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, founder of the mendicant Order of Friars Minor, as painted by El Greco
El Greco

El Greco was a painting, sculpture, and architecture of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek alphabet, ????????? Te?t???p????? ....
.]]

Religious orders ('Religious Institutes', cf. canons 573-746) are the major form of consecrated life
Consecrated life (Catholic Church)

In the Roman Catholic Church the term Consecrated life, also referred to as the "Religious Life", denotes a stable form of Christian living by those faithful who Vocation to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way recognised by the Church....
 in the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
. They are organisations of laity
Laity

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all persons who are not clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not Holy Orders clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order ....
 and/or clergy
Clergy

Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term comes from the Greek language ?????? - kleros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "heritage"....
 who live a common life following a religious rule under the leadership of a religious superior. Many of these are enclosed monastic
Christian monasticism

Monasticism began to develop early in the history of the Church, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament, but not mandated as an institution in the scriptures....
 orders, others are not.

They do so for the purpose of imitating Jesus
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
 more closely, mainly but not exclusively by observing evangelical chastity
Chastity

Chastity is sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the ethics norms and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion.In the western world, the term has become closely associated with sexual abstinence, especially Pre-marital sex....
, poverty
Poverty

Poverty is the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include the lack of access to opportunities such as education and employment which aid the escape from poverty and/or allow one to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens....
 and obedience
Obedience

The term Obedience can refer to:* Obedience * Vow of obedience as an evangelical counsel* Obedience training for dogs* Obedience trial, a dog sport...
, which are the three evangelical counsels
Evangelical counsels

The three evangelical counsels or counsels of perfection in Christianity are Chastity#Sexual abstinence, Poverty#Voluntary poverty , and Vow of obedience ....
 of perfection (cf.






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, founder of the mendicant Order of Friars Minor, as painted by El Greco
El Greco

El Greco was a painting, sculpture, and architecture of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek alphabet, ????????? Te?t???p????? ....
.]]

Religious orders ('Religious Institutes', cf. canons 573-746) are the major form of consecrated life
Consecrated life (Catholic Church)

In the Roman Catholic Church the term Consecrated life, also referred to as the "Religious Life", denotes a stable form of Christian living by those faithful who Vocation to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way recognised by the Church....
 in the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
. They are organisations of laity
Laity

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all persons who are not clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not Holy Orders clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order ....
 and/or clergy
Clergy

Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term comes from the Greek language ?????? - kleros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "heritage"....
 who live a common life following a religious rule under the leadership of a religious superior. Many of these are enclosed monastic
Christian monasticism

Monasticism began to develop early in the history of the Church, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament, but not mandated as an institution in the scriptures....
 orders, others are not.

They do so for the purpose of imitating Jesus
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
 more closely, mainly but not exclusively by observing evangelical chastity
Chastity

Chastity is sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the ethics norms and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion.In the western world, the term has become closely associated with sexual abstinence, especially Pre-marital sex....
, poverty
Poverty

Poverty is the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include the lack of access to opportunities such as education and employment which aid the escape from poverty and/or allow one to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens....
 and obedience
Obedience

The term Obedience can refer to:* Obedience * Vow of obedience as an evangelical counsel* Obedience training for dogs* Obedience trial, a dog sport...
, which are the three evangelical counsels
Evangelical counsels

The three evangelical counsels or counsels of perfection in Christianity are Chastity#Sexual abstinence, Poverty#Voluntary poverty , and Vow of obedience ....
 of perfection (cf. canons 599-601). They bind themselves to this form of Christian living by taking public vows in accordance with the norms of church law
Canon law (Catholic Church)

Canon Law, the ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation....
. They may additionally profess to obey certain guidelines for living, since each order has its peculiar charism
Charism

Religious meaningA charism is a power, generally of a spiritual nature, believed to be a freely given gift by the grace of God.In the study of church matters, it also refers to the particular grace granted by God to religious founders and their organization which distinguish them from other organizations within the same church....
. Religious vows are to be distinguished from Holy Orders
Holy Orders

Historically, the word "order" designated an established civil body or corporation with a hierarchy, and :wikt:ordinatio meant legal incorporation into an ordo....
, the sacrament
Sacrament

A sacrament, as defined in Hexam's Concise Dictionary of Religion is "a rite in which God is uniquely active." Augustine of Hippo defined a Christian sacrament as "a visible sign of an invisible reality." The Anglican Book of Common Prayer speaks of them as "an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible Grace." Examples of sacram...
 which bishops
Priesthood (Catholic Church)

The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church includes both the orders of Bishop and Presbyterium, which in Latin language is sacerdos. The Holy Orders priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
, priests
Priesthood (Catholic Church)

The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church includes both the orders of Bishop and Presbyterium, which in Latin language is sacerdos. The Holy Orders priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
, and deacon
Deacon

Deacon is a role in the Christianity that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions....
s receive. Hence members of religious orders are not part of the hierarchy
Catholic Church hierarchy

In the Catholic Church, the term hierarchy has a variety of related usages. Literally, "holy ordering", the term is employed in different instances. There is a Hierarchy of Truths, which refers to the levels of solemnity of the official teaching of the faith....
, unless they are also ordained priests or deacons (sometimes referred to as "priest-monks").

Religious rules

Religious orders follow one of the religious rules. For example, the majority of the religious orders in the Roman Catholic Church observe the Rule of St Benedict
Rule of St Benedict

The Rule of Saint Benedict is a book of precepts written by Benedict of Nursia for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. Since about the 7th century it has also been adopted by communities of women....
 that is a collection of precepts for what is called contemplative religious life, others follow the Rule of St Augustine that stresses self-denial, moderation, and care for those in need, whereas the Rule of St Basil, one of the earliest rules for Christian religious living, tends to be followed by monastic communities of the Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
. In addition, the individual Orders have their own regulations for the practical living out of their chosen Rule so as to be able to serve their own Order's charism more fully.

Authority structure

A Religious Order is characterized by an authority structure where a superior general
Superior general

A Superior General, or General Superior, is the Superior at the head of a whole religious order or congregation.The term is mainly used as a generic term, while many orders and congegations use other specific titles, notably...
 has jurisdiction over the order's dependent communities. An exception is the Order of St Benedict which is not a religious order in this technical sense, because it has a system of "independent houses", meaning that each abbey is autonomous.

There are two principal types of Catholic religious orders. Members of congregations
Congregation (catholic)

A congregation is a religious institute of Roman Catholic Church in which only simple vows, not solemn vows, are taken. In the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, public vows are divided into simple vows and solemn vows....
 (such as the Congregation of Holy Cross
Congregation of Holy Cross

The Congregation of Holy Cross or Congregatio a Sancta Cruce is a Roman Catholic Church congregation of priests and Monks founded in 1837 by Beatification Basil Moreau, in Le Mans, France....
) take simple vow
Simple vow

In the 1917 Canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, public vows are either simple vows or solemn vows. Professed members of Catholic orders take solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience , while members of congregation take simple vows....
s, while members of orders proper (such as the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Roman Catholic religious order of clerks regular whose members are called Jesuits, Soldiers of Jesus Christ, and Foot soldiers of the Pope, because the founder, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a knight before becoming a Holy Orders....
) take solemn vows. The term congregation sometimes also applies to branches of an order which historically united several ones or was extended with one or more branches of a different kind, such as for women in addition to the pre-existing one for men, or tertiaries
Tertiaries

Tertiaries , are associations of lay folk connected with the Mendicant Orders. The old monastic orders had had attached to their abbeys Confraternity of Christian Doctrine of lay men and women, going back in some cases to the 8th century....
. Additionally, a number of generic terms, which are not always exclusively defined, exist to define groups of orders and congregations, such as mendicant orders
Mendicant Orders

The mendicant orders are Religious_orders which depend directly on the charity of the people for their livelihood. In principle they do not own property, either individually or collectively, and have taken a vow of poverty, in order that all their time and energy could be expended on religious work....
 or canons regular
Canons Regular

Canons regular are members of certain bodies of Canon living in community under the Augustinians#The Augustinian Rule , and sharing their property in common as a type of vow of poverty....
. As well particular or familiar names exist for religious such as Brother and Sister, whereas older terms including Monk and Nun are now more infrequently used. Technically Nuns are religious women who profess solemn vows rather than simple vow
Simple vow

In the 1917 Canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, public vows are either simple vows or solemn vows. Professed members of Catholic orders take solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience , while members of congregation take simple vows....
s.

History


The roots in Egypt and the Syriac and Greek speaking East

From the earliest times there were probably individual hermits who lived a life in isolation in imitation of Jesus' 40 days in the desert
Catholic spirituality

Catholic spirituality means that, once one has accepted the faith by making a personal act of faith , then one lives it out through spiritual practice....
. They have left no confirmed archaeological traces and only hints in the written record. Communities of virgins
Consecrated virgin

In the Catholic Church a consecrated virgin is a woman who has dedicated herself to a life of virginity or perpetual chastity in the service of God and the Church in a form that is recognised by the Church....
 who had consecrated themselves to Christ are found at least as far back as the 2nd century. There were also individual ascetics, known as the "devout", who usually lived not in the deserts but on the edge of inhabited places, still remaining in the world but practicing asceticism and striving for union with God, although extreme ascetism such as encratism
Encratites

The Encratites were an ascetic second century sect of Christians who forbade marriage and counselled abstinence from meat. Eusebius says that Tatian was the author of this heresy....
 was regarded as suspect by the Church (cf. 1 Tim 4:1-5).

