DOMINICANS

The Order of Friars Preachers (OP), commonly known as the Dominicans, comprises: the First Order, fathers and laybrothers; the Second Order, contemplative nuns; and the Third Order. The last includes: (1) the conventual third order and (2) lay tertiaries. The habit of the fathers consists of a white robe, scapular, and cowl, with a black open mantle and cowl. Lay brothers wear a black scapular and cowl. Sisters of the second and third orders replace the cowl with a veil. All fasten the robe at the waist with a leather belt from which is suspended a rosary. The Dominicans in England have been called Black-friars because of the black mantle, and the French Dominicans are sometimes referred to as Jacobins after their priory of Saint-Jacques in Paris.

Foundation, Spirit, and Organization. The First Order is a clerical, religious institute of mendicant friars with solemn vows, living under the Rule of St. Augustine and its own constitutions, and subject only to its own superiors and the Holy See. The preaching mission among the albigenses of southern France in the early 13th century was the occasion for the beginning of the Dominican Order. St. dominic was the director of this preaching from 1207 onward. To combat the pretensions of the heretics, the preachers practiced evangelical poverty. In April 1215 Dominic transformed this voluntary association into a permanent institute with the approval of Fulk of Marseilles, Bishop of Toulouse (d. 1231). After consultation with Pope Innocent III, Dominic and his companions, meeting in a founding chapter in 1216, adopted the Rule of St. Augustine and drew up the first part of the constitutions. Although they abandoned ownership of property, they temporarily retained income from rents granted to them. On Dec. 22, 1216, Honorius III gave papal confirmation to the order and, on Jan. 17, 1217, approved its name and preaching mission.

The order is a synthesis of the contemplative life and the apostolic ministry. The contemplative element includes the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; the chanting of the Divine Office; community life; monastic observances; and the assiduous study of sacred truth (Constitutions, 1932, no. 4). The apostolic element, conceived as an imitation of the evangelical life of Christ, embraces the teaching and defense of Catholic truth primarily through preaching. The two elements are so blended that contemplation not only sanctifies the friar but prepares him for the apostolate. The Dominican motto, "To contemplate and to give others the fruits of contemplation," neatly sums up these concepts. Dominic resolved the apparent contradiction between the two elements by widening the scope of dispensation to favor students and preachers when monastic observances impeded their work. On Aug. 15, 1217, he inaugurated the universal mission of the order by sending his friars away to found new centers, notably in the university cities of Paris (1217) and Bologna (1218). In 1220, when a dozen or so houses existed, Dominic convened the first general chapter at Bologna. Under his presidency the chapter shaped the core of the second part of the constitutions, regulating the order's government, preaching, and study. Absolute poverty, which prohibited the holding of both property and revenues, and made the order dependent on free-will offerings and the quest for alms by the friars, was adopted. The second general chapter, Bologna, 1221, divided the order into provinces and determined their government.

The government of the order, by Dominic's desire, is democratic. It preserves a careful balance between democratically constituted chapters and strong, but elected, superiors. The composition of successive general chapters gives a preponderance of power to elected definitors (representatives) chosen by the provinces, rather than to provincials. Delegates from the priories sit on equal terms with their priors in the provincial chapter. Professed friars who are clerics form the chapter of the priory. The provinces, composed of both priories and nonpriorial houses, enjoy a considerable degree of autonomy. Congregations or vicariates, consisting of houses under a vicar, have been common since the 15th century. They do not possess all the rights of provinces and occasionally have no fixed territory. Only the general chapter, the supreme Dominican authority, may modify the constitutions, provided three successive chapters approve. It shares with provincial chapters and superiors the power to issue executive orders. Until 1370 it met annually; thereafter, every two or three years; since 1561, triennially. Successive chapters rotate among the major cities. In 1949, in Washington, DC, the chapter convened for the first time outside Europe. Except that they have not the lawmaking power, provincial chapters hold authority in the provinces paralleling that of the general chapter in the entire order. They met annually until 1410, biennially until 1629, and quadriennially thereafter. The master general is the major superior over the entire order; the provincial, over his province; and a prior, over his priory. All superiors, except vicars, are elected by the chapters of their respective jurisdictions. Terms of office, which in the medieval period perdured until terminated by higher authority, are now restricted to 12 years for the general; four for the provincial; and three for priors and vicars. The curia of the master general is made up of eight associates (1945) and the procurator general, the order's liaison officer with the Holy See.

