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{{Short description|Groups based on religious devotion}}
{{for|the Roman Catholic communities|Religious order (Catholic)}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2023}}
[[File:Kloster St. Wigberti pan.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Priory of St. Wigbert]] is a [[Lutheran]] [[monastery]] in the [[Benedictines#Other orders|Benedictine tradition]]]]

A '''religious order''' is a subgroup within a larger [[confessional community]] with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their [[Organizational founder|founder]]s, and have a document describing their lifestyle called a [[rule of life]]. Such orders exist in many of the world's [[religion]]s.

==Buddhism==
{{Main article|Buddhist monasticism}}
In [[Buddhist]] societies, a religious order is one of the number of [[Monasticism|monastic]] orders of monks and nuns, many of which follow a certain school of teaching—such as Thailand's [[Dhammayuttika Nikaya|Dhammayuttika order]], a monastic order founded by [[King Mongkut]] (Rama IV). A well-known [[China|Chinese]] Buddhist order is the ancient [[Shaolin Monastery|Shaolin]] order in Ch'an ([[Zen]]) Buddhism; and in modern times, the Order of Hsu Yun.

==Christianity==
{{Main article|Christian monasticism|Consecrated life}}

===Catholic tradition===
{{Main article|Religious order (Catholic)}}
{{see also|Institute of consecrated life|Religious institute|Religious sister (Catholic)}}
A religious order in the Catholic Church is a kind of [[religious institute]], a society whose members (referred to as "[[religious (Catholicism)|religious]]") make [[Solemn vow|solemn vows]] that are accepted by a superior in the name of the Church,<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4E.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 1192 §2]</ref> who wear a [[religious habit]] and who live a life of brothers or sisters in common.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Z.HTM Code of Canon Law, canons 607 §2]</ref> Religious orders are to be distinguished from [[religious congregation|religious congregations]], which are religious institutes whose members profess [[Solemn vow#Distinction from simple vows|simple vows]], and from [[Secular institute|secular institutes]], including [[society of apostolic life|societies of apostolic life]] and [[Catholic lay organisations|lay ecclesial movements]]. Unless they are also [[deacon]]s or [[priest]]s in [[Holy Orders]] members of religious orders are not [[clergy]] but [[laity]]. However, particular orders and institutes are classified as either specifically clerical or lay depending on their [[charism]].<ref>cf. [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PT.HTM The Code of Canon Law 1983, canon 207]</ref> 

Among the traditional forms of solemnly vowed religious order, there are four key categories:
* [[canons regular]] (canons and [[canoness]]es regular who recite the Divine Office and serve a church and perhaps a parish);
* [[clerics regular]] (priests who take religious vows and have an active apostolic life);
* [[Mendicant orders|mendicants]] ([[friar]]s and [[religious sister]]s, possibly living and working in a [[friary]] or a [[convent]], who live from alms, recite the Divine Office, and, in the case of the men, participate in apostolic activities); and
* [[Christian monasticism#Roman Catholicism|monastics]] ([[monk]]s and [[nun]]s living and working in a [[monastery]] or a [[nunnery]] and reciting the [[Liturgy of the Hours|Divine Office]]).

Religious life began in the [[Latin Church]] as early as the 3rd century, with the [[Order of Saint Benedict]] being formed in the 6th, in 529. All the earliest religious foundations were either essentially monastic or canonical depending on how much weight they placed on [[Enclosed religious orders|monastic enclosure]] or [[pastoral care]] respectively. Initially rules of life tended to vary between communities but gradually by the 10th century the [[Rule of St Benedict]] became the standardised norm among the Latin Church’s monks and nuns while the [[Rule of St Augustine]] was standardised among its canons and canonesses. The earliest orders include the [[Cistercians]] (1098), the  [[Premonstratensians]] (1120), the [[Poor Clares]] founded by [[Francis of Assisi]] (1212), and the Benedictine reform movements of [[Cluniac Reform|Cluny]] (1216). These orders consist entirely of independent abbeys and priories where power rests in the hands of the individual communities and their abbot or abbess, prior or prioress. Their members remain in the same community for life.

