Aren religious orders Roman Catholic?
Not at all. Other Christian communions have religious orders as well, and there are ecumenical orders like ours. In the Anglican communion, for example, the Franciscan tradition is represented by the Society of Saint Francis and the TSSF. Anglicans also have the Order of the Holy Cross (Benedictine), the Order of Julian of Norwich, and others (For a list of Anglican orders and religious communities, click here.). In the United Methodist Church, the Order of Saint Luke “is dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education, and practice.” The most well-known ecumenical religious community is probably the Taiz community in France, noted for its approach to worship with the simple beauty of chant and silence. The Order of Ecumenical Franciscans is catholic in that we affirm the catholicity (universality) of the Church, but we are not Roman Catholic. As a truly ecumenical order, the OEF is not under the jurisdiction of any particular communion. We are governed by the leadership
