concepts
MENDICANT OR “BEGGING” orders are societies within the Roman Catholic Church whose members have by a formal vow of poverty renounced all ownership, not only individually but also in common, relying for support on their own work and on the charity of the faithful. There remain today from the Middle Ages four mendicant orders that were recognized by the Second Council of Lyons in 1274. [Source: Encyclopedia of World Poverty; Mendicant Orders]
mendicant orders
religious and secular charities