Doctors of the Church

In today's post on Saint Catherine of Siena, I mentioned that she is a Doctor of the Church. It got me thinking that perhaps it might be good to explain a bit about who the Doctors of the Church are.

Doctors of the Church are saints (and they must be canonized saints before they can be named a Doctor of the Church) who have shown exceptional holiness and spirituality, typically on the basis of his or her writings. It's a very rare honor. There are only 33 Doctors of the Church, 3 of whom are women. The Pope names someone a Doctor if he believes they have a singular and powerful message, example, spirituality, or contribution that will benefit the whole Church.

The last saint to be named a Doctor of the Church was St. Therese of Lisieux in 1997. I believe it's extremely likely that Pope John Paul II will join their ranks one day, perhaps relatively soon. He'll have to be canonized first, of course. I think our best chance for the next female Doctor rests with St. Edith Stein, but that's just my opinion. :)

Here's an alphabetical list of the current Doctors of the Church, along with the year they were proclaimed a Doctor and the Pope who named them as such.

St. Albert - proclaimed in 1932 by Pius XI
St. Alphonsus Liguori - proclaimed in 1871 by Pius IX
St. Ambrose - proclaimed in 1298 by Boniface VIII
St. Anselm - proclaimed in 1720 by Innocent XIII
St. Anthony - proclaimed in 1946 by Pius XII
St. Athanasius - proclaimed in 1568 by Pius V
St. Augustine - proclaimed in 1298 by Boniface VIII
St. Basil - proclaimed in 1568 by Pius V
St. Bede - proclaimed in 1899 by Leo XIII
St. Bernard of Clairvaux - proclaimed in 1830 by Pius VIII
St. Bonaventure - proclaimed in 1588 by Sixtus V
St. Catherine of Siena - proclaimed in 1970 by Paul VI
St. Cyril of Alexandria - proclaimed in 1882 by Leo XIII
St. Cyril of Jerusalem - proclaimed in 1882 by Leo XIII
St. Ephraem - proclaimed in 1920 by Benedict XV
St. Francis de Sales - proclaimed in 1877 by Pius IX
St. Gregory the Great - proclaimed in 1298 by Boniface VIII
St. Gregory Nazianzus - proclaimed in 1568 by Pius V
St. Hilary - proclaimed in 1851 by Pius IX
St. Isidore of Seville - proclaimed in 1722 by Clement XI
St. Jerome - proclaimed in 1298 by Boniface VIII
St. John Chrysostom - proclaimed in 1568 by Pius V
St. John of the Cross - proclaimed in 1926 by Benedict XV
St. John Damascene - proclaimed in 1890 by Leo XIII
St. Lawrence - proclaimed in 1959 by John XXIII
St. Leo the Great - proclaimed in 1754 by Benedict XIV
St. Peter Canisius - proclaimed in 1925 by Pius XI
St. Peter Chrysologus - proclaimed in 1729 by Benedict XIII
St. Peter Damian - proclaimed in 1828 by Leo XII
St. Robert Bellarmine - proclaimed in 1931 by Pius XI
St. Teresa of Avila - proclaimed in 1970 by Paul VI
St. Therese of Lisiuex - proclaimed in 1997 by John Paul II
St. Thomas Aquinas - proclaimed in 1568 by Pius V