Info on Consecrated Religious

[Number 81]

I've been looking at Married Life (most likely not for me) Single life (Maybe) and Priesthood (Possibly), but I haven't given much thought to consecrated religious. I just had some questions:
Consecrated Religious basically includes Monks and Friars right? I know Monks belong to the Benedictine order, and Friars are the Franciscans, and thats about it...
Questions:
What does the Benedictine order teach?
What does the Franciscan order teach?
Are there any other notable orders of consecrated religious?
I know Friars or Monks and eventually become priests. If they become a monk, and go through all the training, do they need to go the full several years at Seminary to become a priest, or is some of the seminary time covered by the studies to become a friar or monk?

 

[DedicatedLittleFaith]

I am a very close friend of a Franciscan community. Very warm people. They have a website. The main site is French however, but they do have basic info in English. Here is the link:

http://www.franciscain.org/pages/english/becoming_franciscan.html

God Bless

 

[outhwaar]

There are a lot of religious orders, each with its own charism. The Franciscan friars (of which there are several branches) place an emphasis on spiritual poverty. The Dominicans are also friars, and have historically been known as great preachers. The Benedictine monks have many branches also (Cistercians, Trappists, etc.). As I understand it, they place a great emphasis on humility, and a life devoted to work and prayer. There are many others. Check out http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/country/xrel.html

Not all religious brothers become priests, or desire to do so. The call to religious life and the call to priesthood are separate vocations. While it is true that many consecrated religious men are priests, there is certainly no necessary connection between the two. I know a couple of Franciscan friars who quite happily go about their business, and have no interest in the priesthood.