Dominicans vow to obey their superiors according to the rule and constitutions, rather than to obey the statutes themselves. This makes obedience the keystone of Dominican life and gives flexibility to administration. The order's law, apart from vows, precepts, and laws derived from higher authority, does not bind under sin but obliges only to the acceptance of penalties for violations. This regulation affords great liberty of spirit. The novelty and perfection of the Dominican constitutions led to their imitation by other mendicant orders.

The primitive version of the constitutions was superseded in 1241 by a text cast in improved juridical form by (St.) raymond of peÑafort. Subsequently, major revisions were made in 1518, 1566, 1871, and 1932. The first printed edition appeared in 1505. The Dominican Order has its own liturgical rite with distinctive Missal, Breviary, rubrics, and liturgical calendar. Among its members the order has 18 saints and about 312 blesseds.

First Three Centuries, 1215 to 1500. Under their founder, the Dominicans made establishments in all the western countries of Europe, including Hungary and Scandinavia. Dominic's death in 1221 did not halt the order's rapid progress, for his five immediate successors (Bl.) jordan of saxony, Raymond of Peñafort, John of Wildeshausen (d. 1252), humbert of romans, and (Bl.) john of vercelli, were conspicuously able men of saintly character. Under their government, which extended over a period of 60 years, the order developed its characteristic apostolate and activities, founded many new priories, and increased its membership. In 1221 eight provinces existed or were being formed: Spain, Provence, France, Lombardy, Rome, Hungary, England, and Germany. Poland, Scandinavia, Greece, and the Holy Land joined them before 1228. Except for mission territory, these divisions marked the area of activity until 1510, but the number of provinces increased by subdivision, so that in 1303 there were 18; in 1500, 22. In 1277 the order counted 404 priories; in 1303, 590; in 1358, 635. Membership was approximately 13,000 in 1256, and was probably above 21,000 in 1347 at the beginning of the Black Death, which greatly reduced the order's numbers.

Scholarship. Dominic laid the foundation of the Dominican educational system and intellectual excellence. He did this at the first general chapter when he included provisions in the constitutions that regulated and encouraged study and stipulated that no priory might be erected without a professor. He established the school at Paris and secured its incorporation into the university, where, in 1229, the order obtained its first chair of theology; in 1230, its second. The English Dominicans had a chair at Oxford before 1248. The order's curriculum of studies, completed in 1259, ranged upward through priory schools, provincial schools of arts, philosophy, and theology, to a general house of studies at Paris, where the order promoted friars to the mastership in theology. In 1248 additional general houses opened at Oxford, Cologne, Montpellier, and Bologna. After the 13th century all the major provinces established general houses of studies.

The friars at Paris, under the direction of hugh of saint-cher, undertook major scientific works such as the correction of the Vulgate text of the Bible and the compilation of Biblical commentaries and concordances. By the middle of the 13th century (St.) albert the great and (St.) thomas aquinas, robert kilwardby and (Bl.) Peter of Tarentaise (innocent v), had carried the order to preeminence in the scientific and theological fields. The Thomistic philosophico-theological system, a profoundly unifying and cohesive factor in the order, was transmitted and developed by a constant succession of commentators and theologians.

