September 14, 2025 - "Doctors of the Church"

Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Father Ronald Lawler, O.F.M. Cap., and Thomas Comerford Lawler provide a good and succinct explanation in The Teaching of Christ:  A Catholic Catechism for Adults (4^th edition, published by Our Sunday Visitor in 1995).

 

They begin their explanation by talking about the Fathers of the Church.  They note that the patristic era (the time when the Fathers of the Church lived and wrote) is generally considered to have ended with Saint John of Damascus (d. 749) in the East, and in the West with Saint Gregoy the Great (d. 604), or Saint Isidore of Seville (d. 6363), or with Saint Bede the Venerable (d. 735).

 

In 1295 Pope Boniface VIII declared that he wished Saints Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Jerome (all Fathers of the Church) to be known as “outstanding teachers (doctors) of the Church.” These four are also called “the great Fathers of the Church.” The four “great Fathers of the East,” who were designated Doctors of the Church in 1568, are Saint Athanasius, Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (also called in the East Saint Gregory the Theologian), and Saint John Chrysostom.

 

Although some Fathers of the Church are also Doctors of the Church, “antiquity” is not necessary for someone to be declared a Doctor of the Church. In addition to orthodoxy of doctrine and holiness of life, Doctors of the Church are recognized for the eminence of their learning and the excellence of their teaching. A further requirement is explicit proclamation as a Doctor of the Church by a pope or general council.

 

An interesting story connected with the naming of Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman as a Doctor of the Church was recently told by Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham (England)—a city in which Cardinal Newman lived for many years and the city where he died in 1890.  Every two years the Catholic bishops of England and Wales and the Anglican bishops of the Church of England and the Church in Wales have a regular meeting where they pray together and discuss topics of common interest.  In their meeting held at Norwich in January 2024, they had a presentation and a discussion on Saint John Henry Newman, as a saint who lived part of his life in the Church of England and part of his life in the Roman Catholic Church.  The Anglican Archbishops of Canterbury and York approached Vincent Cardinal Nichols, Catholic Archbishop of Westminster after the Catholic bishops shared with the Anglican bishops about how various conferences of Catholic bishops were writing to Rome to support for Cardinal Newman to be recognized as a Doctor of the Church.  The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York asked Cardinal Nichols if they, too, could write to the Holy Father to support this request.  Cardinal Nichols assisted them in that, and they wrote a letter to Pope Francis via the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.  Their joint letter forms part of the official documentation which makes the case for Newman’s recognition as a Doctor of the Church.  That date has yet to be announced, so stay tuned!

 

Until next week, Fr. John