[[Image:Francisco de Zurbarán - Fray Pedro Machado - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|160px|[[Francisco de Zurbarán]]'s painting of a [[Mercedarian Order|Mercedarian]] Friar, Fra Pedro Machado]] Later in the 13th century the [[mendicant orders]] like the [[Carmelites]], the [[Order of Friars Minor]], the [[Order of Preachers]], the [[Trinitarian Order|Order of the Most Holy Trinity]] and the [[Order of Saint Augustine]] formed. These Mendicant orders did not hold property for their Religious Communities, instead begging for alms and going where they were needed. Their leadership structure included each member, as opposed to each Abbey or House, as subject to their direct superior. In the 16th century the orders of [[clerics regular]] began to emerge, including such institutes as the [[Society of Jesus]], the [[Theatines]], the [[Barnabites]], the [[Somaschi Fathers|Somascans]]. Most of these groups began to turn away from the common public celebration of the divine office. 

In accordance with the concept of independent communities in the Rule of Saint Benedict, the Benedictines, Cistercians, and [[Trappists]] 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 (group of houses)|congregation]]—whether national or based on some other joint characteristic—and these, in turn, form the supra-national [[Benedictine Confederation]].

Non-monastic religious institutes typically have a motherhouse, generalate, or general curia 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.

Well-known Roman Catholic religious institute include [[Order of Saint Augustine|Augustinians]], [[Order of Saint Basil the Great|Basilians]], [[Benedictines]], [[Bethlehemite Brothers|Bethlehemites]], [[Bridgettines]], [[Camaldolese]], [[Carmelites]], [[Carthusians]], [[Cistercians]], [[Conceptionists]], [[Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross|Crosiers]], [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], [[Franciscans]], [[Hieronymites]], [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]], [[Minims (religious order)|Minims]], [[Piarists]], [[Salesians of Don Bosco|Salesians]], [[Olivetans]], [[Theatines]], [[Trappists]] and the [[Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary|Visitandines]].

Several religious orders evolved during the [[Crusades]] to incorporate a military mission becoming "religious [[Military order (religious society)|military orders]]", such as the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem]], the [[Knights Templar|Knights of the Order of the Temple]] and the [[Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic)|Knights of the Holy Sepulchre]].

===Orthodox tradition===
{{Main article|Eastern Christian monasticism}}
In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], there is only one type of monasticism. The profession of monastics is known as [[tonsure]] (referring to the ritual cutting of the monastic's hair which takes place during the service)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roca.org/OA/69/69f.htm|title=An Outline of Orthodox Monasticism}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kurskroot.com/orthodox_nuns.html|title=Orthodox Nuns}}</ref> and is considered by monks to be a [[Sacred Mystery]] (Sacrament).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=E0RPOYa77IUC&pg=PA225 Michael Prokurat, Michael D. Peterson, Alexander Golitzin (editors), ''The A to Z of the Orthodox Church'' (Scarcrow Press 2010] {{ISBN|978-1-46166403-1}}), article: "Monasticism"</ref> The Rite of Tonsure is printed in the ''[[Euchologion]]'' ([[Church Slavonic]]: ''Trebnik''), the same book as the other Sacred Mysteries and services performed according to need.

===Lutheran tradition===
[[Image:Monastery Ebstorf.jpg|thumb|400px|[[Ebstorf Abbey]] continued as a Lutheran convent in the Benedictine tradition since 1529]]
After the foundation of the [[Lutheran Church]]es, some monasteries in Lutheran lands (such as [[Amelungsborn Abbey]] near [[Negenborn]] and [[Loccum Abbey]] in [[Rehburg-Loccum]]) and convents (such as [[Ebstorf Abbey]] near the town of [[Uelzen]] and [[Bursfelde Abbey]] in [[Bursfelde]]) adopted the Lutheran Christian faith.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.medievalhistories.com/kloster-ebstorf-convent-bad-bevensen-near-luneburg/|title=Kloster Ebstorf|date=8 August 2014|publisher=Medieval Histories|language=en|access-date=20 November 2017|quote=The monastery is mentioned for the first time in 1197. It belongs to the group of so-called Lüneklöstern (monasteries of Lüne), which became Lutheran convents following the Protestant Reformation. […] It is currently one of several Lutheran convents maintained by the Monastic Chamber of Hanover (Klosterkammer Hannover), an institution of the former Kingdom of Hanover founded by its Prince-Regent, later King George IV of the United Kingdom, in 1818, in order to manage and preserve the estates of Lutheran convents.}}</ref>