Only a few of the host of friars who wrote in the scholastic and other cultural fields can be mentioned here. william of moerbeke's translations of the works of Aristotle and other Greek writers powerfully aided the speculations of the scholastics. Raymond of Peñafort, with his compilation of the Decretals and his Summa de poenitentia, achieved eminence as a canonist and moralist. The treatises of Cardinals Juan de torquemada and John Stojkovic of ragusa in ecclesiology, and the Summa moralium of St. antoninus in moral theology, pioneered new fields of theological research. The Golden Legend of james of voragine was universally read and loved. The directories for inquisitors by bernard gui and Nicholas Eymeric (d. 1399), and the exposition of the tenets of the Cathari and Waldenses by Moneta of Cremona (d. c. 1260), strengthened the Catholic apostolate among the heretics. vincent of beauvais in his Speculum majus provided an encyclopedic work that aimed to give a compendium of contemporary knowledge. The humanist Francis Colonna (d. 1527) later attempted a similar feat regarding the knowledge of antiquity in his celebrated romance, The Dream of Poliphilus. Jerome of Moravia (fl. c. 1250) wrote the most important 13th-century work on liturgical chant. The Catholicon of John Balbus (d. c. 1298) was a pioneer treatise on, and etymological dictionary of, the Latin language. Bernard Gui, Ptolemy of Lucca, nicholas trevet, martin of troppau, and Antoninus rank as historians.

Apostolic Activities. Preaching, the primary work of the order, absorbed the energies of the greater number of Dominicans. Their priories, erected by preference in the cities, became centers of an organized ministry. Each priory subdivided its territory and assigned friars to preach systematically in the rural parishes of individual districts. In remote areas "preaching homes" were built so the friars could stay for long periods of intense evangelization. The so-called penitential preachers, proclaiming penance and reform of life, developed roving apostolates over a wide area. John of Vicenza led a crusade for peace in Lombardy and the Marches in 1233. venturino of ber gamo preached penance in the 14th century; (St.) vin cent ferrer, Manfred of Vercelli (d. c. 1431), and savonarola did the same in the 15th.

Dominicans constructed spacious churches to accommodate large congregations. They preached sermons in their churches as often as 250 times a year, speaking morning and evening on Sundays, and daily during Advent and Lent. To prepare preachers, they stocked large libraries, collected sermons, wrote preaching manuals, and compiled books of illustrative materials, such as John Bromyard's (d. c. 1352) great Summa for Preachers. Except for sermons to clerical audiences, they used the vernacular languages. The opposition that arose from the secular clergy bears witness to the scope of the friars' preaching and ministry. Pastors challenged the right of the mendicant orders to preach, hear confessions, and bury. The resulting quarrel, which simmered throughout the 13th century, was partially allayed when Boniface VIII in 1300 restricted, but did not destroy, mendicant privileges with the bull Super cathedram.

Many other Dominican activities developed from preaching. The rapid growth of the Second Order indicates the order's contribution to the development of the contemplative life of religious women. Another facet of this apostolate was the directing of beguines in the Rhineland and the Netherlands. The Dominican Third Order was an offshoot of preaching to the laity. The confraternities founded in the order's churches provided congregations for the preachers and perpetuated the fruit of their sermons. In 1274 Gregory X, at the instance of the Second Council of Lyons, commissioned the order to preach devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. From this preaching, the Holy Name Society was to develop. The Rosary Confraternity, founded by alan de la roche about 1470 at Douai, made the rosary the most popular nonliturgical devotion in the Western Church.

The popes drew on the experience of the friars by enlisting them to reform monasteries and dioceses; to administer convents of nuns; to serve as masters of the Sacred Palace, papal penitentiaries, preachers of the crusade, collectors of crusading levies; and to carry out diplomatic missions. Dominicans habitually, though not exclusively, staffed the inquisition, a task for which their doctrinal training made them especially suited. The order gave two popes, 28 cardinals, and hundreds of bishops to the Church before 1500. The kings of France, England, Spain, and Portugal, as well as many princes, often had Dominican confessors.

Missions. Dominic, desiring to evangelize the pagans, had sent friars to the frontiers of Europe. By 1225 the friars in Spain had contacted the Arabs and Jews of the peninsula and had moved into Africa. Under Raymond of Peñafort's direction the Spanish province pioneered schools for Oriental languages. raymond martini, the finest Orientalist before the modern age, supplied his brethren with treatises, especially his Pugio fidei and Capistrum Judaeorum, for their controversies, and Pablo Cristiani (d. c. 1265), a converted Jew, achieved fame as a polemicist. Dominicans of Scandinavia, Poland, and Germany worked among the Baltic peoples, the Lithuanians, and the Russians. St. hyacinth, founder of the Polish province, pushed as far east as Kiev in 1222. Hungarian Dominicans built a flourishing church among the Cumans of the Russian steppes until the Mongol invasions of 1241 destroyed it.

