"Lest too great a variety of religious orders leads to grave confusion in God’s church, we strictly forbid anyone henceforth to found a new religious order. Whoever wants to become a religious should enter one of the already approved orders. Likewise, whoever wishes to found a new religious house should…
"Lest too great a variety of religious orders leads to grave confusion in God’s church, we strictly forbid anyone henceforth to found a new religious order. Whoever wants to become a religious should enter one of the already approved orders. Likewise, whoever wishes to found a new religious house should take the rule and institutes from already approved religious orders. We forbid, moreover, anyone to attempt to have a place as a monk in more than one monastery or an abbot to preside over more than one monastery."
Ha ha. I know most of them were founded by saints who must have seen a need that existing orders at their times were not meeting, but I do wonder sometimes if there need to be so many.
Interesting bit of trivia about Lateran IV: because of the decree you cited, that's why St Dominic did not write his own rule for his newly-founded Order of Preachers. Rather, he chose the Rule of St Augustine, which he had lived as a Canon of the Cathedral in Osma, Spain before starting his preaching mission in southern France. To this day, the friars and the contemplative nuns of the Order follow the Rule of St Augustine.
Bring back the Spirit of Lateran IV
"Lest too great a variety of religious orders leads to grave confusion in God’s church, we strictly forbid anyone henceforth to found a new religious order. Whoever wants to become a religious should enter one of the already approved orders. Likewise, whoever wishes to found a new religious house should take the rule and institutes from already approved religious orders. We forbid, moreover, anyone to attempt to have a place as a monk in more than one monastery or an abbot to preside over more than one monastery."
Ha ha. I know most of them were founded by saints who must have seen a need that existing orders at their times were not meeting, but I do wonder sometimes if there need to be so many.
Sometimes it’s not up to us to decide there are “too many religious orders”…
Correct, which is why it was determined by an ecumenical council.
Interesting bit of trivia about Lateran IV: because of the decree you cited, that's why St Dominic did not write his own rule for his newly-founded Order of Preachers. Rather, he chose the Rule of St Augustine, which he had lived as a Canon of the Cathedral in Osma, Spain before starting his preaching mission in southern France. To this day, the friars and the contemplative nuns of the Order follow the Rule of St Augustine.