Other examples of Lutheran religious orders include the [[Order of Lutheran Franciscans]] in the United States.  Also, a [[Lutheran]] religious order following the [[Rule of Saint 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]] in observing the monastic life and offices of prayer.<ref name="Aguilar2009">{{cite book |last1=Aguilar |first1=Mario L. |title=Contemplating God Changing the World |date=1 January 2009 |publisher=Church Publishing |isbn=978-1-59627-211-8 |page=xix |language=en |quote=Lutheran monasteries have been founded in the past 40 years in Denmark and Michigan, while an evangelical monastic community exists in Koera bearing the name of Jesus Abbey.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.staugustineshouse.org|title=Saint Augustine's House Lutheran Monastery in Oxford, Michigan}}</ref> This order has strong ties to Benedictine Lutheran religious orders in Sweden ([[Östanbäck Monastery]]) and in Germany ([[Priory of St. Wigbert]]).

===Anglican tradition===
{{Main article|Anglican religious order}}
Religious orders in England were dissolved by [[Henry VIII of England|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 &ndash; such as the [[Little Gidding community]] &ndash; occasionally sprang into being.  With the advent of the [[Oxford Movement]] in the [[Church of England]] 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://communities.anglicancommunion.org|title=Religious Communities|author=Anglican Communion Office|work=Anglican Communion Website}}</ref>

There are presently thirteen active religious orders for men, fifty-three for women, and eight mixed gender.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

===Methodist tradition===
The [[Methodist Church of Great Britain]], and its ancestors, have established a number of orders of [[Deaconess]]es, who are now ordained as clergy and are Ministers in equal standing alongside their presbyteral colleagues. The [[Methodist Diaconal Order]] (MDO) currently admits both men and women to the Order and all are now known as Deacons. Since the functions of a deacon are primarily [[pastoral]], the MDO may therefore be regarded as an order of [[Regular clerics]].{{Original research inline|date=July 2025}}

The Order of the Flame is a religious order under the auspices of the [[World Methodist Council]] devoted to the charism of [[evangelism]].<ref name="Barrett2022">{{cite book |last1=Barrett |first1=Desmond |title=Addition through Subtraction: Revitalizing the Established Church |date=13 April 2022 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-6667-3574-1 |page=64 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Order of Saint Luke|The Order of Saint Luke]] is a religious order in the [[United Methodist Church]] dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education, and practice.

===Anabaptist tradition===
Some Protestant religious orders follow [[Anabaptist]] theology. These would include the [[Hutterite|Hutterites]] and [[Bruderhof Communities|Bruderhof]], who live in full community of goods<ref>{{Citation|last=Bruderhof|title=What is the Bruderhof?|date=2015-10-29|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ohC8cEcdOE| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/9ohC8cEcdOE| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|access-date=2017-05-26}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and living as a peace church.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://christlife.org/blog/learning-from-the-bruderhof-an-intentional-christian-community|title=Learning from the Bruderhof: An Intentional Christian Community|work=ChristLife|access-date=2018-08-27|language=en}}</ref>

===Jehovah's Witnesses===
Among their corporations, the [[Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses#Other US corporations|Religious Order of Jehovah's Witnesses]] cares for matters specific to [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] special full-time servants. In a particular branch, [[Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses#Circuit|traveling overseers]], [[Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses#Special pioneers|special pioneers]], and [[Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses#Branches and zones|branch staff]] are considered members of the ''Order of Special Full-time Servants and the Bethel Family''.<ref>"Nigeria: Governor's Visit", ''EBS TV News'', August 3, 2001, transcript, "Broadcast lasted: 3 minutes Newscaster: "The State Governor, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, today undertook a facility tour of the religious center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Nigeria, otherwise known as Bethel, at Igieduma in Uhunmwode Local Government Area. He was accompanied in the tour by some commissioners and Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Mat. Akhionbare. For details, over to Government House correspondent, Benjamin Osagie: "Welcoming the Governor and his entourage, Mr. Albert Nwafor Olih disclosed that in harmony with its name, everything done in Bethel was guided by Bible principles and the fear of God. Mr. Olih explained that all residents are baptized Jehovah's Witnesses and members of a religious Order known as the Order of Special Full-time Servants and the Bethel Family. He said they have voluntarily taken a sacred vow to perform their duties geared towards promoting the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom""</ref> Globally, their order is the ''Worldwide Order of Special Full-Time Servants of Jehovah's Witnesses''.<ref>"Preaching and Teaching Earth Wide—2008 Grand Totals", ''2009 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses'', page 31, "All are members of the Worldwide Order of Special Full-Time Servants of Jehovah's Witnesses."</ref> Male and female members of such religious orders typically make a formal [[vow of poverty]] 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]] 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#Jehovah's Witnesses|baptism]] to constitute his [[ordination]] as a [[minister (Christianity)|minister]].<ref>"Beliefs—Membership and Organization", ''Authorized Site of the Office of Public Information of Jehovah's Witnesses'', [http://jw-media.org/beliefs/membership.htm As Retrieved 2009-09-01] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826010609/http://www.jw-media.org/beliefs/membership.htm |date=2012-08-26 }}, "Jehovah's Witnesses have no clergy-laity division. All baptized members are ordained ministers"</ref> Governments have generally recognized that Jehovah's Witnesses' full-time appointees qualify as ministers<ref>For example, the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] case [[Dickinson v. United States]] (1953) found that Dickinson should have been considered a minister by his draft board because of his ordination by baptism as a Jehovah's Witness and his continued service as a Jehovah's Witness "pioneer". [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=346&page=389 Online]</ref> regardless of sex or appointment as an [[Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses#Elders|elder]] or [[Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses#Ministerial servants|deacon ("ministerial servant")]]; the religion itself asserts what is sometimes termed "[[ecclesiastical privilege]]" only for its appointed elders.