The province of Greece and the Holy Land worked in the Latin Empire of Constantinople and in the crusader states, evangelizing Western Christians, dissident Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Mongols. Friar polemicists through their treatises and friar diplomats through their negotiations worked for the reunion of the dissidents with Rome. william of tripoli, a friar in Palestine, claimed to have baptized 1,000 Arabs, while ricoldus da Monte i Croce learned Arabic and preached to Nestorians, Jews, and Muslims in the Khanate of Persia. William's On the State of the Saracens, Ricoldo's Itinerary and Refutation of the Koran, and Burchard of Mount Sion's (fl. 1290) Description of the Holy Land, gave Europe new knowledge of Islam and the western Asiatic peoples. With the fall of the crusader states, the provinces of Greece and the Holy Land had to retreat to the islands of the Mediterranean.

The Congregation of Friars Pilgrims for Christ among the Gentiles opened a new mission phase about 1300, founding residences eastward from Pera (Constantinople) through the Black Sea area into India. Its members supplied the bishops for the ecclesiastical province of Sultanieh, erected by John XXII in 1318. Its most striking achievement was the conversion of the monks of Qrna (1331), who founded the Order of Friars Unitors of St. Gregory the Illuminator, subject to Dominican jurisdiction, to work for the cause of reunion. Great initial success, radiating from 50 monasteries, was dissipated when excessive zeal provoked a nationalistic reaction after 1380. Although Tamerlane's invasions closed the East to all but the most intrepid friars, Portuguese Dominicans heralded a new mission era when they penetrated into the heart of the Congo after 1480.

Decline and Reform. Early idealism carried Dominicans through their golden age, the 13th century. About 1290 the order began to experience a decline of fervor and relaxation of discipline. The observance of poverty had brought even earlier embarrassment. Free-will offerings and the quest for alms did not keep pace with the order's expansion of priories, personnel, and apostolate. Seeking security, priories began to sign over property offered to them by benefactors to a monastery or confraternity with the obligation of providing a regular quota of consumer goods in return. Individual friars received permission to seek funds through their own industry or from friends, first for books, later for clothing. Concurrently, strict observance, no longer buttressed by early fervor, weakened under the impact of interpretation and compromise. The Black Death, beginning in 1347, sharpened these trends and brought a widespread collapse of observance and life in common, particularly neglect of choral obligations and attendance in refectory. Unwise recruiting, looking more to numbers than to quality, compounded the damage.

Friars in Tuscany made the first attempt to bolster discipline in about 1300. Though nicknamed "spirituals," because of their similarities to the Franciscan fra ticelli, they avoided the doctrinal errors and excessive emphasis on poverty of the latter. The Black Death dissipated the strength of this movement, but its remnants supported a more official attempt at reform begun in 1369 by Stephen Lacombe (d. c. 1416), provincial of Tuscany and Italian vicar of the master general. His adherence to the Avignon Obedience when the Western Schism began in 1378 nullified his efforts. The reform then turned to (Bl.) raymond of capua, the confessor of (St.) cather ine of siena, and secured his election as master general in the Roman Obedience in 1380. With papal support he put reform on a solid footing by creating vicars of observance and founding priories where primitive observance, including that of strict poverty, was introduced.

Reformed priories were grouped in congregations of observants. The congregations of Holland and Lombardy were outstanding in influence and extent; the latter produced many saints and blesseds during the 15th century. Reform did not lead to schism in the order; although the observant congregations enjoyed considerable autonomy, Dominican emphasis on obedience kept them loyal to the master general. Strict poverty soon proved impossible even for the observants, forcing Master General Bartholomew Texier (d. 1449), an exponent of reform, to seek from Martin V, in 1425, authority to permit priories, according to need, to own possessions and fixed revenues. Sixtus IV in 1475 granted all mendicant orders, save the Franciscans, the right to own property, thus lifting the insupportable yoke of absolute poverty and aiding the Dominican revival of the 16th century. This mitigation was accompanied among the observants by a lessening of severity that prepared for a rapprochement with nonreformed Dominicans who had meanwhile tightened their discipline.

