The Carmelite Web Site

The Carmelite Order Today

Since the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962 - 1965), Carmelites have reflected at length on their identity, on their charism, on what is fundamental in their lives and what is for them a "life-project", namely "to live a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ and serve him faithfully with a pure heart and a good conscience" (Rule). They found their allegiance to Christ in their commitment to seek the face of the living God (contemplative dimension), in living in fraternity and service (diakonia) in the midst of the people. They see all this in the lives of the prophet Elijah and the Blessed Virgin Mary who were led by the Spirit of God. Looking at Mary and Elijah, it is easy for the Carmelites to understand, to interiorise, to live and to announce the truth that makes a person free.

"to live a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ...."

Carmelites, conscious of being part of the Church and of history, live in a fraternity that is open to God and to people, able to listen and give an authentic response to the evangelical life according to their own charism, and they commit themselves to build the Kingdom of God wherever they are. Indeed they are committed to evangelisation in houses of prayer, centres for spiritual exercises, parishes, Marian sanctuaries, schools, religious associations; and to Justice and Peace wherever human dignity is trodden underfoot, especially among the poor, the marginalised, the suffering. To this vast and varied challenge of the Carmelite friars, one will find in close collaboration, 79 communities of cloistered nuns, 14 Congregations of sisters, 1 Lay Missionary Family, 1 Secular Institute, numerous groups of Third Order Lay members and Confraternities of the Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. All these groups, born of the Spirit throughout the centuries, and inspired by the Carmelite Rule are intimately united by the bond of love, of spirituality and of the communion of spiritual goods. They constitute the Carmelite Family in the Church.

At present the Carmelite Order (the friars) has 19 Provinces, 3 General Commissariats, 3 General Delegations, 2 Hermetical Communities and 1 Affiliated Community with a total of about 2,100 religious. They are found in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Congo, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Malta, Mexico, Mozambique, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Rumania, Spain, The Netherlands, Timor Leste, Trinidad, United States, Ukraine, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Plans are also in process to make Carmelite foundations in Slovakia, Tanzania and in Liberia.