Editing Friar (section)

{{About|members of religious and great orders|the surname|Fryer (surname)|and|Fryar|other uses|Friar (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Frays|other uses|Fray (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Fra|other uses|FRA (disambiguation)}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2010}} 
{{short description|Member of a mendicant Christian order}}
[[File: Agustinos Recoletos.jpg|thumb|upright|A group of friars; novices of the Order of [[Augustinian Recollects]] at the Monastery of [[Monteagudo, Navarre|Monteagudo]] in 2006]]
A '''friar''' is a member of one of the [[mendicant orders]] in the [[Catholic Church]]. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the [[Anglican Communion]]. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a [[superior general]], from the older [[monastic orders]]' allegiance to a single [[monastery]] formalized by their vow of stability. A friar may be in [[holy orders]] or be a non-ordained [[Brother (Christian)|brother]]. The most significant orders of friars are the [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], [[Franciscans]], [[Augustinians]], and [[Carmelites]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Stravinskas |editor-first=Peter M.J. |title=Catholic Dictionary, Revised |publisher=Our Friday Visitor |date=2002 |location=Huntington, IN |isbn=978-0879733902}}</ref>