The Modern Period, 1500 to 1850. The order entered the 16th century with 22 provinces and a new strength gained when observant congregations took control of the provinces of Germany, Spain, Lombardy, Central Italy, and Holland. The decrees of the Council of Trent and of Pius V gave additional strength.

Scholarship. This vitality was especially evident in a vigorous renewal of theological studies in France, Spain, and Italy, under Peter crockaert, Francisco de vitoria, and cajetan (Tommaso de Vio). Under the impact of Protestantism, the Dominicans broadened their curriculum and concentrated education in larger houses of study. General houses of study increased until there were 27 to 1551. In addition, Thomistic studies flourished in the colleges of St. Gregory in Valladolid, 1488; St. Thomas in Seville, 1515; and the two Roman colleges—St. Thomas at the Minerva, 1577, and the Cassanata, 1700. Overseas the order opened at least 12 colleges and universities, such as San Domingo, 1538; Santa Fé de Bogotá, 1612; Manila, 1645; and Havana, 1721.

The Summa theologiae became the theological text, and great commentators—Cajetan, ferrariensis (Francesco Silvestri), and members of the Spanish school —developed the Thomistic synthesis. The participation of approximately 130 Dominican bishops and theologians at the Council of Trent made thomism an important influence in the discussions and decrees of the Council. Controversies over grace, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and probabilism, engaged the attention of Dominican theologians. Outstanding scholars appeared also in fields other than theology and philosophy: Santes pagnini and Sixtus of Siena in Biblical science, Jacques goar and Michael le Quien (1661–1733) in Oriental studies, Francis Combefis (1605–79) in patristics, Noel alexandre in history, and Nicholas coeffeteau in linguistics. Dominican historians established the general archives of the order in Rome and published the Bullarium ordinis Praedicatorum and the Scriptores ordinis Praedicatorum.

Two Dominican Popes, St. pius v (1566–72) and benedict xiii (1724–30), 41 cardinals, and more than 1,000 archbishops and bishops served the Church. By privilege Dominicans permanently held the offices of commissary of the Holy Office and Secretary of the Index (abolished in 1917). The master general and the master of the Sacred Palace are also ex officio consultors to the Holy Office.

Dominicans and the Protestant Reformation. Protestantism did great damage to the Dominican order. The provinces of Scotland, Scandinavia, and Saxony disappeared, while England, Holland, Germany, and Ireland were crippled for several centuries. Poland, Bohemia, and the four French provinces experienced great losses. At the same time, Hungary and Dalmatia suffered from the attacks of the Turks. This weakening in northern Europe concentrated Dominican strength until the 20th century in the Latin countries. Protestantism faced numerous Dominican opponents in the pulpit, in controversy, and in writing. The order ran well ahead of other Catholic defenders in point of time, numbers, and excellence of doctrine [P. Tacchi-Venturi, SJ, Storia della Compagnia di Gesù in Italia (2d ed. Rome 1950) 1.113]. In Germany "no other religious organization produced so many and such outstanding literary champions as the Order of St. Dominic" [N. Paulus, Die deutschen Dominikaner im Kampf gegen Luther, 1518–63 (Freiburg im Breisgau 1903) vi].

Expansion. Losses during the Reformation were compensated for by overseas expansion and the development of new provinces in Europe; by 1789 the provinces numbered 45. Membership had reached a peak in the 17th century, when there were an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 friars and nuns. In 1720 there were 1,200 priories and houses, and 200 monasteries. Dominicans entered America in 1510 and founded the province of the West Indies in 1530. By 1724 there were 11 provinces in the Spanish colonies and the Congregation of the Holy Cross (1551) in Portuguese possessions. Dominicans, especially Bartolomé de las casas, author of the Historia de las Indias, championed the natives against the exploitation of the Spanish settlers. St. Louis bertrand, Apostle of New Granada (1562–69) was noted for his numerous conversions, the gift of tongues, and many miracles. The Philippine province, created in 1592, evangelized in China, Formosa, Tonkin China, and Japan. These missions suffered many persecutions: Ignacio Delgado (1761–1838), Jerónimo Hermosilla (1800–61), Díaz Sanjurjo (1818–57), and their respective companions have been beatified as martyrs. The French Fathers established missions in Guadaloupe and Martinique. Italian Dominicans worked in the Near East, Mesopotamia, and Kurdistan.

