organizations
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
The word is derived from ...
of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. It is usually composed of laypeople and, in some orders,
clergy
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
. Such orders exist in many of the world's
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
s.
Buddhism
In
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
societies, a religious order is one of the number of
monastic
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...
orders of monks and nuns, many of which follow a certain school of teaching—such as Thailand's Dhammayuttika order, a monastic order founded by
King Mongkut
Mongkut ( th, มงกุฏ; 18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth monarch of Siam (Thailand) under the House of Chakri, titled Rama IV. He ruled from 1851 to 1868. His full title in Thai was ''Phra Bat Somdet Phra Menthora Ramathibo ...
(Rama IV). A well-known
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
Buddhist order is the ancient Shaolin order in Ch'an (
Zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
) Buddhism; and in modern times, the Order of Hsu Yun.
Christianity
Catholic tradition
A Catholic religious institute is a society whose members (referred to as "
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
") pronounce vows that are accepted by a superior in the name of the Catholic Church, who wear a religious habit and who live a life of brothers or sisters in common.
Catholic religious order
In the Catholic Church, a religious order is a community of consecrated life
Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more ex ...
s and congregations are their two historical categories. Religious institutes are distinct from
secular institute
In the Catholic Church, a secular institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in which consecrated persons profess the Evangelical counsels of celibate-chastity, poverty and obedience while living in the world, unlike members of a relig ...
s, another kind of
institute of consecrated life
An institute of consecrated life is an association of faithful in the Catholic Church erected by canon law whose members profess the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience by vows or other sacred bonds. They are defined in the ...
, and from lay ecclesial movements.
In the Catholic Church, members of religious institutes, unless they are also
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
clergy
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
but belong to the laity. While the state of consecrated life is neither clerical nor lay, institutes themselves are classified as one or the other, a clerical institute being one that "by reason of the purpose or design intended by the founder or by virtue of legitimate tradition, is under the direction of clerics, assumes the exercise of sacred orders, and is recognized as such by the authority of the Church".
Well-known Roman Catholic religious institutes, not all of which were classified as "orders" rather than "congregations", include Augustinians, Basilians, Benedictines,
Bethlehemites
Bethlehemites, or Bethlemites, is the name of five Catholic religious orders. Two of them were restored to existence in the 20th century. The other three are extinct.
12th-century order in Bethlehem and Italy
This order was founded in Bethlehem ...
,
Bridgettines
The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Savior (; abbreviated OSsS), is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta or Bridget of Sweden in 1344, and approved by Pope Urba ...
Carmelites
, image =
, caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites
, abbreviation = OCarm
, formation = Late 12th century
, founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel
, founding_location = Mount Ca ...
,
Carthusians
The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has i ...
Crosiers
The Crosiers or Brethren of the Cross or crutched friars is a general name for several loosely related Catholic orders, mostly canons regular. Their names derive from their devotion to the Holy Cross. They were founded in the 12th and 13th centuri ...
Franciscans
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
,
Hieronymites
The Hieronymites, also formally known as the Order of Saint Jerome ( la, Ordo Sancti Hieronymi; abbreviated OSH), is a Catholic cloistered religious order and a common name for several congregations of hermit monks living according to the Rule o ...
Piarists
The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the ...
Olivetans
The Olivetans, formally known as the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet, are a monastic order. They were founded in 1313 and recognised in 1344. They use the Rule of Saint Benedict and are a member of the Benedictine Confederation, where they are ...
,
Theatines
The Theatines officially named the Congregation of Clerics Regular ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium), abreviated CR, is a Catholic order of clerics regular of Pontifical Right for men founded by Archbishop Gian Pietro Carafa in Sept. 14, 1524. I ...
,
Trappists
The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
to incorporate a military mission became "religious military orders", such as the Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, the Knights of the Order of the Temple and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
Non-monastic religious institutes typically have a motherhouse or generalate with jurisdiction over any number of dependent religious communities, whose members may be moved by their superior general to its other communities as the institute's needs require.
In accordance with the concept of independent communities in the Rule of Saint Benedict, the Benedictines have autonomous abbeys (so-called "independent houses"). Their members profess "stability" to the abbeys where they make their religious vows; hence their abbots or abbesses may not move them to other abbeys. An "independent house" may occasionally make a new foundation which remains a "dependent house" (identified by the name "priory") until it is granted independence by Rome and itself becomes an abbey. Each house's autonomy does not prevent it being affiliated into a
congregation
A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship.
Congregation may also refer to:
* Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship
*Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...
—whether national or based on some other joint characteristic—and these, in turn, form the supra-national Benedictine Confederation.
Orthodox tradition
In the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...
, there is only one type of monasticism. The profession of monastics is known as
tonsure
Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice i ...