Paul of Thebes
Paul of Thebes

Paul of Thebes, commonly known as Saint Paul the First Hermit or St Paul the Anchorite is regarded as the first Christian hermit. He is not to be confused with Paul the Simple, who was a disciple of Anthony the Great....
 (fl. 3rd cent.), commemorated in the writings of St Jerome
Jerome

Saint Jerome was a Christian priest and Christian apologetics best known for translating the Vulgate. He is recognized by the Catholic Church as a canonized saint and Doctor of the Church, and his version of the Bible is still an important text in Catholicism....
, is regarded as the first Christian hermit in Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, his withdrawal into the desert apparently having been prompted by the persecution of the Christians at the time. Saint Anthony
Anthony the Great

Anthony the Great , also known as Saint Anthony, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Abba Antonius , and Father of All Monks, was an Christianity saint from Egypt, a prominent leader among the Desert Fathers....
 was the first to leave the world specifically in order to live in the desert
Catholic spirituality

Catholic spirituality means that, once one has accepted the faith by making a personal act of faith , then one lives it out through spiritual practice....
 as a monk
Monk

A Monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, the unconditioning of mind and body in favor of the realization of one's true nature, and does so living either alone or with any number of like-minded people, whilst always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose....
; St Athanasius speaks of him as an anchorite
Anchorite

Anchorite /anchoress , , denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic and, circumstances permitting, Eucharist-focused life....
. In upper Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, sometime around 323 AD, Saint Pachomius decided to organize his disciples into a form of community in which they lived in individual huts or rooms (cellula in Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
), but worked, ate, and worshipped in shared space. Guidelines for daily life were drawn up (a monastic 'rule'); and several monasteries were founded, nine for men and two for women. This method of monastic organization is called cenobitic or "community-based". Towards the end of his life St Pachomius was therefore not only the abbot
Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery....
 of a monastery
Monastery

Monastery , a term derived from the Greek language word ???ast?????, neut. of ???ast????? - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of Monk, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in Cenobium or alone ....
 but also the head of an entire order of monasteries.

The Greeks (e.g. St Basil the Great of Cappadocian Caesarea) and the Syriac-speaking east have their own monastic traditions (e.g. St Ephrem
Ephrem the Syrian

Ephrem the Syrian was a Roman Syria deacon, prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century. He is venerated by Christianity throughout the world, and especially among Syriac Christians, as a saint....
 of Nisibis and Edessa).

Gaul

The earliest forms of monasticism in Western Europe involved figures such as Martin of Tours
Martin of Tours

Saint Martin of Tours , was a Bishop of Tours whose shrine became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Around his name much legendary material accrued and he has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Roman Catholic Church saints....
, who after serving in the Roman legions converted to Christianity and established a hermitage near Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
. He then moved on to Poitiers
Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain in west central France. It is a commune in France and the capital of the Vienne d?partement in France and of the Poitou-Charentes r?gion in France....
 where he gathered a community around his hermitage. In 372 he was called to become Bishop of Tours, where he established a monastery at Marmoutiers on the opposite bank of the Loire River
Loire River

The Loire is the longest river in France. With a length of , it drains an area of , which represents more than a fifth of France's land area....
. His monastery was laid out as a colony of hermits rather than as a single integrated community.

John Cassian
John Cassian

Saint John Cassian , John the Ascetic, or John Cassian the Roman, is a Christian theology celebrated in both the Western and Eastern Churches for his mystical writings....
 began his monastic career at a monastery in Palestine and Egypt around 385 to study monastic practice there. In Egypt he had been attracted to the isolated life of hermits, which he considered the highest form of monasticism, yet the monasteries he founded were all organized monastic communities. About 410 he established two monasteries near Marseilles, one for men, one for women. In time these attracted a total of 5,000 monks and nuns. Most significant for the future development of monasticism were Cassian's Institutes, which provided a guide for monastic life and his Conferences, a collection of spiritual reflections.

Honoratus of Marseilles was a wealthy Gallo-Roman aristocrat, who after a pilgrimage to Egypt, founded the Monastery of Lérins
Lérins Abbey

L?rins Abbey is a Cistercian monastery on the island of ?le Saint-Honorat, one of the L?rins Islands, on the French Riviera, with an active monastic community....
, on an island lying off the modern city of Cannes
Cannes

Cannes is a city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France in the region of Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur in southeastern France. It is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera....
. Lérins became, in time, a center of monastic culture and learning, and many later monks and bishops would pass through Lérins in the early stages of their career.

Italy

The anonymous Rule of the Master
Rule of the Master

The Regula Magistri or Rule of the Master is an anonymous sixth-century collection of Christian monasticism precepts. It was probably used by Benedict of Nursia as source material for his own Rule of Saint Benedict....
 (Regula magistri), was written somewhere south of Rome around 500. The rule adds administrative elements not found in earlier rules, defining the activities of the monastery, its officers, and their responsibilities in great detail.

Benedict of Nursia
Benedict of Nursia

Saint Benedict of Nursia was a saint from Italy, the founder of Western Christian monasticism communities, and a rule-giver for cenobite monks....
 was the most influential early Western monk. He was educated in Rome but soon sought the life of a hermit in a cave at Subiaco
Subiaco, Italy

Subiaco is a town in the Province of Rome, in Lazio, Italy, twenty-five miles from Tivoli, Italy alongside the river Aniene. It is mainly renowned as tourist and religious resort for its sacred grotto , in the St....
, outside the city. He then attracted followers with whom he founded the monastery of Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino

Monte Cassino is a rocky hill about 130 km southeast of Rome, Italy, c. 2 km to the west of the town of Cassino, Italy and 520 m altitude....
 around 520, between Rome and Naples
Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
. His Rule
Rule of St Benedict

The Rule of Saint Benedict is a book of precepts written by Benedict of Nursia for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. Since about the 7th century it has also been adopted by communities of women....
 is shorter than the Master's, and somewhat less legalistic. By the ninth century, largely under the inspiration of the Emperor Charlemagne
Charlemagne

Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
, Benedict's Rule became the basic guide for Western monasticism.

Ireland

The earliest Monastic settlements in Ireland emerged at the end of the fifth century. The first identifiable founder of a monastery was Saint Brigit
Brigid of Kildare

Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland was an Ireland Roman Catholic nun, abbess, and founder of several convents who is venerated as a saint....
, a saint who ranked with Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick , said to have been born Maewyn Succat , was a Roman Britain-born Christianity missionary and is the patron saint of Ireland along with Brigid of Kildare and Columba....
 as a major figure of the Irish church. The monastery at Kildare
Kildare

Kildare is a town in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland. Its population of 7,538 makes it the seventh largest town in Kildare and the 55th largest in the Republic of Ireland, with a growth rate of 32.4pc since the 2002 census....
 was a double monastery, with both men and women ruled by the Abbess, a pattern found in many other monastic foundations.

Commonly Irish monasteries were established by grants of land to an abbot or abbess, who came from a local noble family. The monastery became the spiritual focus of the tribe or kin group. Irish monastic rules specify a stern life of prayer and discipline in which prayer, poverty, and obedience are the central themes. However Irish monks read Latin texts, both spiritual and secular, with an enthusiasm that their contemporaries on the continent lacked. By the end of the seventh century, Irish monastic schools were attracting students from England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 and from Europe.

Irish monasticism spread widely, first to Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 and Northern England
Northern England

Northern England, the North, the North of England, or the North Country refers to the parts of England north of an ill-defined line....
, then to Gaul and Italy. Columba
Columba

Early life in IrelandColumba was born to Fedlimid and Eithne of the Cenel Conaill in Gartan, near Lough Gartan, County Donegal, in Ireland. On his father's side he was great-great-grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, an High King of Ireland of the 5th century....
 and his followers established monasteries at Bangor
Bangor Abbey

Bangor Abbey was established by Saint Comgall in 558 in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland and was famous for its learning and austere rule. It was featured in the Mappa mundi, the first map of the world....
, on the northeastern coast of Ireland, at Iona
Iona Abbey

One of the oldest and most important religious centres in Western Europe, Iona Abbey was a focal point for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland, though not the first one....
 in Scotland, and at Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England also known as Holy Island, the name of the civil parish. It has a population of 162 ...
, in Northumbria
Northumbria

Northumbria is primarily the name of both a medieval petty kingdom of the Angles people, in what is now north east England and southern Scotland, and of the earldom which succeeded it when a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom became England....
. Columbanus
Columbanus

Saint Columbanus was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monastery on the European continent from around 590 in the Franks and Italian kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey and Bobbio Abbey , and stands as an exemplar of Irish missionary activity in early medieval Europe....
, an abbot from a Leinster noble family, traveled to Gaul in the late 6th century with twelve companions. Columbanus and his followers spread the Irish model of monastic institutions established by noble families to the continent. A whole series of new rural monastic foundations on great rural estates under Irish influence sprang up, starting with Columbanus's foundations of Fontaines and Luxeuil, sponsored by the Frankish King Childebert II
Childebert II

Childebert II was the Merovingian king of Austrasia, which included Provence at the time, from 575 until his death in 595, the eldest and succeeding son of Sigebert I, and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his death, as the adopted and succeeding son of his uncle Guntram....
. After Childebert's death Columbanus traveled east to Metz, where Theudebert II allowed him to establish a new monastery among the semi-pagan Alemanni in what is now Switzerland
Switzerland

Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
. One of Columbanus's followers founded the monastery of St. Gall on the shores of Lake Constance, while Columbanus continued onward across the Alps
Alps

The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
 to the kingdom of the Lombards
Lombards

The Lombards were a Germanic peoples originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italian peninsula in 568 under the leadership of Alboin....
 in Italy. There King Agilulf
Agilulf

Agilulf, called the Thuringian, was the duke of Turin and king of the Lombards in Italy, the cousin of his predecessor Authari. Son of the Duke Ansvald of Turin, he was raised on the shield by the warriors in Milan in May 591, on the advice, sought by the Lombard council, of the Catholic queen Theodelinda, whom he soon married himself....
 and his wife Theodolinda granted Columbanus land in the mountains between Genoa
Genoa

Genoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000....
 and Milan, where he established the monastery of Bobbio
Bobbio

Bobbio is a small town and Comune in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is located in the Trebbia River valley southwest of the town Piacenza....
.

List of Roman Catholic religious institutes

The following list refers to some of the major religious institutes of the Catholic Church, both orders and others; it should be understood that communities using the same name may exist in the Anglican tradition as well, as well as more than one Catholic order with the same name. Each is accompanied by its official name in English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 as well as the acronym (or "post-nominal initials
Post-nominal letters

Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials or post-nominal titles, are letters placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honour....
") commonly used to identify its members. In many cases name variations and/or alternative names are also in use. In parentheses is the year it was established.

