Doctors of the Church
General Information
The Roman Catholic Church recognizes 30 men and 3 women
as pre-eminent theologians, people from whom all
Catholics can confidently learn from. Originally, there were
four Doctors (of the Catholic or Western Church),
first named in 1298 AD:
- Ambrose (ca. 340-397) Bishop of Milan
- Jerome (ca. 342-420) monastery head
- Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo
- Gregory I (the Great) (ca.540-604) Pope
Later, four corresponding Doctors of the Eastern (Orthodox)
Church were named, in 1568 AD:
- Athanasius (ca. 297-373) Bishop of Alexandria
- Basil the Great (329-379) Cappadocian
- John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407) Patriarch of Constantinople
- Gregory Nazianzen (329-389) Cappadocian
No women were included in this list until 1970 AD.
Here is the entire list of the current 33 Doctors of the Church,
in approximate chronological order.
- Athanasius (ca. 297-373) Bishop of Alexandria
- Hilary of Poitiers (ca. 315-368) Bishop of Poitiers
- Ephraem (ca. 306-373) Deacon of Edessa
- Basil the Great (329-379) Cappadocian
- Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 315-386) Bishop of Jerusalem
- Gregory Nazianzen (329-389) Cappadocian
- Ambrose (ca. 340-397) Bishop of Milan
- John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407) Patriarch of Constantinople
- Jerome (ca. 342-420) monastery head
- Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo
-
- Cyril of Alexandria (ca. 376-444) Patriarch of Alexandria
- Peter Chrysologus (ca. 406-450) Bishop of Ravenna
- Leo I (the Great) (ca. 400-461) Pope
- Gregory I (the Great) (ca.540-604) Pope
- Isidore of Seville (560-636) Bishop of Seville
- Venerable Bede (ca.672-735) monk
- John Damsacene (ca.675-749) monk
- Peter Damian (1001-1072) Benedictine
- Anselm (1033-1109) Archbishop of Canterbury
- Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Cistercian
-
- Thomas Aquinas (1125-1174) Dominican
- Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Franciscan
- Bonaventure (1221-1274) Franciscan
- Albert the Great (Albert Magnus) (ca.1206-1280) Dominican
- Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)Dominican
- Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) Discalced Carmelite
- John of the Cross (1542-1591) Discalced Carmelite
- Peter Canasius (1521-1597) Jesuit
- Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619) Capuchin
- Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) Jesuit
-
- Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Bishop of Geneva
- Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Redemptorist
- Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897) Carmelite
The individual articles presented here were generally first published
in the early 1980s. This subject presentation was first placed
on the Internet in December 1997.
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