(referring to the ritual cutting of the monastic's hair which takes place during the service) and is considered by monks to be a
Sacred Mystery
Sacred mysteries are the areas of supernatural phenomena associated with a divinity or a religious belief and praxis. Sacred mysteries may be either:
# Religious beliefs, rituals or practices which are kept secret from the uninitiated.
# Belief ...
(Sacrament). The Rite of Tonsure is printed in the ''
Euchologion
The Euchologion (Greek: ; Slavonic: Трeбникъ, ''Trebnik''; ro, Euhologiu/Molitfelnic) is one of the chief liturgical books of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches, containing the portions of the services which are sai ...
'' ( Church Slavonic: ''Trebnik''), the same book as the other Sacred Mysteries and services performed according to need.
Lutheran tradition
Martin Luther had concerns with the spiritual value of monastic life at the time of the Reformation. After the foundation of the Lutheran Churches, some monasteries in Lutheran lands (such as
Amelungsborn Abbey
Amelungsborn Abbey, also Amelunxborn Abbey (''Kloster Amelungsborn''), is a Lutheran monastery in Germany. It is located near Negenborn and Stadtoldendorf, in the ''Landkreis'' of Holzminden in the Weserbergland. It was the second oldest Ciste ...
near
Negenborn
Negenborn is a municipality in the district of Holzminden, in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land ...
and
Loccum Abbey
Loccum Abbey (Kloster Loccum) is a Lutheran monastery in the town of Rehburg-Loccum, Lower Saxony, near Steinhude Lake.
History
Originating as a foundation of Count Wilbrand of Hallermund, Loccum Abbey was settled from Volkenroda Abbey under th ...
in
Rehburg-Loccum
Rehburg-Loccum () is a town 50 km north west of Hanover in the district of Nienburg in Lower Saxony, Germany.
Geography
Geographical location
Rehburg-Loccum borders the Steinhude Lake. The closest cities are Wunstorf and Neustadt in the ...
) and convents (such as Ebstorf Abbey near the town of
Uelzen
Uelzen (; officially the ''Hanseatic Town of Uelzen'', German: ''Hansestadt Uelzen'', , Low German ''Ülz’n'') is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a ...
and
Bursfelde Abbey
Bursfelde Abbey (in German Kloster Bursfelde) is a former Benedictine monastery located in Bursfelde, a hamlet which for administrative purposes is included in the municipality of nearby Hannoversch Münden in Lower Saxony, Germany. Today the a ...
in
Bursfelde Bursfelde is a village, now administratively joined with Hemeln as Bursfelde-Hemeln, in the northern part of Hann. Münden in the district of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany.
The village lies on the east side of the Weser River. It is best known ...
) adopted the Lutheran Christian faith.
Other examples of Lutheran religious orders include the "
Order of Lutheran Franciscans
The Order of Lutheran Franciscans (OLF) is a religious order affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), founded in 2011.
The Order is open to members of ELCA Lutheran congregations, married or single, lay or ordained, who v ...
" in the United States. Also, a
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
religious order following the Rule of St. Benedict, "The Congregation of the Servants of Christ," was established at St. Augustine's House in Oxford, Michigan, in 1958 when some other men joined Father
Arthur Kreinheder Father Arthur Carl Kreinheder, C.S.C. (October 1, 1905 – October 13, 1989) was an American Lutheran Benedictine monk and founder of a Lutheran religious order, The Congregation of the Servants of Christ.
Biography
Kreinheder was born in Saint Pau ...
in observing the monastic life and offices of prayer. This order has strong ties to Lutheran Benedictine orders in Sweden (
Östanbäck Monastery
Östanbäck Monastery is a Lutheran Benedictine monastery for men in the Church of Sweden, located outside Sala in Sweden.
History
The background of the monastery lies in the Lutheran High Church Movement. On 14 February 1960, four theological ...
Religious orders in England were dissolved by King Henry VIII upon the separation of the English church from Roman primacy. For three hundred years, there were no formal religious orders in Anglicanism, although some informal communities – such as the
Little Gidding community The Little Gidding community was an extended family and religious group based at Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire (now in Cambridgeshire), England, in existence from the middle of the 1620s to the later 1650s. It gained attention in its time becaus ...
– occasionally sprang into being. With the advent of the Oxford Movement in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
and worldwide Anglicanism in the middle of the 19th century, several orders appeared. In 1841, the first order for women was established. The first order for men was founded 25 years later.
Anglican religious voluntarily commit themselves for life, or a term of years, to holding their possessions in common or in trust; to a celibate life in community; and obedience to their Rule and Constitution.
There are presently thirteen active religious orders for men, fifty-three for women, and eight mixed gender.
Methodist tradition
The
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestant Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council, and the World Council of Churches among other ecumenical as ...
, and its ancestors, have established a number of orders of
Deaconesses
The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a usually non-ordained ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a limited l ...
, who are ordained as both regular and secular clergy. The Methodist Diaconal Order (MDO) currently admits both men and women to the Order. Since the functions of a deacon are primarily pastoral, the MDO may therefore be regarded as an order of
Regular clerics
Clerics regular are clergy, clerics (mostly Catholic priesthood, priests) who are members of a religious order under a rule of life (regular). Clerics regular differ from canons regular in that they devote themselves more to pastoral care, in plac ...
