Church, Doctors of the
Church, Doctors of the
Writers who received this title from the Church , owing to their eminence in theology and holiness. They are extolled by the Church not primarily as witnesses of her faith (as are the Fathers), but on account of their brilliant exposition and skilful defense of Catholic doctrine. Unlike the titles of Doctor subtilis, Doctor resolutissimus, Doctor irrefragabilis, which enthusiastic scholars of the Middle Ages bestowed on renowned professors, this title is official. The first to confer it was Pope Boniface VIII , who in 1295 declared four Fathers the great Doctors of the Latin Church: Saint Ambrose , Saint Augustine , Saint Jerome , Saint Gregory the Great. The next to be declared a Doctor was Saint Thomas Aquinas in 1567 . Since then more than twenty renowned theologians, all of them canonized saints, have received the same seal of approval, either from some pope or from the Sacred Congregation of Rites; the latest are Saint Peter Canisius and Saint John of the Cross, who received this honor from Pius XI. Owing to their title, the Doctors of the Church enjoy a special authority in the Church , though not all in the same degree nor in the same manner. As a rule, the range and degree of their authority are set forth in the decree by which the title is conferred. Thus Saint Alphonsus of Liguori is recommended to theologians as master of moral theology, Saint Jerome as biblical scholar, Saint Bonaventure as eminent in scholastic theology. Still, their writings are not therey pronounced infallible throughout, but they are proposed as safe guides, so that their doctrines are to be preferred unless solid reasons favor the opposite.
The following are Doctors of the Church:
Albertus Magnus
Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
Ambrose of Milan
Anselm of Canterbury
Anthony of Padua
Athanasius
Augustine of Hippo
Basil the Great
Bede the Venerable
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bonaventure
Catherine of Siena
Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Jerusalem
Ephrem of Syria
Francis of Sales
Gregory Nanzianzen
Gregory the Great
Hilary of Poitiers
Isidore
Jerome
John Chrystostom
John Damascene
John of the Cross
Lawrence of Brindisi
Leo the Great
Peter Canisius
Peter Chrysologus
Peter Damian
Robert Bellarmine
Teresa of Avila
Therese of Lisieux
Thomas Aquinas
New Catholic Dictionary