Doctor of the Church - Definition and Overview

In Roman Catholicism, a Doctor of the Church 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 very rarely, only posthumously and only after canonization. No ecumenical council has yet exercised its prerogative of proclaiming a Doctor of the Church.

The Catholic Church lists the following thirty-three Doctors of the Church; date of promotion to Doctor is listed, if available. Note that the use of the term Eastern Orthodox here indicates that the Saint in question was from Eastern Orthodoxy, but the Eastern Orthodox Church itself does not use the term Doctor of the Church.

• St. Gregory the Great
• St. Ambrose (circa 340 - April 4, 397)
• St. Augustine
• St. Jerome
• St. John Chrysostom (Eastern Orthodox)
• St. Basil (Eastern Orthodox)
• St. Gregory Nazianzus (Eastern Orthodox)
• St. Athanasius (Eastern Orthodox)
• St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 - March 7 1274) - 1568
• St. Bonaventure - 1588
• Saint Anselm (1033 or 1034 - April 21, 1109) - 1720
• St. Isidore (560 - April 4, 636) - 1722
• St. Peter Chrysologus - 1729
• St. Leo the Great - 1754
• St. Peter Damian - 1828
• St. Bernard - (1090 - August 21, 1153) 1830
• St. Hilary of Poitiers - 1851
• St. Alphonsus Liguori - 1871
• St. Francis de Sales - (1567 - 1622) 1877
• St. Cyril of Alexandria (376 - 444) - 1883 (Eastern Orthodox)
• St. Cyril of Jerusalem - 1883 (Eastern Orthodox)
• St. John Damascene - 1883 (Eastern Orthodox)
• The Venerable Bede - (672 - 735) 1899
• St. Ephraem - 1920 (Orthodox)
• St. Peter Canisius - 1925
• St. John of the Cross - 1926
• St. Robert Bellarmine - 1931
• St. Albertus Magnus - 1931
• St. Anthony of Padua - 1946
• St. Lawrence of Brindisi - 1959
• St. Teresa of Avila - 1970
• St. Catherine of Siena - 1970
• St. Therese of Lisieux - 1997