Conflicts and Suppressions. The government of the order in the modern period remained structurally the same, with refinement of details, but the administration suffered greatly from political and religious changes. The Holy See, through the cardinal protector, intervened frequently in the government, forcing the resignation of two masters general—Sixtus Fabri in 1589, and Nicholas Ridolfi in 1644. After 1650, political conditions kept general chapters from convening, for the most part, except for elections to the generalship. This fact gave relatively more importance to the position of the masters general, who were obliged to govern for long periods without help from the chapters. The order lost most of its political influence in a world of absolutist rulers who had little sympathy for religious orders, though in Spain Dominicans continued to serve as royal confessors until 1700. After 1765 the courts of Vienna, Naples, and Madrid prohibited recourse to the master general. In Austria, the Sicilies, Russia, and France, the sovereigns suppressed many houses. This tyranny and the spirit of the Enlightenment impeded vocations, diminished religious fervor, and again made reform necessary.

From 1789 to 1850, a series of calamities disrupted the order's government; destroyed or weakened its priories, monasteries, and provinces; crippled its foreign missions; scattered its members; and brought it close to extinction. No general chapter convened between 1777 and 1832. Between 1790 and 1819 the houses of France, Belgium, and Germany were suppressed. In Italy only 105 of 750 houses survived. After 1808 the wars of independence destroyed most of the Latin American provinces. Suppression of the Portuguese and Spanish provinces followed in 1834 and 1837, respectively. Russia gradually smothered the Lithuanian, Russian, and Polish houses under its dominion after 1842. But the provinces of Ireland, England, Holland, Dalmatia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, the Philippines, and the U.S. continued without interruption. Of these only the Philippine province was strong in membership. In 1804 Charles IV of Spain, with papal consent, separated the provinces in his dominions from the jurisdiction of the master general, a separation that lasted legally until 1872.

Contemporary Period, 1850–1963. From 1850 the Dominican Order experienced gradual recovery. Most significant for the future was the establishment of the province of St. Joseph in the U.S. in 1805. Steady restoration began in 1850 with the reestablishment of the province of France with strict observance under the leadership of Jean Baptiste Henri lacordaire, who received the habit in 1839. Vincent Jandel, his disciple, as vicar general and then as master general (1850–72), marshaled the order's internal forces and gave the restoration consistency and strength. He established a province in the Austrian Empire in 1857 and restored the provinces of Spain and Belgium in 1860, Lyons in 1862, and Toulouse in 1865. He visited the provinces, held three important general chapters, issued new editions of the liturgical books and of the constitutions, opened new mission fields, and restored the Spanish-speaking provinces to the order's jurisdiction.

Jandel's regime was troubled by repeated persecutions of the Italian provinces during the unification of Italy. European conditions remained so disturbed that his successor, Joseph M. Larroca, had to be chosen in 1879 by the unprecedented procedure of sending ballots through the mail. The French Dominicans were expelled from France in 1881, while in Germany the friars suffered exile during the Kulturkampf under Otto von Bismarck. Nevertheless, important progress was made in the intellectual field. Dominicans became the collaborators of Leo XIII in his revival of Thomistic studies and took over the theological faculty at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. In 1890 Joseph Lagrange began his pioneer work in Biblical studies and founded St. Stephen's Biblical School (École biblique).

While French anticlerical laws kept the theological faculty of the French province in exile (in Corbora, Corsica, and then in Kain, Belgium) until 1937, it was reestablished on French soil then near Paris at Ètiolles. This faculty of theology, called "Le Saulchoir," became famous for its extraordinary output of academic production in books and periodicals and for the notable figures who taught there. All these persons, significant in Neo-Thomism, were connected to "La Saulchoir" for at least some time: Mandonnet, Gardeil, Sertillanges, Roland-Gosselin, Chenu, and Congar. In particular, this school became the center for a Dominican reading of Aquinas rooted in history, culture, and social context that would influence Dominican scholars around the world.

