Dominican Order

Dominican Order, Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and confirmed by Pope Honorius III in 1216. Officially known as the Order of Preachers (O.P.) and sometimes unofficially as the Black Friars, for the black cloak they wear when preaching, the Dominicans grew from a band of priests sent to combat the Albigensian heresy. Priests make up the first order of Dominicans, cloistered nuns the second order, and regular nuns and laymen and women the third order. Throughout their history the Dominicans have been noted for their scholarship and intellectual activity. Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great, Vincent Ferrer, Catherine of Siena, and Rose of Lima were Dominicans, as were Savonarola and Fra Angelico. As guardians of scholastic theology, Dominicans took part in the Inquisition; in recent centuries they have been in the vanguard of theological and biblical studies.

See also: Dominic, Saint.