Some organizations in the following list are not Religious Institutes because they are Associations of the Faithful and have not yet received a decree of erection to become an Institute of Consecrated Life
Institute of Consecrated Life

Institutes of Consecrated Life are canonically erected institutes in the Roman Catholic Church. Their membersprofess the Evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience by vows or other sacred bonds....
. For this reason, this list does not verify the canonical status of an organization.:

  1. Adorers (Adorers of the Blood of Christ
    Adorers of the Blood of Christ

    The Adorers of the Blood of Christ are a Roman Catholic Roman Catholic religious order founded by St. Maria De Mattias in 1834, their post-nominal letters are A.S.C....
    ) - A.S.C. (1834)
  2. Adornos
    Clerics Regular Minor

    The Clerics Regular Minor are a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Francis Caracciolo, Augustine Adorno, and Fabrizio Caracciolo in 1563 in Villa Santa Maria....
     (Clerics Regular Minor
    Clerics Regular Minor

    The Clerics Regular Minor are a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Francis Caracciolo, Augustine Adorno, and Fabrizio Caracciolo in 1563 in Villa Santa Maria....
    ) - C.R.M. (1563)
  3. Adrian Dominican Sisters
    Adrian Dominican Sisters

    The Adrian Dominican Sisters are a Roman Catholic religious order of Dominican Order nuns in the United States. Their Wiktionary:motherhouse is in Adrian, Michigan, Michigan....
     (1233/1853)
  4. Albertines
    Albertines

    The Albertine Brothers are a Roman Catholic religious order founded in 1888 by Albert Chmielowski in Krak?w, Poland.External links*...
     (1888)
  5. Alexians
    Alexians

    The Alexians, Alexian Brothers or Cellites are a Catholic religious institute or congregation specifically devoted to caring for the sick which has its origin in Europe at the time of the Black Death....
     - C.F.A. (1469)
  6. Angelic Sisters of St. Paul
    Angelic Sisters of St. Paul

    Angelic Sisters of St. Paul - a Roman Catholic religious order. Founded by Anthony Maria Zaccaria in Milan in 1535. The order is a female branch of uncloistered nuns of the Barnabites order....
     - A.S.S.P. (1535)
  7. Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
    Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

    The Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were founded in Viareggio, Italy in 1894 by Clelia Merloni. The congregation has grown to over 1,500 sisters on five continents....
     - A.S.C.J. (1894)
  8. Assumptionists
    Assumptionists

    The Augustinians of the Assumption constitute a congregation of Catholic religious , founded in N?mes, southern France, by Fr. Emmanuel d'Alzon in 1845, initially approved by Rome in 1857 and definitively approved in 1864 ....
     - A.A. (1845)
  9. Little Sisters of the Assumption
    Little Sisters of the Assumption

    The Little Sisters of the Assumption is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in France in 1865 by Antoinette Fage and Father Etienne Pernet....
     (1865)
  10. Religious of the Assumption
    Religious of the Assumption

    The Religious of the Assumption were founded by Saint Marie Eugenie Milleret in Paris in 1839. Her vision was of transforming society through education....
     (1839)
  11. Atonement, Society of the
    Society of the Atonement

    The Society of the Atonement also the Atonement Friars/Graymoor Friars/Sisters is a Roman Catholic Franciscan religious society....
     (Atonement Friars/Graymoor Friars/Sisters) - S.A. (1909)
  12. Augustinian Recollects - (Order of the Augustinians Recollects) - O.A.R. (1912)
  13. Augustinian Sisters, Servants of Jesus and Mary - A.S.J.M. (1827)
  14. Augustinians (Order of Saint Augustine) - O.S.A. (1256)
  15. Augustinians of Kansas: Society of Saint Augustine - S.S.A. (1981)
  16. Baladites (Order of Lebanese Maronite) - O.L.M. (1694)
  17. Barnabites (Clerics Regular of Saint Paul) - B., C.R.S.P. (1530)
  18. Benedictine
    Benedictine

    Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy....
    s (Order of St. Benedict) - O.S.B. (529)
  19. Benedictine Oblates of St Scholastica
  20. Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
    Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration

    Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration is a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Sister Mary Anselma in Clyde, Missouri at the Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration in 1874....
     (1874)
  21. Bernardine Cistercian Sisters of Esquiermes
  22. Bernardines (also see Cistercians
    Cistercians

    Image:Cistersian priests in Szczyrzyc monastery.JPGThe keynote of Cistercian life was a return to literal observance of the Rule of St Benedict. Rejecting the developments the Benedictines had undergone, the monks tried to reproduce life exactly as it had been in Benedict of Nursia time; indeed in various points they went beyond it in austerity....
    ) (1098)
  23. Bon Secours Sisters
    Bon Secours Sisters

    Bon Secours Sisters - a Roman Catholic religious congregation for nursing , whose object is to take care of both rich and poor patients....
     - C.B.S. (1824)
  24. Brigidine Sisters
    Brigidine Sisters

    The Brigidine Sisters are a global Roman Catholic congregation , founded by Bishop Daniel Delany in Ireland on February 1st, 1807. There were six founding members of the order, all of whom were originally catechists: Eleanor Tallon, Margaret Kinsella, Eleanor Dawson, Judith Whelan, Bridget Brien and Catherine Doyle....
     (1807)
  25. Bridgettines
    Bridgettines

    File:Bridgettine-nuns.jpg[File:Bridgettine-nuns.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Bridgettine nuns at the 2009 March For Life in Washington, DC]]Image:Naantalin kirkko.jpghe Bridgettine or Briggittine order is a monasticism religious order of Augustinian canonesses founded by Saint Birgitta of Sweden in approximately 1350, and approved by Pope...
     (Order of Our Savior) - O.Ss.S. (1350)
  26. Brotherhood of Hope
    Brotherhood of Hope

    History Founded in 1980 by Fr. Philip Merdinger, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, the Brotherhood of Hope began a life of brotherhood striving with a desire to bring their lives closer to Jesus....
     - B.H. (1980)
  27. Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God
    Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God

    The Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God are a Roman Catholic order founded in 1572. They are also known commonly as the Fatebenefratelli, meaning "Do-Good Brothers" in Italian language....
     (Order of Hospitallers) - O.H. (1572)
  28. Brothers of Christian Instruction of St Gabriel
    Brothers of Christian Instruction of St Gabriel

    The Brothers of Christian Instruction of St Gabriel, otherwise Gabrielite Brothers or FSG, is a secular order Catholic order. Its roots go back to Saint Louis de Montfort, in around 1711, when he opened a few schools for poor children in La Rochelle, France....
     - F.S.G. (1711)
  29. Brothers of Mercy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help - f.m.m. (1839)
  30. Brothers of the Christian Schools (Lasallian Brothers or Christian Brothers) - F.S.C. (1680)
  31. Brothers of the Poor of St. Francis of Assisi (Brothers CFP located in the United States, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Brazil, Regular Third Order) (1861)
  32. Brothers of the Sacred Heart - S.C. (1821)
  33. Camaldolese
    Camaldolese

    The Camaldolese are part of the Benedictine family of monastic communities which follow the way of life outlined in the Rule of St. Benedict, written in the 6th century....
     (Camaldolese Benedictines) - O.S.B. Cam. (1200s)
  34. Camaldolese Hermits of the Congregation of Monte Corona - Er.Cam.
  35. Camillians
    Camillians

    The Camillians or Ministers to the Sick are a Roman Catholic religious order of the type of Regular Clerks, founded by Saint Camillus de Lellis....
     (Ordo Clericorum Regolarium Ministrantium Infirmis)- M.I. (1591)
  36. Canonesses of St. Augustine - C.R.O.S.A.
  37. Canons Regular of Saint John Cantius
    Canons Regular of Saint John Cantius

    The Canons Regular of Saint John Cantius is a clerical Institute of Consecrated Life in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1998 in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago as the Society of St....
     - S.J.C. (2006)
  38. Canons Regular of the Holy Cross
    Canons Regular of the Holy Cross

    The Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra originated in Portugal. The congregation was founded using the principles of the Rule of Saint Augustine and in its earlier days its members were sometimes classified as "Augustinians," as were many of the other congregations of Augustinian Canons Regular....
     OSC
    Canons Regular of the Holy Cross

    The Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra originated in Portugal. The congregation was founded using the principles of the Rule of Saint Augustine and in its earlier days its members were sometimes classified as "Augustinians," as were many of the other congregations of Augustinian Canons Regular....
     (1311)
  39. Canons Regular
    Canons Regular

    Canons regular are members of certain bodies of Canon living in community under the Augustinians#The Augustinian Rule , and sharing their property in common as a type of vow of poverty....
     Canons Regular of St. Augustine CRSA (1100)
  40. Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception
    Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception

    The Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception are a Roman Catholic congregation which follows the Augustinians#The Augustinian Rule, and part of the Canonical Order of the Canons Regular of St....
     (1871)
  41. Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem
    Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem

    The Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem is a clerical Institute of Consecrated Life in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 2002 in the Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse, and currently located in Chesterfield, Missouri, in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis....
     - C.R.N.J. (2002)
  42. Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross
    Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross

    The Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross, commonly called Crosiers, are a Roman Catholic religious order....
     (Crosiers) (1210)
  43. Canons Regular of Premontre (Norbertines) (1121)
  44. Canossians (Canossian Daughters and Sons of Charity) - F.D.D.C. (1808)
  45. Capuchins
    Order of Friars Minor Capuchin

    File:Rapperswil - Kapuzinerkloster.jpgThe Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans....
     (Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
    Order of Friars Minor Capuchin

    File:Rapperswil - Kapuzinerkloster.jpgThe Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans....
    ) - O.F.M. Cap. (1520)
  46. Capuchin Poor Clares
    Capuchin Poor Clares

    The Capuchin Poor Clares were founded in Naples, Italy, in 1538, by Ven. Maria Laurentia Longo. The Capuchin Poor Clares follow the original ideals of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare of Assisi....
     (1538)
  47. Carmelites
    Carmelites

    The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Roman Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, whence the order receives its name....
     (Order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel) - O.Carm., O.C.D., O.C.D.S. (1209)
  48. Carmelites of Mary Immaculate
    Carmelites of Mary Immaculate

    Introduction The Carmelites of Mary Immaculate is an Eastern Catholic Roman Catholic religious order for men. It belongs to the Syro-Malabar Church....
     - C.M.I. (1831)
  49. Carmelite Daughters of the Divine Heart of Jesus
    Carmelite Daughters of the Divine Heart of Jesus

