The Order of Preachers, whose members are known as Dominicans, (, postnominal abbreviation OP), is a mendicant order of the Catholic Church founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest Saint Dominic. It was approved by Pope Honorius III via the Papal bull "Religiosam vitam" on 22 December 1216. Members of the order, who are referred to as "Dominicans", generally carry the letters "OP" 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).