Published On Jun 27, 2024
Learn the difference between priests, nuns, religious sisters, friars, and monks in this breakdown of Catholic religious life.
Sources:
CIC Can. 1191 (A vow defined): https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iu....
1 Corinthians 7 (St. Paul on marriage): https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corint...
CIC Can. 277 (Catholic Priests are obliged to be celibate): https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iu...
CIC Can. 285 (A priest must not live lavishly): https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iu...
CIC Can. 533 (Priests live in rectories): https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iu...
Matthew 19 (Jesus advises the rich young man to forego property): https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/19
FAQs- Priesthood, Ordination, Seminary (The vows of a priest): https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-tea...
St. Benedict: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedic...
The Order of St. Benedict: https://osb.org/our-roots/a-brief-his...
Marriam Webster (Mendicant Definition): https://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti...
St. Conrad Province - Our History (History of Franciscans): https://www.capuchins.org/our-history
St. Patrick Priory (History of Dominicans): https://stpatrickpriory.org/history/
Conception Seminary (The distinction between brother, monk, priest): https://www.conceptionabbey.org/pries...
Source for me saying friaries are built in cities rather than outside them: I’ve stayed in a few.
Marriam Webster (Friar means brother): https://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti...
Jesuit FAQ: https://beajesuit.org/faqs/
Vatican News (Saint Scholastica): https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/...
Vatican News (Saint Clare): https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/...
Sisters of Mercy website (Sisters aren't the same as nuns): https://www.sistersofmercy.org/faq/wh...
Canon Law Made Easy (More details on sisters vs. nuns): https://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2009/03/...
History Today: A Woman Jesuit and the Mother of the Church in Canada (The Jesuits don't have female members); https://jesuites.ca/stories/history-t...
Missionaries of Charity (It’s an all female order): https://www.missionariesofcharity.org...
Secular Third Orders: https://religiouslife.com/resource/th...
Note that this resource lists the wrong canon, they mean CIC 303 under the current code: https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iu...
Dominican Third Orders: https://www.op.org.au/about-the-domin...
Resource saying that they don’t take the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience: https://catholicstand.com/lay-dominic...
Image Credits:
“Roman Catholic monks of the Order of Saint Benedict singing Vespers on Holy Saturday at St. Mary's Abbey in Morristown, New Jersey.” by John Stephen Dwyer (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Stained glass window in the Saint Felix Church in Laissac by Krzysztof Golik
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...