    The Roman Catholic religious order of the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus was founded by Blessed Maria Teresa of St. Joseph in July 2, 1891 ....
     - D.C.J. (1891)
  50. Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm (1929)
  51. Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles
    Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles

    The Carmelites Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles were founded by Venerable Mother Maria Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament of Los Angeles....
     (1904)
  52. Carthusian
    Carthusian

    The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St. Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of Enclosed religious orders Monasticism. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns....
    s - O.Cart. (1084)
  53. Celestines
    Celestines

    Celestines are a Roman Catholic monasticism Order , a branch of the Benedictines, founded in 1244. At the foundation of the new rule, they were called Hermits of St Damiano, or Moronites , and did not assume the appellation of Celestines until after the election of their founder to the Papacy as Pope Celestine V....
     (defunct) (1244)
  54. Christian Brothers of Ireland - C.F.C. (1802)
  55. Cistercians (Cistercians of the Ancient Observance)- O.Cist./S.O.Cist (1098)
  56. Claretians (Claretian Missionaries) - C.M.F. (1849)
  57. Claretian Sisters
    Claretian Sisters

    The Claretian Sisters Were founded in 1855 Venerable Mar?a Antonia Par?s and St. Anthony Mary Claret....
     (1876)
  58. Community of Betania
  59. Companions of the Cross
    Companions of the Cross

    The Companions of the Cross is a Society of Apostolic Life based in Ottawa, Ontario. It is a community of Roman Catholic priests, which is Eucharistic, Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Blessed Virgin Mary and Magisterium....
     - C.C. (1988)
  60. Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae - C.I.C.M. (1862)
  61. Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
    Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament

    The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament is an enclosed Roman Catholic religious order for men and women and a reform of the Dominican Order devoted to the perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament....
     - S.S.S. (1659)
  62. Congregation of the Disciples of the Lord - C.D.D. (1931)
  63. Congregation of Divine Providence
    Congregation of Divine Providence

    The Congregation of Divine Providence was founded by Father Jean-Martin Moye, a French priest who saw the lack of educational opportunities for females in his parish in Lorraine , France....
     - C.D.P. (1827)
  64. Congregation of Holy Cross
    Congregation of Holy Cross

    The Congregation of Holy Cross or Congregatio a Sancta Cruce is a Roman Catholic Church congregation of priests and Monks founded in 1837 by Beatification Basil Moreau, in Le Mans, France....
     - C.S.C. (1837)
  65. Congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries
    Congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries

    The Congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries was founded at the monastery of Kreim - Ghosta , in the year 1865. This formation was the result of the relentless efforts of Father John Habib and numerous dedicated priests....
     - M.L.[kreimists.org] (1865)
  66. Congregation of the Mission - C.M. (1624)
  67. Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix
    Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix

    The Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix is a religious order within the Roman Catholic Church, founded by the Most Reverend Dominic Maria Tr?n ??nh Th?, CMC, using the unofficial title Co-Redemptrix to refer to the Blessed Virgin Mary....
     - C.M.C. (1909)
  68. Congregation of Notre Dame
    Congregation of Notre Dame

    The Congregation of Notre Dame was founded in 1653 by Marguerite Bourgeoys. This was one of the first non-cloistered communities. The community's motherhouse is in Montreal, Canada....
     - C.N.D. (1653)
  69. Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions
    Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions

    The Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions are a Roman Catholic Roman Catholic religious order of women. They were founded in France in 1861 by Euphrasie Barbier....
     (1861)
  70. Congregation of the Sisters of the Resurrection (1891)
  71. Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
    Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary

    Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, mother of Jesus is a Roman Catholic Church Order of brothers, priests, and nuns. The priests of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, are also known as the Picpus Fathers, in honor of Picpus Street in Paris, France where the order was founded in 1800....
     - SS.CC. (1800)
  72. Congregation of St. Basil
    Congregation of St. Basil

    The Basilian Fathers, also known as The Congregation of Saint Basil, is an international order of Catholic priests and students studying for the priesthood, who focus on education and ministering through oratories....
     - C.S.B. (1822)
  73. Congregation of St. Joseph - C.S.J. (1873)
  74. Congregation of St. Therese of Lisieux, Cstbrothers, Kerala, India (1931)
  75. Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy
    Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy

    Mother Teresa Eva Potocka founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland in Warsaw on November 1, 1862. This was the first "Mercy House"....
     (Divine Mercy Sisters) (1862)
  76. Conventual Franciscans
    Conventual Franciscans

    The Order of Friars Minor Conventual , commonly known as the Conventual Franciscans, is a branch of the order of Roman Catholic Friars founded by Francis of Assisi in 1209....
     (Conventuals or Order of Friars Minor Conventual) - O.F.M. Conv. (1209)
  77. Daughters of Charity
    Daughters of Charity

    The Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, sometimes simply referred to as Daughters of Charity, is a Roman Catholic Society of Apostolic Life of women with simple, private, annual vows, founded in 1633 and devoted to serving Jesus Christ in the persons who are poor through corporal and spiritual works of mercy....
     - D.C. (1633)
  78. Daughters of Divine Charity
    Daughters of Divine Charity

    The Daughters of Divine Charity are an order of Roman Catholic nun with a mother house in Vienna....
     - F.D.C. (1868)
  79. Daughters of Divine Love
    Daughters of Divine Love

    The Daughters of Divine Love was founded by Godfrey Mary Paul Okoye on July 16, 1969, at Ukpor, Nigeria. Its Mother House is in Nigeria....
     (1969)
  80. Daughters of the Holy Spirit
    Daughters of the Holy Spirit

    The Daughters of the Holy Spirit or White Sisters are a Roman Catholic religious order of women.The congregation was founded in Brittany on December 8, 1706 by Marie Balavenne and Ren?e Burel committed themselves to live together and to devote themselves to the service of the poor, the sick and children....
     - D.H.S. (1706)
  81. Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception
    Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception

    The Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception was founded in 1904 by the Right Reverend Lucian Bojnowski. They are located in New Britain, Connecticut....
     (1904)
  82. Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion - D.O.L.C (1892)
  83. Daughters of St. Francis of Assisi - Lacon, Illinois (1894)
  84. Daughters of St. Paul
    Daughters of St. Paul

    The Daughters of St Paul is an international religious congregation founded in 1915 in Italy.The congregation is part of the worldwide Pauline Family, consisting of ten orders and lay institutes, all founded by Blessed Giacomo Alberione, and operates in 50 countries around the world....
     - F.S.P. (1915)
  85. Daughters of Wisdom
    Daughters of Wisdom

    Daughters of Wisdom is a Catholic contemplative organization founded by Saint Louis de Montfort and Blessed Marie Louise Trichet.While he was temporary chaplain of the hospital of Poitiers in 1707, he associated into a little community some pious but afflicted girls, and gave them a rule of life, the main points of which have been retain...
     (1707)
  86. Dehonians (Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) - S.C.J. (1878)
  87. Discalced Augustinians - O.A.D. (1592)
  88. Discalced Carmelites
    Discalced Carmelites

    The Discalced Carmelites, or Barefoot Carmelites, is a Catholic Church mendicant order with roots in the hermit of the Desert Fathers. The order was established in 1593, pursuant to the reform of the Carmelites by two Spain saints, St....
     - O.C.D. (1593)
  89. Disciples of the Lord
    Congregatio Discipulorum Domini

    Congregatio Discipulorum Domini is one of Catholic orders, founded by Cardinal Celso Costantini on 31st March 1931 at Xuanhwa of Chahar Province in China....
     - C.D.D. (1931)
  90. Divine Word Missionaries
    Divine Word Missionaries

    The Divine Word Missionaries, also known as SVDs are members of the Society of the Divine Word . They are an international order of Roman Catholic brothers, priests and seminarians numbering 6,102 members working in 67 countries....
     - S.V.D. (1875)
  91. Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary
    Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary

    The Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary were founded in 1880 in Calais, France, by Fr. Damien-Marie Saintourens, O.P., and Mother Rose of Saint Mary Werhle, O.P. Mother Mary Imelda Gauthier, O.P....
     (1880)
  92. Dominicans
    Dominican Order

    The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic in the early 13th century in France....
     (Order of Friars Preachers) - O.P. (1216)
  93. Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne
    Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne

    The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, a Roman Catholic order of nuns under the authority of the Dominican Order, were founded on December 8, 1900, by Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne....
     (1900)
  94. Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception
    Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception

    The Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception were founded in 1861 by Maria Rose Columba Bialecka 1861 in Poland....
     - O.P. (1861)
  95. Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia
    Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia

    The Congregation of St. Cecilia was founded in 1860 by Sister Columba Dittoe, Sister Lucy Harper, Sister Philomena McDonough, and Sister Frances Walsh ....
     - O.P. (1860)
  96. Dottrinari
    Dottrinari

    The Dottrinari, or Preti della Dottrina Cristiana , in English called "Congregation of Christian Doctrine," is a religious institute of male consecrated life Catholic Church....
     (Congregazione dei Preti della Dottrina Cristiana) - D.C. (1592)
  97. Eudists
    Eudists

    Eudists is the common name, after the founder, for the members of the Catholic Society of Jesus and Mary."The congregation of Jesus and Mary" is a "society of apostolic life" and was instituted at Caen, in Normandy, France on March 25, 1643, by the Saint Jean Eudes, exemplar of the French school of spirituality....
     (Congregation of Jesus and Mary) - C.I.M. (1643)
  98. English Benedictine Congregation
    English Benedictine Congregation

    The English Benedictine Congregation comprises autonomous Roman Catholic Benedictine communities of monks and nuns and is technically the oldest of the 21 congregations that are affiliated in the Benedictine Confederation....
     - O.S.B. (1216)
  99. Fathers of Mercy
    Fathers of Mercy

    The Fathers of Mercy is a Roman Catholic religious order of missionary priests, founded by the Very Rev. Jean-Baptiste Rauzan in early 19th century France....
     - (Congregatio Presbyterorum a Misericordia) - C.P.M. (1808)
  100. Felician Sisters
    Felician Sisters

    The Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice, or Felician Sisters, are one branch of the Third Order of St. Francis. The active-contemplative order was founded in Warsaw, Poland, in 1855, by Sophia Truszkowska, and named for a shrine of Felix of Cantalice, a 16th century Franciscan saint especially devoted to children....
     (Congregation of the Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice) - C.S.S.F. (1855)
  101. Franciscan Apostolic Sisters
    Franciscan Apostolic Sisters

