Blackfriar

Order of Preachers

Ordo Praedicatorum
Coat of arms of the order
Abbreviation	OP
Motto	Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare ("To Praise, To Bless, To Preach")
Formation	1216; 801 years ago (1216)
Founder	Saint Dominic
Type	Mendicant Catholic religious order
Legal status	Institute of Consecrated Life
Headquarters	Santa Sabina, Rome, Italy
Membership (2013)	6,058 (including 4,470 priests)
Master	Bruno Cadoré
Affiliations	Catholic Church
Website	op.org

The Order of Preachers (Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum, postnominal abbreviation O.P.), also known as the Dominican Order, is a mendicant Catholic religious order founded by the Spanish priest Dominic of Caleruega in France, approved by Pope Honorius III via the papal bull Religiosam vitam on 22 December 1216. Members of the order, who are referred to as Dominicans, generally carry the letters O.P. after their names, standing for Ordinis Praedicatorum, meaning of the Order of Preachers. Membership in the order includes friars,nuns, active sisters, and affiliated lay or secular Dominicans (formerly known as tertiaries, though recently there has been a growing number of associates who are unrelated to the tertiaries).

Founded to preach the Gospel and to oppose heresy, the teaching activity of the order and its scholastic organisation placed the Preachers in the forefront of the intellectual life of the Middle Ages. The order is famed for its intellectual tradition, having produced many leading theologians and philosophers. The Dominican Order is headed by the Master of the Order, currently Bruno Cadoré.

In the year 2000, there were 5,171 Dominican friars in solemn vows, 917 student brothers, and 237 novices. By the year 2013 there were 6,058 Dominican friars, including 4,470 priests.