==Islam==

===Sufis===
{{Main article|Tariqa}}
{{further information|List of Sufi orders}}
A [[tariqah]] 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   ''[[haqiqa|ḥaqīqah]]'' "ultimate truth". Such tariqas typically have a ''[[murshid]]'' (guide) who plays the role of leader or spiritual director. Members and followers of a tariqa  are known as ''[[Murid|murīdīn]]'' (singular ''murīd''), meaning "desirous", viz. "desiring the knowledge of knowing God and loving God" (also called a ''[[faqir|faqīr]]'' {{lang|ar|فقير}}). Tariqas have [[silsila]]s ({{langx|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]]. Tariqas are spread all over the Muslim world.

===Shia===
Among [[Shias]], [[Noorbakshia Islam]] 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]] and [[Salafism]] 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.<ref>
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.: [http://answeringwhabismandsalafism.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/what-ibn-abd-al-wahhab-the-one-of-the-greatest-enemies-of-tasawwuf-sufism-said-on-tasawwuf-sufism/ 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.''"
<!-- will need proper attribution to printed source of course-->
</ref>

==Judaism==
{{Main article|Jewish leadership}}

==Other traditions==
A form of ordered religious living is common also in many tribes and religions of [[Africa]] and [[South America]], though on a smaller scale, and some parts of England.{{cn|date=November 2021}} Due to the unorganized character of these small religious groups, orders are not as visible as in other well-organised religions.

[[Cults]] and coercive groups such as [[Scientology]] and [[Moonies]] often rely heavily on devout religious orders as a tactic to indoctrinate and control their followers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hassan |first=Dr. Steven |date=1990 |title=Combatting Cult Mind Control |location=New York |publisher=Park Street Press |isbn= 0892813113}}</ref> Scientology's [[Sea Org]], for example, are required to sign a one billion year contract<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/wakefield/us-09.html |title=Understanding Scientology |author=Margery Wakefield |date= |website=For the Next Billion Years |publisher=Carnegie Mellon University |access-date=8 May 2023 |quote=}}</ref> and pledge allegiance to founder [[L. Ron Hubbard]] and are responsible for senior management positions within the Organization.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theseaorg.com/ |title=The Sea Org |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=The Sea Organization |publisher= |access-date=8 May 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Asceticism]]
* [[Enclosed religious orders]]
* [[Monasticism]]
* [[Religious fanaticism]]
* [[Hyperreligiosity]]
* [[Mendicancy]]
* [[Religion-supporting organization]]
*[[Third order]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commonscatinline|Religious orders}}
* [https://cloisteredlife.com/mens-communities List of Contemplative Men's Monasteries in the United States]
* [https://cloisteredlife.com/directory List of Contemplative Women's Monasteries in the United States]
* [http://www.vocationnetwork.org VocationNetwork.org] information about Catholic religious communities and life as a sister, brother, or priest.
* [http://www.digitalvocationguide.org/ DigitalVocationGuide.org] digital edition of VISION, the annual Catholic religious vocation discernment guide.
* [http://www.historyfish.net/monastics/gasquetorders.html Abbot Gasquet, Full Text + Illustrations, Religious Orders of England.]

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[[Category:Religious orders| ]]