    The Franciscan Apostolic Sisters is a Roman Catholic religious order that was founded in 1953 by Father Gerardo Z. Filippeto, Franciscan. The convent is located in Cagayan, Philippines....
     - F.A.S. (1954)
  102. Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn
    Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn

    The Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, also known as "Congregation of the Religious Brothers of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance of Francis of Assisi,"arrived from Ireland in 1858, responding to the invitation of Bishop Loughlin....
     - O.S.F. (1858)
  103. Franciscan Brothers of the Eucharist
    Franciscan Brothers of the Eucharist

    The Franciscan Brothers of the Eucharist is a Roman Catholic, Franciscan religious order for men.The religious order was founded in 2002 as a complement to the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist....
     - F.B.E. (2004)
  104. Franciscan Brothers of Peace
    Franciscan Brothers of Peace

    The Franciscan Brothers of Peace is a Roman Catholic, Franciscan religious order for men. It was founded in 1982 by Michael Gaworski. The mother house of the order is in Saint Paul, Minnesota in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis....
     - F.B.P. (1982)
  105. Franciscan Clarist Congregation
  106. Franciscan
    Franciscan

    The term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic religious orders that follow a body of regulations known as "The rule of St....
     Friars (Order of Friars Minor) - O.F.M. (1209)
  107. Franciscan Friars of the Renewal
    Franciscan Friars of the Renewal

    The Community of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal or CFR is a Roman Catholic mendicant congregation which follows the Capuchin Tradition....
     - C.F.R. (1987)
  108. Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular
    Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance

    The Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance was founded in 1447.External links...
     - T.O.R. (1447)
  109. Franciscan Handmaids of Mary
    Franciscan Handmaids of Mary

    The Franciscan Handmaids of Mary are a Congregation of Roman Catholic women who follow St Francis of Assisi. Their primary mission has always been education. The order was begun in 1915 by Fr. Ignatius Lissner....
     (1915)
  110. Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception - F.H.I.C. (1876)
  111. Franciscan Minims of the Perpetual Help of Mary
    Franciscan Minims of the Perpetual Help of Mary

    The Franciscan Minims of the Perpetual Help of Mary is Roman Catholic contemplative religious order for women. It is founded in June 24, 1942 in Zamora, Michoacan, Mexico by Reverend Mother Mar?a Concepci?n of the Nativity of Perpetual Help....
     - f.m. (1942)
  112. Franciscans of the Immaculate - F.I.
  113. Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood
    Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood

    The Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood , founded in 1947, is an international congregation and serve in 11 countries, both in the developed and developing world, serving at various campuses and schools, prisons and hospitals....
     - F.M.D.M. (1887)
  114. Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word
    Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word

    Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word were founded in 1987, by Mother Angelica, PCPA, who also founded the Eternal Word Television Network....
     - M.F.V.A. (1987)
  115. Franciscan Missionaries of Mary
    Franciscan Missionaries of Mary

    Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, or the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary is a Roman Catholic order founded by Sister Mary of the Passion, Helene de Chappotin, in 1877 at Ootacamund, India....
     - F.M.M. (1877)
  116. Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
    Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

    Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was founded by Mother Catherine Troiani.When her mother died she was entrusted to the loving care of the Nuns of St. Clare of Charity in Ferentino....
     (1859)
  117. Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Infant Jesus (1879)
  118. Franciscan Servants of Jesus
    Franciscan Servants of Jesus

    The Franciscan Servants of Jesus was a Roman Catholic, Franciscan religious order for women. The order was founded in 1997 with the approval of Bishop Raymond Leo Burke of the Diocese of La Crosse....
     (1997)
  119. Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity
    Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity

    The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity are a congregation of Roman Catholic apostolic religious women. The congregation was founded in 1869 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee later changed to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay....
     - O.S.F. (1869)
  120. Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist
    Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist

    The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women. The mother house is in Meriden, Connecticut in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford....
     - F.S.E. (1973)
  121. Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception - F.S.I.C.
  122. Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate
    Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate

    The Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate were founded by Beatification Mother Caritas Brader, in Tuquerres, Colombia in 1893. The Congregation was first made up of young women from Switzerland and then immediately joined by Colombian vocations that allowed the new Congregation to spread to several countries including the United States....
     (1893)
  123. Franciscan Sisters of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother
    Franciscan Sisters of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother

    Franciscan Sisters of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother were founded on August 15, 1988 in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville by Bishop Albert Ottenweller....
     - T.O.R. (1988)
  124. Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
    Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration

    The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration is a Roman Catholic Church religious order for women whose motherhouse, St. Rose of Viterbo Convent, is in La Crosse, Wisconsin in the Diocese of La Crosse....
     - O.S.F. (1849)
  125. Fransalians
    Fransalians

    The Fransalians or more properly the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales was founded in France in 1838 by the Servant of God, Fr. Pierre Mermier under the patronage of St. Francis de Sales....
     (Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales) - M.S.F.S. (1838)
  126. Good Shepherd Sisters
    Good Shepherd Sisters

    The Sisters of the Good Shepherd is a Roman Catholic monastic order dedicated to a mission of reconciliation and mercy. The Institute of the Good Shepherd is a branch of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge, founded in 1641 by Blessed Jean Eudes, at Caen, France....
     - R.G.S. (1641)
  127. Grey Nuns
    Grey Nuns

    The Order of Sisters of Charity of Montreal, formerly called The Order of Sisters of Charity of the H?pital G?n?ral of Montreal and more commonly known as the Grey Nuns of Montreal, is a Canada religious order of Roman Catholic nuns....
     - G.N.S.H. (1738)
  128. Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity - A.A.S.C. (1950)
  129. Handmaids of the Precious Blood - H.P.B. (1947)
  130. Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
    Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

    The Institute of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a Roman Catholic religious order that was founded in Madrid in 1877 by two sisters, Pilar and Raphaela Maria Porras y Ayllon....
     - A.A.S.C. (1877)
  131. Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (1978)
  132. Hermits of Saint Bruno - H.S.B.
  133. Holy Cross Fathers (Congregation of Holy Cross) - C.S.C. (1837)
  134. Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters
    Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters

    The Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters are a Roman Catholic religious order of Enclosed religious orders nuns.The nuns live a contemplative life, focused on Eucharistic adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, offering Intercession for the world....
     (Pink Sisters) - S.Sp.S.A.P. (1896)
  135. Hospital Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus
    Hospital Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus

    Hospital Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus - a Roman Catholic religious order.The order was established under the Rule of St. Augustine, the institute being dependent on the Pope represented by the bishop....
     (1200s)
  136. Infant Jesus Sisters
    Infant Jesus Sisters

    The Infant Jesus Sisters were fonded in 1666 by Nicolas Barre....
     (Nicolas Barre) - I.J. (1666)
  137. Institut du Clergé Patriarcal de Bzommar
    Institut du Clergé Patriarcal de Bzommar

    The Institut du Clerg? Patriarcal de Bzommar is a Catholic religious order and an Institute of Consecrated Life and was founded in 1749. Jean Pierre XVIII Kasparian, who was a member of the religious order, was Patriarch of Cilicia from 1788-1812....
     - I.C.P.B. (1749)
  138. Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest
    Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest

    The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is a society of priests in the Catholic Church that celebrates the Liturgy in Latin in accordance with its constitutions and founding documents based on permissions granted by the Holy See; it also preserves and patronizes traditional Latin Rite liturgical art and music, and undertaken the...
     - I.C.R.S.S. (1990)
  139. Institute of the Incarnate Word
    Institute of the Incarnate Word

    The Institute of the Incarnate Word, also called the "IVE" from the was founded in Argentina on March 25, 1984.The 'Institute of the Incarnate Word was founded by Rev....
     - I.V.E. (1984)
  140. Jesuits (Society of Jesus) - S.J. (1540)
  141. Josephite Fathers
    Josephite Fathers

    The Josephite Fathers and Brothers or, more properly, Saint Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart, Inc. is an American society of Catholic priests and brothers, founded in 1893....
     (St. Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart) - S.S.J. (1893)
  142. Legion of Christ
    Legion of Christ

    The Legion of Christ is a Roman Catholic Church Congregation established in 1941 in Mexico by Fr. Marcial Maciel. It enjoyed the favor of Pope Pope John Paul II....
     - L.C. (founded 1941, approved 1983)
  143. Little Brothers of the Gospel
    Little Brothers of the Gospel

    Little Brothers of the Gospel - a Roman Catholic congregation of religious brothers inspired by the life and writings of Charles de Foucauld.It is one of a family of Jesus' at Nazareth communities, build on the original inspiration of Brother Charles of the Desert, which includes the Little Sisters of Jesus, Jesus Caritas, and the Little Bro...
     - (1956)
  144. Little Brothers of Jesus
    Little Brothers of Jesus

    The Little Brothers of Jesus is a Roman Catholic congregation of religious brothers inspired by the life and writings of Charles de Foucauld. Founded in 1933 in France by five seminarians with the assistance of Louis Massignon, an Islamic scholar and contemporary of Foucauld, the order took root in El Abiodh in the North Africa colony of Fr...
     - (1933)
  145. Little Brothers of St Francis
    Little Brothers of St Francis

    The Little Brothers of St Francis were founded in the Archdiocese of Boston in 1970. They follow the Rule for Hermitages authored by Saint Francis of Assisi and live the contemplative life among the poorest of the poor....
     - (1970) (l.b.s.f)
  146. Little Flower Congregation (CST Fathers) (1931)
  147. Little Sisters of the Assumption
    Little Sisters of the Assumption

    The Little Sisters of the Assumption is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in France in 1865 by Antoinette Fage and Father Etienne Pernet....
     (1865)
  148. Little Sisters of the Gospel - (1963)
  149. Little Sisters of Jesus
    Little Sisters of Jesus

    Little Sisters of Jesus - a Roman Catholic congregation of religious sisters inspired by the life and writings of Charles de Foucauld. Founded in Algeria in 1933 by Madeline Hutin....
     - (1933)
  150. Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary (1974)
  151. Little Sisters of the Poor
    Little Sisters of the Poor

