Doctors of the Church

Under construction…

You can find a complete list of the Doctors of the Catholic Church Homepage and additional information at New Advent (.com) at Home > Fathers of the Church and find a thorough list of writings of the Church Fathers that should include compositions by most (if not all) of the Doctors of the Church listed below by name, or you can go to the Christian Classics Ethereal Library of Calvin College at www.ccel.org/index/author-A.html to do the same.

As for the title “Doctor of the Church”, it is accorded by the Church of certain saints to indicate that their writings are profoundly useful to Christians “in any age of the Church.”  They are especially known for their depth of understanding and orthodoxy of theological teachings in sublime recognition that they were beyond doubt, inspired by the Holy Ghost.

There are currently 35 Church Doctors and they are…

Name:                                         Date:       Designated by:

St. Athanasius                         296 – 373     Pope Pius V in 1568
St. Ephraem the Syrian         306 – 373     Benedict XV on October 5, 1920
St. Hilary of Poitiers               315 – 367     Pius IX on May 13, 1851
St. Cyril of Jerusalem             315 – 386     Leo XIII on July 28, 1882
St. Gregory of Nazianzus       325 – 389     Pius V in 1568
St. Basil the Great                   329 – 379     Pius V in 1568
St. Ambrose                             339 – 397     Boniface VIII on September 20, 1295
St. John Chrysostom              347 – 407     Pius V in 1568
St. Jerome                                347 – 419     Boniface XIII on September 20, 1295
St. Augustine                           354 – 430     Boniface XIII on September 20, 1295
St. Cyril of Alexandria            376 – 444     Leo XIII on July 28, 1882
St. Peter Chrysologus            400 – 450     Benedict XIII on February 10, 1729
St. Leo the Great                    400 – 461     Benedict XIV on October 15, 1754
St. Gregory the Great            540 – 604     Boniface XIII on September 20, 1295
St. Isidore of Seville                560 – 636     Innocent XIII on April 25, 1722
St. John of Damascus              645 – 749     Leo XIII on August 19, 1890
St. Bede the Venerable           672 – 735     Leo XIII on November 13, 1899
St. Peter Damian                   1007 – 1072   Leo XII on September 27, 1828
St. Anselm                              1033 – 1109   Clement XI on February 3, 1720
St. Bernard of Clairvaux       1090 – 1153   Pius VIII on August 20, 1830
St. Anthony of Padua            1195 – 1231    Pius XII on January 16, 1946
St. Albert the Great              1206 – 1280   Pius XI on December 16, 1931
St. Bonaventure                     1221 – 1274    Sixtus V on March 14, 1588
St. Thomas Aquinas              1226 – 1274    Pius V on April 11, 1567
St. Catherine of Siena            1347 – 1380   Paul VI on October 4, 1970
St. Teresa of Avila                 1515 – 1582    Paul VI on September 27, 1970
St. Peter Canisius                  1521 – 1597    Pius XI on May 21, 1925
St. John of the Cross             1542 – 1591    Pius XI on August 24, 1926
St. Robert Bellarmine           1542 – 1621    Pius XI on September 17, 1931
St. Lawrence of Brindisi       1559 – 1619    John XXIII on March 19, 1959
St. Francis de Sales               1567 – 1622    Pius IX on November 16, 1871
St. Alphonsus de Ligouri      1696 – 1787    Pius IX on July 7, 1871
St. Thérèse of Lisieux           1873 – 1897    John Paul II on October 19, 1997
St. John of Avila                    1499 – 1569    Pope Benedict XVI on August 20, 2011
St. Hildegard of Bingen        1098 – 1179    Pope Benedict XVI on October 7, 2012