At the time of the Second Vatican Council, Yves congar (who would end his days as a cardinal of the Roman Church) was appointed a member of the Theological Preparatory Commission of the Council and had great influence on the preparation of several Council documents, most notably Lumen gentium. M.-D. chenu, a peritus for an African bishop, generated the idea of a "Message to the World" from the Council as it inaugurated its work. Another French Dominican, J. L. Lebret, the founder of the Center Èconomie et Humanisme (near Lyons), played an important role in the evolution of Gaudium et spes.

Progress in the 20th Century. Under the masters general of the 20th century the order continued its restoration, developing works in many new fields. Internal life gained strength from the regular convening of chapters after 1891, from the periodic visitation of the provinces, and from the splendid encyclical letters of the masters general. The foundations of Dominican life were reinforced by revisions of the liturgy (1923; 1961–65), the constitutions (1932), the rule for the Third Order (1932;1964), and by creation of the Historical Institute (1929), the Liturgical Commission (1934), and the school for the training of novice and student masters (1938).

This development took place despite suppression in France (1903), expulsion from Mexico (1910), and heavy losses during the Spanish Civil War. The two World Wars severely affected the European provinces and saw the mobilization of the friars as chaplains and soldiers. More than 100 Dominicans lost their lives in World WarII. After the war, the Communists suppressed the provinces of Hungary and Bohemia.

In the intellectual field, new norms for the curriculum of studies were published (1907; 1935; 1965). The "Angelicum," founded (1910) by Hyacinth cormier, with faculties in theology, philosophy, and Canon Law, was raised by John XXIII to university rank, March 7, 1963, under the title Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Pontifical institutes were erected also in various provinces, e.g., the pontifical faculty of theology at the House of Studies, Washington, D.C., and the pontifical philosophical faculty at River Forest, IL. The English Dominicans returned, after 400 years, to Oxford in 1929 and to Cambridge in 1939. The order has established important special institutes, such as the Instina Study Center at Paris for Russian studies and the Institute of Oriental Studies in Cairo for Islamic studies. The various provinces publish about 320 popular, cultural, and scientific periodicals and sponsor series of learned works, such as the Études bibliques and the Studia Friburgensia.

The traditional works of the order have taken diversified forms since 1919. Preaching, while continuing in the traditional forms of domestic missions and retreats, has also entered the fields of film, radio, and television. The fathers of the French, Belgian, German, and Canadian provinces have been active in the field of social action and labor. Henry Pire, the Belgian Dominican, won the Nobel prize for peace in 1958 for his humanitarian work for refugees.

In 1922 Dominicans worked in 20 mission countries; in 1957, in 40. To develop native provinces, novitiates were founded in 1951 at Hanoi in Vietnam, Sendai in Japan, and Viadana in the Congo, where 51 African novices took the habit at the inception. The rise of Communism in China interrupted the work of the Chinese missions after 1946.