    The Little Sisters of the Poor is a Roman Catholicism religious order for women. It was founded in the 19th century by Jeanne Jugan near Rennes, France....
     - L.S.P. (ca. 1700s)
  152. Lovers of the Holy Cross
    Lovers of the Holy Cross

    The Lovers of the Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic female congregation, founded in 1670 by the first vicar Apostolic in Tong-king and Cochin China Pierre Lambert de la Motte....
     (1670)
  153. Loreto Sisters
    Sisters of Loreto

    The Institute of the BVM are more commonly known as the Loreto Sisters....
     (Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary) - I.B.V.M. (1609)
  154. Marian Fathers
    Congregation of Marian Fathers

    The Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary is a Roman Catholic male clerical religious congregation founded, 1673, in Poland....
     - M.I.C. (1673)
  155. Marian Sisters (Marian Sisters of the Diocese of Lincoln) - M.S. (1952)
  156. Marianists (Society of Mary) - S.M. (1817)
  157. Marianist Sisters (Daughters of Mary Immaculate) - F.M.I. (1817)
  158. Marianites of Holy Cross
    Marianites of Holy Cross

    The Marianites of Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic Church congregation of nuns, founded in Le Mans, France, in 1841, by the Beatification Basil Moreau....
     - M.S.C. (1841)
  159. Marist Brothers
    Marist Brothers

    The Marist Brothers, or Little Brothers of Mary, a Roman Catholic Marian Society, are a Roman Catholic religious order of brothers and affiliated lay people....
     - F.M.S. (1817)
  160. Marists
    Society of Mary (Marists)

    The Society of Mary , a Roman Catholic Marian Society, is a religious congregation or Catholic order, founded by Father Jean-Claude Colin and a group of other seminarians in France in 1816....
     (Society of Mary) - S. M.(1816)
  161. Maryknoll
    Maryknoll

    Maryknoll or, the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, is a U.S.Catholic Society of Apostolic Life which has, throughout its nearly hundred-year history, had an exclusive emphasis on ministry and missionary work overseas, particularly East Asia, in China, Japan, Korea, Latin America, and Africa....
     (Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America) - M.M. (1911)
  162. Mercedarians (Order of Our Lady of Mercy) - O. de M. (1218)
  163. Miles Christi
    Miles Christi

    Miles Christi is a Catholicism religious institute founded in 1984 by Fr. Roberto Juan Yannuzzi in Argentina. They are dedicated to helping Catholics grow in their faith and sanctification....
     - M.C. (1984)
  164. Mission Helpers of The Sacred Heart - M.H.S.H. (1890)
  165. Missionaries of Charity
    Missionaries of Charity

    Missionaries of Charity is a Roman Catholic Order established in 1950 by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, which consists of over 4,500 sisters and is active in 133 countries....
     - M.C. (1950)
  166. Missionaries of La Salette
    Missionaries of La Salette

    The Missionaries of La Salette are a Roman Catholicism missionary order of priests, nuns and lay fraternities named for the Our Lady of La Salette, whose stated goal is healing, reconciliation, and the upholding of human dignity and integrity....
     - M.S. (1852)
  167. Missionaries of Mary
    Missionaries of Mary

    The Missionaries of Mary is a new community of apostolate established as a Public Association of the Faithful in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Balanga in Bataan, Philippines....
     - (2007)
  168. Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo
    Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo

    The Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo or Scalabrinian Missionaries are a Roman Catholic religious order of brothers and priests founded by Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, Bishop of Piacenza in Italy, in 1887....
    ) - C.S. (1887)
  169. Missionaries of the Gospel of Life
    Missionaries of the Gospel of Life

    The Missionaries of the Gospel of Life are a Catholicism Order that was founded by Fr. Frank Pavone. On December 12, 2005 Bishop John Yanta of the Diocese of Amarillo, in Texas, United States, signed the constitution of the Missionaries of the Gospel of life, thereby officially establishing it as a Society of Apostalic Rite within the Roman...
     (2005)
  170. Missionaries of the Poor
    Missionaries of the Poor

    The Missionaries of the Poor is an international Roman Catholic monastic order of Brothers dedicated to "Joyful Service with Christ on the Cross" to serve the poorest of the poor....
     - M.O.P. (1981)
  171. Missionaries of the Precious Blood
    Missionaries of the Precious Blood

    The Missionaries of the Precious Blood are a Roman Catholic community of priests and brothers founded by Gaspar del Bufalo in 1815. The Missionaries of the Precious Blood is a shortened English translation of the Latin "Congregatio Missionariorum Pretiosissimi Sanguinis Domini Nostri Jesu Christi," ....
     (Precious Blood Fathers) - C.PP.S. (1815)
  172. Missionaries of the Sacred Heart
    Missionaries of the Sacred Heart

    Missionaries of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic missionary order founded in 1854 by priest Jules Chevalier at Issoudun, France, in the diocese of Bourges....
     - M.S.C. (1854)
  173. Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
    Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary

    the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary was founded by Gaetano Errico in 1836 in Secondigliano, Italy. The Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, are a Roman Catholic religious order of priests and brothers, dedicated to serving the needs of God's family while witnessing the great love present in the Sacred Heart...
     (1836)
  174. Missionary Congregation for the Blessed Sacrament
  175. Missionary Society of St. Columban
    Missionary Society of St. Columban

    The Missionary Society of St. Columban, also known as 'The Columbans', is a missionary, Catholic religious order, founded in Ireland in 1916 and approved by the Holy See in 1918....
     Columbans - S.S.C. (1916)
  176. Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem
    Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem

    The Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem were founded in 1975 by Monk Pierre-Marie Delfieux with the aim of promoting the spirit of the Desert Fathers in the heart of cities....
     (1975)
  177. Montfort Missionaries (Company of Mary)
    Company of Mary

    The Missionaries of the Company of Mary is a Roman Catholic missionary community founded by Saint Louis de Montfort in 1705 with the recruitment of his first missionary disciple, Mathurin Rangeard....
     - S.M.M. (1705)
  178. Norbertines
    Premonstratensian

    The Norbertines, also known as the Premonstratensians and in United Kingdom and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Pr?montr? near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert of Xanten, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg....
     or Premonstratensians (Canons Regular of Prémontré) - C.R.P., O.Praem. (1120)
  179. Oblate Apostles of the Two Hearts - O.A.T.H. (1995)
  180. Oblate Sisters of Providence
    Oblate Sisters of Providence

    The Oblate Sisters of Providence are a Roman Catholic religious order, founded by Mary Elizabeth Lange, and Rev. James Nicholas Joubert, Society of Saint-Sulpice in 1829 for the education of colored children....
     - O.S.P. (1829)
  181. Oblates Of Mary Immaculate - O.M.I. (1816)
  182. Oblates of St. Joseph
    Oblates of St. Joseph

    Oblates of St. Joseph a Roman Catholic religious order, founded in March 1878 by Joseph Marello....
     - O.S.J. (1878)
  183. Oblates Of The Virgin Mary
    Oblates Of The Virgin Mary

    The Oblates of the Virgin Mary Venerable Bruno Lanteri was born in northern Italy.Lanteri's homelife had a strong atmosphere of faith, as well as sorrow....
     - O.M.V. (1827)
  184. Olivetans
    Olivetans

    The Olivetans, or the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet, are a monastic order formally recognised in 1344. They have formed the Olivetan Congregation within the Benedictine Confederation since 1960....
     (Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet) (1313)
  185. Oratorians
    Oratory of Saint Philip Neri

    The Oratory of Saint Philip Neri is a Congregation of Roman Catholic Church priests and lay-brothers who live together in a community bound together by no formal vows but only with the bond of charity....
     (Oratory of St. Philip Neri) - C.O., Cong. Orat. (1500s)
  186. Order of the Imitation of Christ
    Order of the Imitation of Christ

    Bethany Ashram, also called the Order of the Imitation of Christ , was founded by P. T. Geevarghese Panickaruveettil O.I.C. on 15 August 1919 at a place called Perunad, Ranni....
     - O.I.C. (1930)
  187. Order of St. Elisabeth
    Order of St. Elisabeth

    The Order of the Sisters of St Elizabeth is a Catholic Church Order founded by Apollonia Radermecher in Aachen in 1622. The order was called after Saint Elisabeth of Hungary ....
     O.S.E. (1622)
  188. Pallottines
    Pallottines

    The Pallottines are a Society of Apostolic Life within the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 as SAC, societas apostolatus catholici, by the Roman priest Vincent Pallotti....
     (Society of the Catholic Apostolate) - S.A.C. (1835)
  189. Paris Foreign Missions Society
    Paris Foreign Missions Society

    The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris is a Roman Catholic missionary order. It is not a religious order, but an organization of secular clergy and Laity dedicated to missionnary work in foreign lands....
     (Missions Etrangčres de Paris) - M.E.P. (1658)
  190. Passionists (Congregation of the Passion) - C.P. (1720)
  191. Passionist Sisters
    Passionist Sisters

    The Passionist Sisters are a Roman Catholic order of women founded in the 1850s by Elizabeth Prout, and Father Gaudentius Rossi....
     (1850s)
  192. Patrician Brothers
    Patrician Brothers

    The Patrician Brothers, or Brothers of Saint Patrick, are a Roman Catholic congregation for the religious and literary education of youth and the instruction of the faithful in Christian piety....
     - F.S.P. (1808)
  193. Pauline Fathers (Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit) - O.S.P.P.E. (1250)
  194. Paulist Fathers
    Paulist Fathers

    The Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle, better known as the Paulist Fathers, is a Roman Catholic religious society for men founded in New York City in 1858 by Fr....
     (Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle) - C.S.P. (1858)
  195. Piarists
    Piarists

    The Order of Poor Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools or, in short, Piarists, is the name of the first Catholic educational Religious order also known as the Scolopi, Escolapios or Poor Clerics of the Mother of God ....
     (Clerics Regulars Poors of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools) - Sch.P. (1617)
  196. Pious Disciples of the Divine Master - P.D.D.M. (1924)
  197. Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face (1950)
  198. Poor Clares (Nuns of the Order of St. Clare/(Order of Poor Ladies) - O.S.C. (1212)
  199. Poor Clare Nuns - Joliet, Ill.
  200. Poor Clares of Santa Barbara - Santa Barbara, Calif.
  201. Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration
    Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration

