[Mad Dawg]

This list is a little bit bogus, too. The Dominicans are a family, a large one. There are the Friars, the enclosed nuns, the third order sisters of various kinds, and the lay dominicans. They're ALL Dominicans. And it's the same with the Franciscans. The list is misleading.

It's as if someone proposed to give a list of quadrupeds and listed, Goats, Sheep, Hair Sheep, Lincolns, Corriedales, Cats, House Cats, Barn Cats, Calico Cats, Alley Cats, Dogs, Wolves, Collies, Border Collies, Aussies, Poodles, Miniature Poodles, Teacup Poodles, Elephants....

The Church is chaotic, who could deny it? But it's not quite THAT chaotic.

[HarleyD]

This list is a little bit bogus, too....The list is misleading.

I got this list from wikipedia. I did inadvertantly left off the following caviot:

Some organizations in the following list are not Religious Institutes because they are Associations of the Faithful and have not yet received a decree of erection to become an Institute of Consecrated Life. For this reason, this list does not verify the canonical status of an organization.:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_religious_order

I'm not exactly sure what a decree of erection is and was afraid to google it.