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...
dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education, and practice.
Anabaptist tradition
Some Protestant religious orders follow Anabaptist theology. These would include the
Hutterites
Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century ...
and Bruderhof, who live in full community of goods and living as a peace church.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Among their corporations, the Religious Order of Jehovah's Witnesses cares for matters specific to Jehovah's Witnesses special full-time servants. In a particular branch, traveling overseers, special pioneers, and branch staff are considered members of the ''Order of Special Full-time Servants and the Bethel Family''. Globally, their order is the ''Worldwide Order of Special Full-Time Servants of Jehovah’s Witnesses''. Male and female members of such religious orders typically make a formal
vow of poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little
and are granted certain status and exemptions by many governments. While Jehovah's Witnesses do not consider members of their religious orders to be a
clergy
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
separate from other Witnesses, who are also ordained ministers, they do recognize that a government may consider them such for administrative purposes.
Jehovah's Witnesses do not have a separate clergy class, but consider an adherent's qualified
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
to constitute his
ordination
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform v ...
as a minister. Governments have generally recognized that Jehovah's Witnesses' full-time appointees qualify as ministers regardless of sex or appointment as an elder or deacon ("ministerial servant"); the religion itself asserts what is sometimes termed "
ecclesiastical privilege
In the canon law of the Catholic Church, ecclesiastical privileges are the privileges enjoyed by the clergy. Their scope varied over time.
" only for its appointed elders.
Islam
Sufis
A
tariqah
A tariqa (or ''tariqah''; ar, طريقة ') is a school or order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking '' haqiqa'', which translates as "ultimate truth".
...
is how a religious order is described in Sufism. It especially refers to the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking '' ḥaqīqah'' "ultimate truth". Such tariqas typically have a ''
murshid
''Murshid'' ( ar, مرشد) is Arabic for "guide" or "teacher", derived from the root ''r-sh-d'', with the basic meaning of having integrity, being sensible, mature. Particularly in Sufism it refers to a spiritual guide. The term is frequently use ...
'' (guide) who plays the role of leader or spiritual director. Members and followers of a tariqa are known as '' murīdīn'' (singular ''murīd''), meaning "desirous", viz. "desiring the knowledge of knowing God and loving God" (also called a '' fakir'' ). Tariqas have silsilas ( ar, سلسلة) which is the spiritual lineage of the Shaikhs of that order. Almost all orders trace their silsila back to the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
. Tariqas are spread all over the Muslim world.
Shia
Among
Shias
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
,
Noorbakshia Islam
Noorbakhshia is a school of Islamic jurisprudence that emphasizes the Muslim Unity. Its very foundations rests on the belief in Allah, Angels, Prophets, Day of Judgement, the Quran and other Islamic Scriptures revealed upon previous Prophets. Whi ...
is an order that blends Sufi principles with Shia doctrine. It claims to trace its direct spiritual lineage and chain (silsilah) to the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Ali, the first imam of Shia Islam.
Salafi
There is some historical connection between certain schools of Sufism and the development of
Wahhabism
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, and ...
and
Salafism
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
due to the history of these denominations.
Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was inspired by Ibn Taymiyyah, a 14th-century scholar and dedicated Sufi, who is however remembered mainly as an outspoken critic of the excesses of certain schools of Sufism during his time.
Today, Wahhabism is often represented as inimical to Sufism. This is not the original conception of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who accepted Sufism as a genuine part of Islam.
See e.g. nsweringwhabismandsalafism.wordpress.com "Ibn `Abd al- Wahhab said in the third volume of his complete works published by Ibn Sa`ud University, on page 31 of the Fatawa wa rasa’il, Fifth Question: ''Know — may Allah guide you — that Allah Almighty has sent Muhammad, blessings and peace upon him, with right guidance, consisting in beneficial knowledge, and with true religion consisting in righteous action. The adherents of religion are as follows: among them are those who concern themselves with learning and fiqh, and discourse about it, such as the jurists; and among them are those who concern themselves with worship and the pursuit of the Hereafter, such as the Sufis. Allah has sent His Prophet with this religion which encompasses both kinds, that is: fiqh and tasawwuf.''"
Judaism
Other traditions
A form of ordered religious living is common also in many tribes and religions of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
, though on a smaller scale, and some parts of England. Due to the unorganized character of these small religious groups, orders are not as visible as in other well-organised religions.
Enclosed religious orders
Enclosed religious orders or ''cloistered clergy'' are religious orders whose members strictly separate themselves from the affairs of the external world. In the Catholic Church, enclosure is regulated by the code of canon law, either the Lat ...
Mendicancy
A mendicant (from la, mendicans, "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many inst ...
*
Religion-supporting organization
Religious activities generally need some infrastructure to be conducted. For this reason, there generally exist religion-supporting organizations, which are some form of organization that manages:
* the upkeep of places of worship, such as ...
VocationNetwork.org information about Catholic religious communities and life as a sister, brother, or priest.
DigitalVocationGuide.org digital edition of VISION, the annual Catholic religious vocation discernment guide.
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