Doctor of the Church

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In Catholicism, a Doctor of the Church (Lat. docere, to teach) is a theologian from whose teachings the whole Christian Church is held to have derived great advantage and to whom "eminent learning" and "great sanctity" have been attributed by a proclamation of the Pope or of an ecumenical council. This honor is given rarely, only posthumously, and only after canonization or beatification. No ecumenical council has yet exercised the prerogative of proclaiming a Doctor of the Church.

Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and Pope Gregory I were the original Doctors of the Church and were named in 1298.

The Doctors' works vary greatly in subject and form. Some, such as Pope Gregory I and Ambrose were prominent writers of letters and short treatises. Catherine of Siena and John of the Cross wrote mystical theology. Augustine and Bellarmine defended the Church against heresy. Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People provides the best information on England in the early middle ages. Systematic theologians include the Scholastic philosophers Anselm, Albertus Magnus, and Thomas Aquinas (Aquinas is also seen as one of the most significant Medieval thinkers of Western Europe).

Until 1970, no woman had been named a Doctor of the Church, but since then all three additions to the list have been of women saints.

The Catholic Church has to date named 33 Doctors of the Church. Of these, the 17 who died before the formal disunion of the Eastern and Western Churches in 1054 are also venerated by the Eastern Orthodox Church.

[edit] List of Doctors of the Church

Name	Born	Died	Promoted	Nationality	Activity
St. Gregory the Great*	ca.540	March 12, 604	1298	Italian	Pope
St. Ambrose*	ca. 340	April 4, 397	1298	Italian	Bishop of Milan
St. Augustine, Doctor Gratiae*	November 13, 354	August 28, 430	1298	North African	Bishop of Hippo
St. Jerome*	ca.347	September 30, 420	1298	Dalmatian	Monk in Bethlehem
St. John Chrysostom*	347	407	1568	Syrian	Patriarch of Constantinople
St. Basil*	330	January 1, 379	1568	Anatolian	Bishop of Caesarea
St. Gregory Nazianzus*	329	January 25, 389	1568	Anatolian	Patriarch of Constantinople
St. Athanasius*	298	May 2, 373	1568	Anatolian	Patriarch of Alexandria
St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor Angelicus	1225	March 7, 1274	1568	Italian	O.P.
St. Bonaventure, Doctor Seraphicus	1221	July 15, 1274	1588	Italian	O.F.M.
St. Anselm, Doctor Magnificus	1033 or 1034	April 21, 1109	1720	Italian–English	Archbishop of Canterbury
St. Isidore*	560	April 4, 636	1722	Visigothic	Bishop of Seville
St. Peter Chrysologus*	406	450	1729	Italian	Archbishop of Ravenna
St. Leo the Great*	400	November 10, 461	1754	Italian	Pope
St. Peter Damian	1007	February 21/22,1072	1828	Italian	Dean of the College of Cardinals
St. Bernard, Doctor Mellifluus	1090	August 21, 1153	1830	French	O.Cist.
St. Hilary of Poitiers*	300	367	1851	French	Bishop of Poitiers
St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor Zelantissimus	September 27, 1696	August 1, 1787	1871	Italian	Bishop of Sant'Agata de' Goti, C.S.S.R. (Founder)
St. Francis de Sales	August 21, 1567	December 28, 1622	1877	French	Bishop of Geneve
St. Cyril of Alexandria, Doctor Incarnationis*	376	June 27, 444	1883	Egyptian	Patriarch of Alexandria
St. Cyril of Jerusalem*	315	386	1883		Bishop of Jerusalem
St. John Damascene*	676	December 5, 749	1883	Syrian	Monk
St. Bede the Venerable*	672	May 27, 735	1899	Anglo-Saxon (English)	Monk
St. Ephraem*	306	373	1920	Syrian	Monk
St. Peter Canisius	May 8, 1521	December 21, 1597	1925	Dutch	S.J.
St. John of the Cross, Doctor Mysticus	June 24, 1542	December 14, 1591	1926	Spanish	Mystic, O.C.D. (Founder)
St. Robert Bellarmine	October 4, 1542	September 17, 1621	1931	Italian	Cardinal, S.J.
St. Albertus Magnus, Doctor Universalis	1193	November 15, 1280	1931	German	O.P.
St. Anthony of Padua and Lisbon, Doctor Evangelicus	August 15, 1195	June 13, 1231	1946	Portuguese	O.F.M.
St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Doctor Apostolicus	July 22, 1559	July 22, 1619	1959	Italian	Apostolic Nuncio, OFM Cap
St. Teresa of Ávila	March 28, 1515	October 4, 1582	1970	Spanish	Mystic, O.C.D. (Founder)
St. Catherine of Siena	March 25, 1347	April 29, 1380	1970	Italian	Mystic, O.P.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux	January 2, 1873	September 30, 1897	1997	French	O.C.D.