Doctor of the Church (Latin:doctor "teacher"), also referred to asDoctor of the Universal Church (Latin:Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis), is a title given by theCatholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine through their research, study, or writing.[1]
As of 2025[update], the Catholic Church has named 38 Doctors of the Church. Of these, the 18 who died before theGreat Schism of 1054 are also held in high esteem by theEastern Orthodox Church, although it does not use the formal titleDoctor of the Church.
Among the 38 recognised Doctors, 29 are from the West and nine from the East; four are women and thirty-four are men; one is an abbess, three are nuns, and one is a tertiary associated with a religious order; two are popes, 19 are bishops, thirteen are priests, and one is a deacon; and 28 are from Europe, three are from Africa, and seven are from Asia. More Doctors (twelve) lived in the fourth century than any other; eminent Christian writers of the first, second, and third centuries are usually referred to as theAnte-Nicene Fathers. The shortest period between death and nomination was that ofAlphonsus Liguori, who died in 1787 and was named a Doctor in 1871 – a period of 84 years; the longest was that ofIrenaeus, which took more than eighteen centuries.
Some other churches have similar categories with various names.
In theWestern church four outstanding "Fathers of the Church" attained this honour in the early Middle Ages:Gregory the Great,Ambrose,Augustine of Hippo, andJerome. The "four Doctors" became a commonplace notion amongscholastic theologians, and a decree ofBoniface VIII (1298) ordering their feasts to be kept asdoubles throughout the Latin Church is contained in his sixth book of Decretals (cap. "Gloriosus", de relique. et vener. sanctorum, in Sexto, III, 22).[2]
In theByzantine Church, three Doctors were pre-eminent:John Chrysostom,Basil the Great, andGregory of Nazianzus. The feasts of these three saints were made obligatory throughout the Eastern Empire byLeo VI the Wise. A common feast was later instituted in their honour on 30 January, called "the feast of thethree Hierarchs". In the Menaea for that day it is related that the three Doctors appeared in a dream toJohn Mauropous, Bishop ofEuchaita, and commanded him to institute a festival in their honour, in order to put a stop to the rivalries of their votaries and panegyrists.[2]
This was underAlexius Comnenus (1081–1118; see "Acta SS.", 14 June, under St. Basil, c. xxxviii). But sermons for the feast are attributed in manuscripts toCosmas Vestitor, who flourished in the tenth century. The three are as common in Eastern art as the four are in Western.Durandus (i, 3) remarks that Doctors should be represented with books in their hands. In the West analogy led to the veneration of four Eastern Doctors,Athanasius of Alexandria being added to the three hierarchs.[2]
To these names others have subsequently been added. The requisite conditions are enumerated as three:eminens doctrina,insignis vitae sanctitas,Ecclesiae declaratio (i.e. eminent learning, a high degree of sanctity, and proclamation by the church).Benedict XIV explains the third as a declaration by thesupreme pontiff or by ageneral council.[2]
The decree is issued by theDicastery for the Causes of Saints and approved by the pope, after a careful examination, if necessary, of the saint's writings. It is not anex cathedra decision, nor does it amount to a declaration that no error is to be found in the teaching of the Doctor. Doctors of the Church are not considered wholly immune from error. Previously, nomartyrs were on the list, since the Office and the Mass had been forConfessors. Hence, as Benedict XIV pointed out during his pontificate,Ignatius of Antioch,Irenaeus of Lyons, andCyprian of Carthage were not called Doctors of the Church.[2] This changed in 2022 when Pope Francis declared Irenaeus of Lyons the first martyred Doctor.