    The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration are a branch of the Poor Clares, a contemplative prayer order of nuns in the Franciscan tradition. Founded in France in 1854 by Marie Claire Bouillevaux, the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration are cloistered nuns dedicated to the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament....
     (1854)
  202. Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - P.B.V.M. (1775)
  203. Presentation Brothers
    Presentation Brothers

    The Congregation of Presentation Brothers is an international Roman Catholic Church congregation of Laity founded in 1802 in Waterford, Ireland, by a local businessman, Edmund Ignatius Rice....
     - F.P.M. (1802)
  204. Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
    Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter

    The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is a group of traditionalist Catholic priests and seminarians in good standing with the Holy See....
     - F.S.S.P. (1988)
  205. Putra Puteri Carmel
  206. Racine Dominican Sisters
    Racine Dominican Sisters

    The Congregation of Sisters of St. Dominic of St. Catherine of Siena is a Catholic religious order for women.The order was founded in 1862 in Racine, Wisconsin in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.The mother house is in Racine....
     (1862)
  207. Redemptorists (Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
    Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

    The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer is a Roman Catholic missionary Catholic Congregation founded in 1732 by Saint Alphonsus Liguori at Scala , near Amalfi, Italy for the purpose of labouring among the neglected country people in the neighbourhood of Naples....
    ) - C.Ss.R. (1732)
  208. Les Religieuses de Notre-Dame-du-Sacre-Coeur (Dieppe, New Brunswick)
  209. Religious of the Assumption
    Religious of the Assumption

    The Religious of the Assumption were founded by Saint Marie Eugenie Milleret in Paris in 1839. Her vision was of transforming society through education....
     - R.A. (1839)
  210. Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary
    Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary

    The Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary are an international global of about 900 apostolic women Consecrated life , connected by personal contact, local, provincial and general meetings, telephone, E-mail and many Websites to one another with a hope of promoting the integral development and liberation of the whole person....
     - R.S.H.M. (1849)
  211. Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan - R.S.M.
  212. Resurrectionists
    Resurrectionist Order

    The Congregation of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ is an international Institute of Consecrated Life of men within the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1836 by three men, Bogdan Janski, Peter Semenenko and Jerome Kajsiewicz in Paris on the heels of the Poles Great Emigration....
     - C.R. (1836)
  213. Rogationists of the Heart of Jesus - R.C.J. (1897)
  214. Rosminians
    Rosminians

    The Rosminians, or rather the Institute of Charity, or, officially, Societas a charitate nuncupata, are a Catholic religious congregation founded by Antonio Rosmini-Serbati, first organised in 1828....
     (Institute of Charity) - I.C. (1828)
  215. Salesians of St. John Bosco
    Salesians of Don Bosco

    The Salesians of Don Bosco is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the late nineteenth century by Saint John Bosco in an attempt, through works of charity, to care for the young and poor children of the industrial revolution....
     - S.D.B. (1857)
  216. Salesian Sisters
    Salesian Sisters

    The title Salesian Sisters may refer to one of these Roman Catholic orders for women:* Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, also known as Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, founded in 1872...
     (Daughters of Mary Help of Christian) - F.M.A. (1872)
  217. Salvatorians (Society of the Divine Savior) - S.D.S. (1881)
  218. Salvatorians
    Basilian Salvatorian Order

    The Basilian Salvatorian Order is a Roman Catholic religious order of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church....
     (Basilian Salvatorian Order - A Melkite
    Melkite

    The term Melkite is used to refer to various Christianity churches and their members originating in the Middle East. The word comes from the Syriac language word malkaya , meaning "imperial"....
     Community) - bso (1724) (Always Lower-Cased)
  219. School Sisters of Christ the King (1976)
  220. School Sisters of Notre Dame
    School Sisters of Notre Dame

    School Sisters of Notre Dame is a worldwide order of Roman Catholic nuns devoted to primary education, secondary education, and post-secondary education....
     - S.S.N.D. (1833)
  221. School Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis
    School Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis

    The School Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis is a Roman Catholic religious order for women. An international Franciscan community of more than 1,100 sisters and associates, the order was founded in 1874....
     (1873)
  222. Servites (Order of Friars, Servants of Mary) - O.S.M. (1233)
  223. Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters
    Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters

    Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation of the Most Holy Rosary of the Order of Preachers is a Catholic religious order for women.The mother house is located in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin in the Diocese of Madison....
     (1847)
  224. Sister Adorers of the Precious Blood - R.P.G. (1861)
  225. Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus Christ Sovereign Priest
    Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus Christ Sovereign Priest

    The Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus Christ Sovereign Priest is a Catholic order of nuns in the Roman Catholic Church, associated with the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest....
     (2004)
  226. Sisters of Adoration, Slaves of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity
    Sisters of Adoration, Slaves of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity

    Sisters of Adoration, Slaves of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity - is a Roman Catholic order founded in 1850 by Saint Mar?a Micaela of the Blessed Sacrament....
     (1850)
  227. Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel
    Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel

    The Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel is a Carmelite Roman Catholic religious order dedicated to lay education founded in the latter part of the 19th century by Mother Veronica of the Passion, the Foundress of the Apostolic Carmel with her Mentor Bishop Marie Ephrem, envisioned the birth of a "Carmel for the Missions" in India, an Order devoted...
     (1870)
  228. Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
    Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament

    The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament were founded in 1891, by St. Katharine Drexel.The Third Plenary Council of Baltimore , which at the time was the meeting of all Roman Catholic bishops in the United States, renewed the vigor with which there was to be missionary work among the "Colored people and Native Americans in the United States ra...
     (1891)
  229. Sisters of the Cenacle
    Sisters of the Cenacle

    The Sisters of the Cenacle are a Roman Catholic Congregation founded in 1826 in the French village of La Louvesc. The founders were Saint Therese Couderc and a diocesan priest named Jean-Pierre Etienne Terme....
     - r.c. (1826)
  230. Sisters of Charity
    Sisters of Charity

    Many religious communities, have the term Sisters of Charity as part of their name. Most derive ultimately from the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity, founded on November 29, 1633 by Saint Vincent de Paul....
     - S.C. (1633)
  231. Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati
    Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati

    The Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati were founded in October 1829 on a model of Elizabeth Ann Seton, who founded the first community of religious women, native to the United States....
     (1829)
  232. Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth
    Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth

    The Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth operate the University of Saint Mary . They also founded and operate Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, and St....
     (1858)
  233. Sisters of Charity of New York
    Sisters of Charity of New York

    The Sisters of Charity of New York is a congregation of religious women in the Catholic Church whose primary missions are education and nursing and who are dedicated in particular to the service of the poor....
     (1846)
  234. Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
    Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

    Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known by their initials BVM, is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the United States by Mother Mary Frances Clarke....
     - B.V.M. (1831)
  235. Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception
    Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception

    The Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception are located in Canada and Peru.External links*...
     (St. John, New Brunswick, Canada) (1854)
  236. Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word
    Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word

    The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word is the name of two Roman Catholic religious orders based in the State of Texas....
     (1866)
  237. Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary
    Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary

    The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in Gent, Belgium on November 4, 1803 by Father Peter Joseph Triest, the priest of Lovendegem that time....
     (1803)
  238. Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy
    Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy

    Bishop John England founded the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1829. As the congregation grew and moved into the U.S. states of Georgia and North Carolina, shortly after doing so changing its name in 1949 to the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy....
     (South Carolina) (1829)
  239. Sisters of Charity of Providence - SP (1844)
  240. Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth
    Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth

    The Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth are a Roman Catholic Church apostolic congregation of pontifical right, based in the Convent Station, New Jersey area of Morris Township, New Jersey, New Jersey....
     (1859)
  241. Sisters of Charity Federation in the Vincentian-Setonian Tradition
    Sisters of Charity Federation in the Vincentian-Setonian Tradition

    The Sisters of Charity Federation in the Vincentian-Setonian Tradition is an organization of 13 congregations of religious women in the Catholic Church who trace their lineage to Saint Elizabeth Seton, Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac....
  242. Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul
    Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul

    The Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul were founded on May 11, 1849, when the four founding Sisters of Charity, arrived in City of Halifax from New York....
     - Halifax (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) (1849)
  243. Vincentian Sisters of Charity
    Vincentian Sisters of Charity

    The Vincentian Sisters of Charity in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania were founded in 1902.External links...
     (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) (1902)
  244. Sisters of the Divine Compassion
    Sisters of the Divine Compassion

    The Sisters of the Divine Compassion are a Roman Catholic religious order founded in New York City in 1886 by Mother Mary Veronica.In 1920, the Sisters were in charge of the Good Counsel Training School for Young Girls , Association for Befriending Children and Young Girls , House of the Holy Family , House of Our Lady for Business Girls a...
     (1886)
  245. Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill
    Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill

    The Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill were founded by Sister Aloysia Lowe. She was accompanied by Sisters Blanche O'Keefe, Maria Theresa O'Donnell and Maria Kavanaugh and two novices....
     (Pennsylvania) (1870)
  246. Sisters of the Holy Cross
    Sisters of the Holy Cross

    The Sisters of the Holy Cross headquartered on the same grounds as Saint Mary's College , Notre Dame, Indiana, is one of three Roman Catholic Church Congregation of nuns which trace their origins to the foundation of the Congregation of Holy Cross by the Blessed Basil Moreau, at Le Mans, France in 1837....
     - C.S.C. (1837)
  247. Sisters of the Holy Family
    Sisters of the Holy Family

    The Sisters of the Holy Family is the name for a French and two different American orders of nuns.*The Sisters of the Holy Family-France were founded in Paris in 1806 by Jeanne-Claude Jacoulet, in a revival of the Canonesses of Ste....
     (1837)
  248. Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth
    Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth

    The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth are a Roman Catholic Consecrated life which was founded in Rome, Italy in 1875 by Blessed Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd ....
     (1875)
  249. Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
    Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary

    The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, is a teaching order founded at Longueuil, Qu?bec, Canada in 1843 by Blessed Mother Marie-Rose for the Christian education of young girls....
     - S.N.J.M. (1844)
  250. Sisters of Jesus, Our Hope
  251. Sisters of Life
    Sisters of Life

    Sisters of Life is a female Roman Catholic religious order, following the Augustinian rule, that was founded in 1991 by John Cardinal O'Connor, the late Archbishop of New York, after much prayer and a visit to the remains of the Dachau concentration camp....
     - S.V. (1991)
  252. Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist
    Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

