us Pope Francis is looking at the possibilities for moving this project forward," Fr Michael Perry, minister general of the Friars Minor, told Vatican Radio. "We left a letter as a formal request for a dispensation" from canon law requirements that in most religious orders with both priests and brothers only a priest can be elected to the top leadership offices.
