The International Franciscan Conference of the Institutes of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis was established in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council which called for all religious families to renew and update themselves by returning to the source of their foundation.

Members of Institutes saw the necessity to renew the Rule so that it would meet the needs of the present day.

In March 1982 a general assembly was held in Rome, attended by 200 general superiors. A new draft of the text of the Rule was approved and presented to Pope John Paul II who promulgated it on 8th December 1982 in the brief Franciscanum vitae propositum.

  The general superiors also expressed the wish that a permanent structure be set up to ensure that the common bond of their Franciscan heritage and the cooperation achieved would continue effectively. This structure was approved and established at a general assembly of 130 general superiors who met in Assisi in 1985.