    The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist is a Roman Catholic religious order that was started out of Pope John Paul II's call in Vita Consecrata....
     - O.P. (1997)
  253. Sisters of Mercy
    Sisters of Mercy

    The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Roman Catholic Church women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland in 1831....
     - R.S.M. (1831)
  254. Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
    Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur

    The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is the name of a Roman Catholic Religious order#Christian tradition of Nun#Distinction between nun and religious sisters, dedicated to teaching order to the poor....
     - S.N.D., S.N.D. de N. (1803)
  255. Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy (1862)
  256. Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul (Kingston) - SP
  257. Sisters of La Retraite
  258. Sisters of Saint Agnes
    Sisters of Saint Agnes

    The Congregation of Sisters of Saint Agnes is a Catholic religious order for women. The order was founded in 1858 in Barton, Wisconsin and was named in honor of Saint Agnes....
     (1858)
  259. Sisters of Saint Elizabeth
    Sisters of Saint Elizabeth

    Sisters of Saint Elizabeth - a Roman Catholic religious order. Generally styled "Grey Nuns".The order was founded by an association of young ladies established by Dorothea Klara Wolff, in connection with the sisters, Mathilde and Maria Merkert, and Franziska Werner, 1842, in Nysa, Poland , to tend in their own homes, without compensation,...
     (1842)
  260. Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi
    Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi

    The Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi is a Roman Catholic religious order for women. The mother house is in St. Francis, Wisconsin, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee....
     (1849)
  261. Sisters of St Francis of the Martyr St George
    Sisters of St Francis of the Martyr St George

    The Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George is a Roman Catholic religious order for women whose mother house is in Germany and the United States provincial motherhouse is in Alton, Illinois....
     - F.S.G.M. (1869)
  262. Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity
    Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity

    The Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity is a Roman Catholic Church religious order for women....
     (1835)
  263. Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota
    Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota

    The Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota is a Roman Catholic religious order for women. The order was founded in 1877 by Mother Mary Alfred Moes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona....
     (1877)
  264. Sisters of St Joseph (AKA Sisters of Saint Joseph of Medaille
    Sisters of Saint Joseph of Medaille

    The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Medaille aka Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Bourg is a Roman Catholic Holy Orders of women.Its forebearer, the Sisters of St....
    ) - C.S.J. (1650)
  265. Sisters of Saint Joseph of Bourg
    Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Bourg

    History The Congregation of Saint Joseph is a Roman Catholic Holy Orders of women founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France by the Jesuit Jean-Pierre M?daille and accepted by the bishop, Mgr....
     or S.S.J. (1650)
  266. Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambéry (1812)
  267. Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace
    Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace

    The Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace is a Roman Catholic religious order of women founded in January, 1884 by Margaret Anna Cusack, in the Diocese of Nottingham, England....
     (1884)
  268. Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart - S.S.J. (1866)
  269. Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis
    Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis

    The Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis is a Roman Catholic, Franciscan religious order for women.The order was founded in 1901....
     (1901)
  270. Sisters of Saint Martha
    Sisters of Saint Martha

    The Sisters of St. Martha were founded as a religious congregation in 1900 at Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia.The Sisters of St. Martha are members of the Sisters of Charity Federation in the Vincentian-Setonian Tradition....
     (Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada) (1900)
  271. Sisters of St Rita
    Sisters of St Rita

    the Sisters of Saint Rita are a Roman Catholic religious order. They were founded in 1911 by Father Hugolinus Dach, an Augustinian priest from W?rzburg, Germany....
     (1911)
  272. Sisters of St Therese of the Child Jesus (St Therese Sisters - Tanzania) - S.S.Th.
  273. Sisters of the Visitation - Sisters of the Visitation, Toledo, Ohio (1610)
  274. Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
    Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

    Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a Roman Catholic teaching order for women. The order is headquartered in Monroe, Michigan, USA....
     – I.H.M. (1845)
  275. Sisters, Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará - S.S.V.M. (1988)
  276. Sisters, Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cresson, PA; Poland; Vatican City) - S.S.C.J. (1894)
  277. Society of African Missions
    Society of African Missions

    The Society of African Missions is a community ofRoman Catholic missionary organizations who come from around the world with a commitment to serve the people of Africa and of African descent....
     (Societas Missionum ad Afros) - S.M.A. (1850)
  278. Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls
    Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls

    The Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls is a Catholic religious order of women founded in Paris, France in 1856, with the objective of assisting the souls in Purgatory....
     (1856)
  279. Society of the Holy Child Jesus
    Society of the Holy Child Jesus

    The Society of the Holy Child Jesus is an international community of women religious that was founded in England in 1846 by Philadelphia-born Cornelia Connelly....
     - S.H.C.J. (1846)
  280. Society of Jesus
    Society of Jesus

    The Society of Jesus is a Roman Catholic religious order of clerks regular whose members are called Jesuits, Soldiers of Jesus Christ, and Foot soldiers of the Pope, because the founder, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a knight before becoming a Holy Orders....
     - S.J.or S.I. (1534)
  281. Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity
    Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity

    The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity is a Roman Catholic Society of Apostolic Life. It was founded by Father James H. Flanagan on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16, 1958 in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Holman, New Mexico....
     - S.O.L.T. (1958)
  282. Society of St. Edmund
    Society of Saint Edmund

    The Society of Saint Edmund is a religious congregation of the Roman Catholic Church founded in 1843, in Pontigny, France by Rev. Jean Baptiste Muard....
     S.S.E. (1843)
  283. Society of Saint Paul
    Society of St. Paul

    The Society of St. Paul is a religious congregation founded on 20 August 1914 at Alba in Italy by Giacomo Alberione and officially approved by the Holy See on 27 June 1949....
     - S.S.P. (1914)
  284. Society of the Sacred Heart
    Society of the Sacred Heart

    The Society of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic Roman Catholic religious order established in France by St. Madeleine Sophie Barat in 1800. It has presence in 45 countries....
     - R.S.C.J. (1800)
  285. Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (Order of Malta) - S.M.O.M. (1099)
  286. Spiritans or Holy Ghost Fathers
    Holy Ghost Fathers

    The Congregation of The Holy Spirit is a Roman Catholic congregation of priests, lay brothers, and since Vatican II, lay associates. Congregation members are known as Spiritans in Continental Europe, and as the Holy Ghost Fathers in English language countries, although even there, they are becoming known as Spiritans....
     (Congregation of the Holy Ghost) - C.S.Sp. (1703)
  287. Stigmatines
    Stigmatines

    The Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata was founded by St. Gaspar Bertoni in Verona, Italy, in 1816.The first written Constitutions for the Congregation was based on the Constitutions of St....
     (Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata) - C.S.S. (1816)
  288. Sulpician Fathers (Society of Saint Sulpice) - S.S., P.S.S. (1642)
  289. Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis - Cameroon
    Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis - Cameroon

    The Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis - Cameroon are an order of Roman Catholic nuns that were founded by Maria Hueber on September 12, 1700. They live their lives inspired by the life of St....
     (1700)
  290. Teutonic Order
    Teutonic Knights

    The Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem , or for short the Teutonic Order was a Germans Roman Catholic religious order....
     (1190)
  291. Theatines
    Theatines

    The Theatines or the Congregation of Clerks Regular of the Divine Providence are a male religious order of the Catholic Church, with the post-nominal initials "C.R."...
     (Congregation of Clerics Regular) - C.R. (1524)
  292. Theatines
    Theatines

    The Theatines or the Congregation of Clerks Regular of the Divine Providence are a male religious order of the Catholic Church, with the post-nominal initials "C.R."...
     Nuns (Congregation of Theatines of Immaculate Conception) - T.I.C. (1633)
  293. Trappists
    Trappists

    The Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance , or Trappists, are a contemplative Roman Catholic religious order , that follows the Rule of St....
     (Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance) - O.C.R., O.C.S.O. (1662)
  294. Trinitarians (Order of the Most Holy Trinity) - O.SS.T. (1194)
  295. Ursulines
    Ursulines

    The Ursulines are a Roman Catholic Church religious order founded at Brescia, Italy, by Angela Merici in November 1535, primarily for the education of girls and the care of the sick and needy....
     (Ursuline Nuns of the Roman Union) - O.S.U. (1535)
  296. Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity
    Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity

    The Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity is a Roman Catholic contemplative-active missionary community. It was founded on January 17, 1963, in Majorca, Spain by Father Jaime Bonet....
     - M.V.D.F. (1963)
  297. Viatorians (Clerics of Saint Viator) - C.S.V. (1831)
  298. Heralds of the Gospel
    Heralds of the Gospel

    The Heralds of the Gospel is a Roman Catholic International Association of Pontifical Right based in Brazil. Founded by Msgr. Jo?o Scognamiglio Cl? Dias, the organization is active in fifty-seven countries....
     (Virgo Flos Carmeli) - E.P. (February 22, 2001)
  299. Vincentian Congregation (VC) (1904)
  300. Visitation Nuns - Sisters of the Visitation, Toledo, Ohio (1610)
  301. (Visitation Nuns - Second Federation of the Visitation Order) (1610)
  302. Vocationists (The Society of Divine Vocations) - S.D.V. (1927)
  303. White Fathers
    White Fathers

    The missionary society known as "White Fathers" , after their Costume, is a Roman Catholic Society of Apostolic Life founded in 1868 by the first Archbishop of Algiers, later Cardinal Lavigerie, as the Missionaries of Our Lady of Africa of Algeria, and is also now known as the Society of the Missionaries of Africa....
     - M.Afr. (1868)
  304. Xaverian Brothers
    Xaverian Brothers

    The Xaverian Brothers or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier are a religious order founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium in 1839 and named after Francis Xavier....
     - C.F.X. (1839)
  305. Xaverian Missionaries (Missionary Society of St. Francis Xavier) - S.X. (1895)


Sources, references and external links

  • - links to many Catholic religious communities
  • - match service to assist men and women to find a Catholic religious community
  • - vocation-related articles and directory of men's and women's Catholic religious communities
  • - directory of men's and women's Catholic religious communities in the USA
  • - religious congregations of women
  • - religious congregations of women
  • , official website
  • - official website of the F.I.
  • - Website of the Franciscans of the Immaculate
  • A comparison of the differences between religious orders