Capuchins feel the love in first year in diocese

As he looks back on the 12 months since Diocese of Wichita Bishop Carl A. Kemme blessed the new St. Carlo Acutis Capuchin Friary in North Wichita on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, Fr. Charles Polifka says the local faithful have warmly welcomed the friars.

“Everybody – Bishop, clergy, and the people – have been so kind and good to us,” he said. “The openness to and wonderment at who we are have been really striking.”

The friary’s guardian, Fr. Donald Rank, concurs. “There has been a consistency of welcome,” he said. “Everybody has just been very interested to know what Capuchin Franciscan life is like and how we serve.

“People seem eager to know more and spend time with us,” Fr. Rank added. “I hope we will make some more connections with people here.”

Fr. Polifka was among the order’s forerunners, arriving in the diocese from Denver in July 2025 with two other friars. Along with an immediate sense that life in Wichita is slower than in the Mile High City, he recalls noticing something else when attending Mass at Wichita’s St. Jude parish in those early days: full pews. 

“Right away, we thought, ‘Gee, Wichita is kind of a Catholic oasis,’” he said. “We see so many young families at Masses, and so many people at Masses in general. Then there is the large number of young people interested in priesthood and religious life.”

Forming friars

The Jubilee Year of St. Francis declared by Pope Leo XIV – which began on Jan. 10, 2026 and continues until Jan. 10, 2027 – does not fully overlap with the 12 months following Bishop Kemme’s September 2025 dedication of the Capuchins’ friary in the diocese, but much of their first year in the diocese took place during this special Church year honoring the order’s founding saint. 

Have the local Capuchins felt St. Francis’ presence and perceived his unseen assistance during the jubilee year?

“I think so,” Fr. Polifka said. “The 800th year of St. Francis is very significant for us, and we think St. Francis and the Lord want us to be in Wichita. That was opened with the bishop’s invitation, which has allowed us to bring St. Francis’ charism: his love for the gospel, the Church, and creation. We have brought that with us to augment something that already exists in the diocese.”

From their regular presence at places such as The Lord’s Diner, Wesley Medical Center, and Vagabond Ministries, the Capuchins have been engaged in numerous ministries, but Fr. Polifka notes that the St. Carlo Acutis Friary’s chief focus is friars’ third year of formation. During the friary’s first year, it housed three friars in formation – two from the province in California, one from Denver. There are four this year, he reports, one from the Denver province and three from California. After this year, those who continue on the Capuchin path will either pursue theological studies for the priesthood or enter training for other kinds of work or ministry, Fr. Polifka explains.

“This is a place where young men who have just made their first vows can come and integrate into Capuchin life and ministry,” he said. “As guardian, Fr. Rank is in charge of the formation program. I’m kind of the old guy here.”

As the self-declared old guy, Fr. Polifka can recall when the province’s Capuchins held the first Brown Robe Benefit more than three decades ago to help fund its formation program. Although the main event occurs in Denver on Saturday, Oct. 17, the local Capuchins will host their first satellite benefit in Wichita on the same day. It will begin with a 6 p.m. Mass at the Congregation of St. Joseph’s Mt. St. Mary, followed by cocktails, dinner, and the event program.

“There will be a little presentation on what our Capuchin life is about, and then we’ll join the Denver program, which includes an auction,” Fr. Polifka said. “If people want to bid on something there, they can do so from here, but we will also have some things here too.”

Some funds will go toward projects at the local friary, such as plans to plant some fruit trees, as well as efforts to transform the friary’s garage into a chapel. 

Anyone interested in participating should visit https://www.brownrobe.com/satellite-events or e-mail [email protected].

As he considers any further possibilities in the diocese, Fr. Polifka leaves much of it in the hands of God, even if he has some ideas. 

“The secular Franciscans here are very active, but we don’t have the second order here,” he said. “The Capuchin Poor Clares are not here, either. Who knows? At some point they might all be here too.”

As for the present, the friary’s guardian notes that, if the strong attendance and engaged audience at a recent Theology on Tap are any indication, the diocesan faithful remain keenly interested in the Capuchins.

“It was great,” Fr. Rank said. “We encountered 50-70 young adults and presented on Franciscan spirituality in the jubilee year. Br. Austin Cambon presented on St. Carlo Acutis, who lived Franscisan spirituality in many ways. Then, Fr. Sales Pathrose wrapped up by discussing the Eucharistic miracle in Kerala, his home state in India.”