The Order of Preachers (Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum, postnominal abbreviation O.P.), also known as the Dominican Order, is a mendicant Catholic religious order founded by the Spanish priest Saint Dominic de Guzman in France, approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216. Members of the order, who are referred to as Dominicans, generally carry the letters O.P. after their names, standing for Ordinis Praedicatorum, meaning of the Order of Preachers. Membership in the order includes friars, nuns, active sisters, and affiliated lay or secular Dominicans (formerly known as tertiaries, though recently there has been a growing number of associates who are unrelated to the tertiaries).