The Order in the U.S.A. The story of the Dominican Friars in the United States may be divided roughly into three periods. The first period would include individual Dominican Friars who either accompanied early explorations of the North American continent, such as Pedro de Cancer, who was martyred in Florida in 1549, or came to this country on their own and ministered as individuals. The second period could be seen as beginning in the early 19th century with the efforts of Edward Dominic Fenwick, OP (1768–1832), who was born in the American colonies and educated in Europe, entering the Order there. He obtained permission to move to the United States with some companions (1804) and they were assigned by Bishop John Carroll to missions in Kentucky at Springfield near Bardstown. After considerable hardship, Fenwick (subsequently appointed Bishop of Cincinnati) and his companions were able to establish in 1828 the Province of St. Joseph (also called the Eastern Province). From this province were formed the Provinces of the Holy Name of Jesus in 1912 (Western Province), the Province of St. Albert the Great in 1939 (Central Province) and the Province of St. Martin de Porres in 1979 (Southern Province, formed from states in St. Joseph and St. Albert Provinces). Of note in the 19th century was the individual missionary work of Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli in Wisconsin and Michigan. Spanish Dominican friars ministered in New Orleans from 1903 till 1939 and in South Texas from 1925 till the present. Small numbers of Spanish Friars ministered in the Archdiocese of Miami, FL (Beticia Province) and French (Lyons Province) and French-Canadian Friars (Canadian Province) in the Diocese of Portland, ME, and Fall River, MA.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Province of St. Joseph remained relatively small (about 100 members) but during the 20th century, it experienced the general expansion of Catholic population, especially through immigration, and vocations multiplied, making a division of territory feasible. The principal ministries that characterized the Friars in the United States in this second period were parish ministry (reflecting the priorities of the American hierarchy), educational (campus ministry at secular and Catholic universities and teaching philosophy and theology in Catholic colleges and high schools) and devotional (groups of preachers who specialized in parish missions, retreats, novenas, etc.). The Province of St. Joseph continues to sponsor and staff Providence College (f. 1917) in Providence, RI, and the Province of St. Albert the Great sponsors and staffs Fenwick High School in Oak Park, IL. Foreign Missions were also established by St. Joseph Province (Pakistan and Kenya), St. Albert the Great (Nigeria and Bolivia), and Holy Name (Mexico). Each of the three provinces formed in this period also established their own studia generalis to educate and form Dominican priests. These are now located in Berkeley, CA at the Graduate Theological Union (Western Province), St. Louis, MO, at Aquinas Institute (serving both the Central and Southern Provinces) and Washington, DC (Eastern Province). In addition, each of these studia have served or continue to serve as the location for preaching formation programs or theological journals (e.g. D. Min. in Preaching at Aquinas Institute, The Thomist at Washington, DC) and other theological and philosophical programs.

The third period of Dominican history in the United States may be said to have begun with the General Chapter of 1968 in River Forest, IL. This chapter responded to the call of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65) to reform constitutions and customs to more accurately reflect the original founding charism of the particular religious order. In the case of Dominicans (officially titled "Order of Preachers"), this meant a return to a focus on preaching as the primary charism and mission of the Order. The elaborate constitutions were simplified to bring out the essential characteristics of Dominican life (prayer, study, vowed community and ministry) as ordered to the mission of preaching. The democratic governmental structure (a unique characteristic of the order from its beginning) was simplified to eliminate ex officio or privileged voting that had grown up over the centuries. A new document, The Fundamental Constitution, was added at the beginning to give voice to the basic purposes and values of the Order. The term of the Master of the Order was shortened from twelve to nine years and the unique cycle of General Chapters meeting every three years, each giving representation to either leadership or grassroots membership, was retained. In 1979, a new province (St. Martin De Porres) was established in the southern states with the hope of generating a "new birth in hope" and a renewed identity for all the provinces in the United States. During this period, the four provinces of Friars experienced, along with all other religious orders, the difficult years of adjustment following the second Vatican Council. The departure of members and the diminishment of numbers entering meant that some ministries were discontinued and others cut back. At the beginning of the third millennium a gradual increase in new membership is offering hope. A new era of collaboration with the Dominican sisters' congregations has been manifested through the Dominican Leadership Conference, representing the leaders of the provinces and congregations of Dominican men and women, and the Parable Conference of Dominican Life and Mission which sponsors retreats, pilgrimages and conferences featuring teams of Friars and Sisters and Dominican Laity. New collaborative ventures include an annual meeting of Dominican artists and a project called OPUS which is working on a comprehensive history of Dominicans in the United States.

Bibliography: a. m. walz, Compendium historiae ordinis Praedicatorum (2d ed. Rome 1948). w. r. bonniwell, A History of the Dominican Liturgy, 1215–1945 (2d ed. New York 1945). r. devas, Dominican Revival in the Nineteenth Century (London 1913). g. r. galbraith, The Constitutions of the Dominican Order, 1216–1360 (Manchester 1925). w. a. hinnebusch, Early English Friars Preachers (Rome 1951). b. jarrett, The English Dominicans, rev. and abr. w. grumbley (2d ed. London 1938). v. f. o'daniel, The Dominican Province of St. Joseph (New York 1942). d. d. c. pochin mould, The Irish Dominicans (Dublin 1957). j. b. reeves, The Dominicans (reprint, Dubuque 1959).

[w. a. hinnebusch/p. philibert/r. b. williams]