Traditionally, in theLiturgy, the Office of Doctors was distinguished from that ofConfessors by two changes: the Gospel readingVos estis sal terrae ("You are the salt of the earth"), Matthew 5:13–19, and the eighth Respond at Matins, from Ecclesiasticus 15:5,In medio Ecclesiae aperuit os ejus, * Et implevit eum Deus spiritu sapientiae et intellectus. * Jucunditatem et exsultationem thesaurizavit super eum. ("In the midst of the Church he opened his mouth, * And God filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding. * He heaped upon him a treasure of joy and gladness.") TheNicene Creed was also recited at Mass, which is normally not said except on Sundays and the highest-ranking feast days. The 1962 revisions to the Missal dropped the Creed from feasts of Doctors and abolished the title and the Common of Confessors, instituting a distinct Common of Doctors.[citation needed]
On 20 August 2011,Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would soon declareJohn of Ávila a Doctor of the Church.[7] It was also reported in December 2011 that Pope Benedict intended to declareHildegard of Bingen as a Doctor of the Church, though she had not yet been canonized.[8] Pope Benedict XVI declared Hildegard of Bingen a saint on 10 May 2012, clearing the way for her to be named a Doctor of the Church,[9] then declared both John of Ávila and Hildegard of Bingen Doctors of the Church on 7 October 2012.[10]
Pope Francis declared the 10th-century Armenian monkGregory of Narek the 36th Doctor of the Church on 21 February 2015.[11] The decision was somewhat controversial, as Gregory was a monk of theArmenian Apostolic Church, anon-Chalcedonian church that was not in communion with the Catholic Church during Gregory's life and has sometimes been described asmonophysite. However, the Armenian Apostolic Church does not accept monophysitism, and in 1996, PopeJohn Paul II andCatholicosKarekin I, patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, signed a joint declaration which said that the division between the two churches was due to historical misunderstandings, not a real difference in Christology. Further, Gregory had been recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church since it received theArmenian Catholic Church into full communion.[12]
On 31 July 2025, a statement from the Holy See Press Office reported that during an audience granted to Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints,Pope Leo XIV had "confirmed the affirmative opinion of the Plenary Session of Cardinals and Bishops, Members of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, regarding the title of Doctor of the Universal Church, which will soon be conferred on SaintJohn Henry Newman."[13] In November 2023, theUSCCB had voted to support a petition by theCatholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales for the Vatican to name John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church.[14] The epithetDoctor amicitiae (Doctor ofFriendship) has been suggested for him.[15]
In October 2018, on the occasion of the canonization ofOscar Romero, martyred Archbishop ofSan Salvador,José Luis Escobar Alas, the current Archbishop of San Salvador, petitioned Pope Francis to name Romero a Doctor of the Church.[26]
In October 2019, the Polish Catholic Bishops Conference formally petitioned Pope Francis to consider makingPope John Paul II a Doctor of the Church in an official proclamation, in recognition of his contributions to theology, philosophy, and Catholic literature, as well as the formal documents of his papacy.[27]
In April 2024, during a private audience Pope Francis received a formal request from thesuperior general of theDiscalced Carmelites, Miguel Márquez Calle, to declareTeresa Benedicta of the Cross a Doctor of the Church. The Discalced Carmelites first launched an international commission to gather the necessary documentation required for the declaration in 2022, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of her conversion to Catholicism and the 80th anniversary of her martyrdom.[31]
Though not named Doctors of the Church or even canonized, many of the more celebrated doctors of theology and law of the Middle Ages were given an epithet which expressed the nature of their expertise. Among these are Bl.John Duns Scotus,Doctor subtilis ("subtle doctor");Alexander of Hales,Doctor irrefragabilis ("unanswerable doctor");Roger Bacon,Doctor mirabilis ("wondrous doctor");William of Ockham,Doctor singularis et invincibilis ("valuable and invincible doctor");Jean Gerson,Doctor christianissimus ("most Christian doctor"); andFrancisco Suárez,Doctor eximius ("exceptional doctor").[36]
The churches of theAnglican Communion tend not to use the termDoctor of the Church in their calendars of saints, preferring expressions such as "Teacher of the Faith". Those thus recognized include figures from before and after the Reformation, most of whom are chosen among those already recognized as in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Those designated as Teachers of the Faith in theChurch of England'scalendar of saints are as follows:
Since all of the above appear in the calendar at the level ofLesser Festival orCommemoration, their celebration is optional. Similarly, because "In the Calendar of the Saints, diocesan and other local provision may be made to supplement the national Calendar",[53] those Doctors of the Church recognized by the Catholic Church may also be celebrated in the Church of England.
TheLutheran calendar of saints generally does not use the termDoctor of the Church. Instead, it uses the termConfessor to commemorate individuals who made important theological contributions to the faith through their writing or teaching, as well as those who publicly defended and promoted the faith. The calendar of theLutheran Church–Missouri Synod lists the following figures as Confessors:[54]
^William of Malmesbury,Gesta pontificum Anglorum 1.29Hamilton, N.E.S.A. (1870).Willelmi Malmesbiriensis Monachi De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum libri quinque (in Latin). London: Longman. p. 44.
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