Trinitarians

The Trinitarians, formally the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives, are a mendicant order of the Catholic Church for men founded at Cerfroid, outside Paris, in the late twelfth century by John of Matha and Felix of Valois, with Pope Innocent III granting the order and its rule approval on 17 December 1198. The order's primary mission centered on ransoming Christian captives held by Muslims, a consequence of crusading and piracy along the Mediterranean coast of Europe, complemented by a special devotion to the Holy Trinity. As of 2018 the order had 610 members, including 415 priests, with headquarters at the Basilica of San Crisogono in Rome.