The Regular Third Orders in the Austrian Eastern Galicia at the beginning of the 20 th century

Abstract

The general characteristics of the structure, main centers and activities of the regular
Third Orders of the Roman Catholic Church in Eastern Galicia as a part of Austria-Hungary
are described. It is concluded that during this period in the Austrian part of Habsburg
monarchy (Cisleithania) the Regular Third Orders had more than five hundred houses, with almost five thousand inhabitants. The vast majority of tertiaries were women. Among them
the representatives of different branches of the Franciscan Order noticeably dominated
quantitatively, but the Servites, Dominicans, Carmelites and some others were also quite
numerous. At that time there were at least 29 houses with 228 regular tertiaries, mostly
Franciscan on the territory of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv. The main areas of their work
were the schooling and education of children and youth, nursing, social care of the poor and
other charitable activities.
Keywords: Third Order, Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Galicia, Trinitarians, lay
structures