What Doctors of the Church are – and why they exist

If you like, John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was accepted into a very exclusive circle. The English theologian and priest, who converted from the Anglican to the Catholic Church, was made a cardinal and canonised in 2019, was officially named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIV on 1 November. This is not an everyday honour for an important theologian. Newman - with him there will be 38 - is one of a number of men and women who have had a major influence on the theology and thinking of the Church, primarily through their writings.

The title "Doctor Ecclesiae" (Latin for "Teacher of the Church") originated in the Middle Ages. Although figures such as Augustine of Hippo and Gregory the Great were regarded as authoritative authorities of the faith early on, it was not until Pope Boniface VIII in 1295 that the four "great church fathers of the West" - Augustine, Gregory, Jerome and Ambrose - were officially recognised as Doctors of the Church.

West and East

It was only much later, during the Counter-Reformation in the 16th century, that the great figures of the theological history of the Eastern Church were added to the ranks: Athanasius the Great, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and Gregory of Nazianzus. These were joined by figures from the Middle Ages such as Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure and Bernard of Clairvaux, as well as (late) ancient theologians such as Peter Chrysologus, Leo the Great and Isidore of Seville.

What they all have in common: Their writings formed the backbone of theological education for centuries and shaped the intellectual profile of Catholicism. The time in which they lived determines whether Doctors of the Church are also considered Fathers of the Church.The period of the Church Fathers usually endswith late antiquity. For example, in addition to the four "great ones", the aforementioned Leo the Great and Isidore of Seville are among them.

The Church awards the title of Doctor of the Church according to certain criteria and does so extremely sparingly. The focus is not primarily on the historical greatness of the person in question, but on the lasting relevance of their thought. The person's orthodoxy must be proven as well as an "outstanding teaching" and a "high degree of holiness". After examination by the canonisation dicastery, the Pope appoints the person as a Doctor of the Church, usually by decree and as part of a solemn ceremony. The decision is made in a lengthy process. Theologians, bishops' conferences or entire religious orders can submit proposals.

For a long time, the circle of Doctors of the Church was considered a purely male domain. This only changed in the 20th century. Pope Paul VI appointed Teresa of Ávila and Catherine of Siena as Doctors of the Church for the first time in 1970. A step that made it clear that mystical and existential-spiritual experiences also have theological significance - and not just academic-systematic treatises.

Since then, the number of female Doctors of the Church has slowly grown. In 1997, Thérèse of Lisieux was included in the series and finally Hildegard of Bingen in 2012 - the latter almost 900 years after her death. In her work, the German Benedictine nun combined theology, natural history, music and vision to create her very own form of creation spirituality. Her writings on the "wholesome order" of the world and her criticism of ecclesiastical self-sufficiency make her still relevant today. By appointing Hildegard, the church honoured a woman who combined intellectual acuity, mystical depth and prophetic courage.

Formative figures in moments of crisis

Over the centuries, the Doctors of the Church have often been influential figures in moments of crisis: Augustine, for example, in the debates about grace and freedom, Thomas Aquinas in the dialogue between faith and reason, Francis de Sales with his spirituality suitable for everyday life in the early modern era. Doctors of the Church are therefore not only theological points of reference, but also markers of which themes and figures of thought the Church wishes to emphasise at a particular time.

As much as the appointment of a Doctor of the Church is a theological honour, it rarely remains completely free of ecclesiastical political motives. Time and again, such decisions also reflect internal shifts of emphasis in the Catholic Church. When Pope Pius XI honoured Albertus Magnus in 1931, for example, it was not only to honour a medieval polymath, but also to emphasise the connection between faith and science - an issue that was hotly contested in the modernism controversy of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Even the recent appointment of John Henry Newman can be read as a sign of church politics: His thinking on conscience, education and the development of church doctrine stands for a church that engages with modernity without conforming to it. At a time when questions of reform within the church and how to deal with plurality are once again the subject of intense debate, Newman's voice is both unifying and cautionary.

Today, the list of Doctors of the Church covers an impressive range: from the first theologians of the early church to scholastics, mystics and modern thinkers. They form a panorama of Catholic intellectual history - and at the same time a reflection of the diversity of ecclesiastical experience.

The last to date

The most recent appointment to the title of Doctor of the Church is still relatively recent: Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 135-c. 200), who is also considered a Father of the Church, was awarded the title in January 2022. He was a "spiritual and theological bridge between Eastern and Western Christians" and worked for peace and reconciliation, wrote the then Pope Francis (2013-2023) in his explanatory statement. Irenaeus' debate with the teachings of the Gnostics, who denied the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ, was particularly influential.

If the Polish Bishops' Conference has its way, Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) will also receive the title in the near future. The Polish bishops approached Pope Francis in 2019 with a request to elevate his predecessor to the title of Doctor of the Church. The reason for this step was the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Polish pontiff on 18 May 2020. "As a poet, philosopher, theologian and mystic, he realised himself in many dimensions, from pastoral care to the magisterium, from the leadership of the universal church to personal witness to the sanctity of life," it said in a letter from Stanisław Gądecki, President of the Bishops' Conference at the time. However, the Vatican has so far refused - there is unlikely to be an uprising any time soon.

Whoever is added in the coming decades or centuries: Doctors of the Church represent different approaches to faith, but all show that theology is not just an academic discipline, but a way of life for the Church. For the church, they are witnesses to a living faith that seeks dialogue with reason, culture and history. With John Henry Newman, a further accent is now added.