The Curt Jester links to Fr. Powell’s excellent post on the differences between a parish priest and a priest of a religious order. I actually didn’t know there was a difference in vows:
In the Catholic Church there are two kinds of priests: religious and diocesan. The primary canonical difference between the two is based on who serves as an immediate ecclesial superior. For RP’s the immediate ecclesial superior is the local prior, abbot, or major superior; that is, a member of that priest’s order/monastery who exercises canonical authority in virtue of holding an office within the order/monastery. My immediate ecclesial superior is the prior of this convent. For DP’s, the immediate ecclesial superior is always the bishop of the priest’s diocese.
Very informative and worth reading.
