Dominicans are members of a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic of Spain in the early 1200’s. Its official name is the Order of Preachers (O.P.).
Today, the Dominican order consists of men and women throughout the world. The Dominican order is composed of friars, priests, nuns, sisters, members of the secular institutes, and the laity. Members of secular institutes live in regular society but have taken religious vows. Members of the laity follow Dominican teachings but have not taken religious vows. From their founding until 1968, the Dominicans were divided into three orders. The First Order was made up of friars, the Second Order was made up of nuns, and the Third Order, also known as tertiaries, was comprised of sisters and the laity. In 1968, the Dominican order eliminated the distinction between the three orders and adopted the name the Dominican Family.
Saint Dominic established the Dominicans to oppose heresy—that is, any doctrine that conflicted with the accepted teachings of the Catholic Church. He founded the Second Order in 1206 and the First Order in 1216. Within a generation of their founding, Dominicans staffed theological faculties of major universities. The order included such famous theologians as Saint Albertus Magnus, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Johannes Eckhart, Saint Catherine of Siena, and Saint Martin de Porres. The emphasis on preaching, teaching, and theological study continues today.
