My high school was run almost entirely by Benedictine monks, and was situated on the grounds of the abbey[sup]*[/sup]. They have an area called a cloister where non-monks were not generally allowed, but they aren’t “cloistered” in the sense referenced by tomndebb: They’re allowed and encouraged to mingle with the rest of society, and several of them are parish priests (in addition to many of them teaching at the school, of course). Incidentally, if there’s a Benedictine monastery near you, it’ll be easy to find: They’re always built on the highest hill in the area, symbolic of the teaching that Christians should be like a city on a hilltop, providing an example to others.
*An abbey is a monestary run by an abbot; non-abbey monestaries are run by a prior. An abbot is almost equivalent to a bishop, in the church heirarchy, being allowed to administer confirmations and (I think) holy orders.
Sez yoo, Rome Guy. For us Orthodox, a Monk is any man under monastic vows, whether or not they live in a monastary. (A Nun is any woman under monastic vows, wherever she might live.) A Monk who is also a Priest can be known as a “Priest-Monk”. Also, for many centuries, Orthodox Bishops are required to be Monks. In part, this is to ensure that the “white” Clergy (married priests–can’t be monks, since sexual abstinence is mandatory for monks and nuns) and the “black” Clergy (Monks) must interact at some level. Second, it prevents the possibility of hereditary Episcopates.