A flourishing traditional community of Franciscan friars and sisters will be entirely dissolved on May 31, exactly eight years after it was established in the United Kingdom. 

The Family of Mary Immaculate and St. Francis, commonly known as the Marian Franciscans, announced the decision on May 27, after the friars themselves voted for dissolution on April 27. Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, England, issued a decree May 24 confirming the move. 

In a statement, the friars said: “It is not for us to present the motivations of the Bishop of Portsmouth,” but added that they had decided to cease ministering in the U.K. following “a period of discernment” about their long-term future in the country. 

“Despite growth in numbers and apostolic activity, it was not possible to secure the practical and canonical support needed for formation, sponsorship, and future priestly ordinations,” they added. They said a “range of options was explored” but none provided a “workable path” to continue the community “in its present form.”

The friars stressed the decision was “not the result of, or a reaction to, any single incident or series of incidents,” adding that their request for dissolution “arose from broader questions about the future viability of the community and its mission in the UK.”

Bishop Egan said in a May 27 statement that he had agreed to the community's decision “after serious and careful consideration, and the appropriate canonical and practical steps are now being taken.” He added that the friars intend “to join another association with a similar charism and in the coming months to relocate.”

The Marian Franciscans, a community of around 20 mendicant friars inspired by the Marian spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Maximilian Kolbe, developed a significant apostolate in the U.K. through parish ministry, retreats, preaching, devotional life, publishing and online evangelization.

Bishop Egan first welcomed them to the Diocese of Portsmouth in November 2014; they assumed pastoral care of St. Mary’s Parish in Gosport, close to Portsmouth harbor. Four years later, Bishop Egan formally erected the public association of the Family of Mary Immaculate and St. Francis. 

As vocations increased, the friars opened a second house in the diocese in February 2020, and their ministry offered the faithful the traditional Latin Mass, daily vespers and Holy Hour, First Fridays and First Saturdays, men’s groups, retreats and conferences, as well as pastoral work in London, including at Tyburn Convent.

But following Pope Francis’ 2021 apostolic letter Traditionis Custodes, the community said diocesan authorization for celebrations of the traditional liturgy “became more restricted.”

In 2022, some friars relocated from Gosport to the Diocese of Dunkeld, Scotland, where they were welcomed by the bishop at that time, Bishop Stephen Robson, along with approximately 20 Marian Franciscan sisters. Plans were being explored for the purchase of a friary, convent, chapel and grounds for their long-term use, but these were halted after the diocese’s new bishop, Bishop Andrew McKenzie, informed them in February 2025 that the previously-agreed-upon property purchase “would not be ratified and that they would need to leave the diocese.” 

Supporters say the community in the city of Dundee, located within the Dunkeld Diocese, had been flourishing, with attendance “growing significantly and many young families participating in the apostolate’s liturgical and devotional life.” The statement also said the Dundee community has been “associated with large numbers of baptisms, Marian consecrations and wider engagement among the faithful.”

Bishop Egan said he and Bishop McKenzie will work with those directly involved "to address the practical arrangements now required, and the pastoral needs of the lay friars and the community in Dunkeld. Further details will be provided once arrangements have been finalised."

The Marian Franciscans had been attracting vocations from the U.K. and abroad, and the community comprised members from multiple nationalities across four continents. The friars built a significant media presence through Radio Immaculata, a 24-hour online radio station, and a YouTube channel, which were used for homilies, talks and live programming. 

The friars said in their press release that supporters of the community “have expressed gratitude for the friars’ witness, prayer and ministry in the United Kingdom, crediting them with fostering conversions, vocations, Marian devotion and renewed participation in sacramental and devotional life across a range of communities.”

Last November, a leading member of the Marian Franciscans was publicly critical of the Vatican’s Marian document Mater Populi Fidelis, which diminished two historical titles of devotion for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Father Serafino Lanzetta said the doctrinal note represented “a significant downgrade” not only from the teaching of the Church’s saints, doctors and ordinary magisterium of the popes, but also from the Second Vatican Council’s treatment of Mary’s role in salvation. He also organized a filial appeal calling on Pope Leo XIV to reexamine the document.

Following the dissolution of the community, the friars said in their statement that the bishop of Portsmouth will permit the friar-priests incardinated in the diocese to continue their apostolate at the three existing locations within the diocese, which include an ordinariate church. 

But elsewhere, the Marian Franciscans “will cease to exist as a canonical community” on May 31, and their “apostolates and activities as a community will therefore come to an end.” The friars and sisters will not remain Marian Franciscans. In the meantime, “transitional arrangements” are being made, including practical support through the community’s charitable trust, the Friends of the Marian Franciscans. 

Bishop Egan said the news “will be a cause of sadness and concern for many people who have valued the ministry, prayer and pastoral presence of the friars.” He added that his diocese “recognises with gratitude the ministry of the Marian Franciscans, and the prayer, generosity and friendship offered to them by the lay faithful and others who have supported the community over the years.” He asked the faithful to “pray for the members of the community as they discern the next steps, and for all those who have been supported by their ministry.”

The friars said in their statement that their dissolution “marks the end of a distinctive chapter in contemporary Catholic life in the United Kingdom,” but added that “supporters remain hopeful that the friars’ mission, and the spiritual fruits associated with it, will endure and may one day return to Britain in a new form.”

Neither the Marian Franciscans nor the Diocese of Portsmouth wished to add further comment. This article has been updated to include Bishop Egan's statement.