Pope Leo XIV to name St. John Henry Newman Doctor of the Church Nov. 1. Explore the 3 criteria, lay eligibility, and eminent writings required.
Newsroom (28/10/2025, Gaudium Press ) With Pope Leo XIV poised to proclaim St. John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church on Nov. 1, during the feast of All Saints, attention turns to the rigorous standards governing this rare honor. What criteria must be met? Could a layperson qualify? And what caliber of writings is demanded? These questions illuminate a title rooted in ecclesiastical tradition, distinct from medical or institutional “doctors.”
The term “doctor” here derives from the Latin docere, meaning “to teach.” It signifies a master instructor in faith, a usage echoed in academia’s highest degree, the doctorate.
Three Essential Requirements
The Catholic Church imposes three non-negotiable criteria for the title, as outlined in canon law and historical precedent.
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Eminence in Doctrine: The candidate’s teachings must be profoundly orthodox and enriching for the Church. Writings from any non-Catholic period — as in Newman’s Anglican years — are disregarded; only Catholic-era works are considered. Figures like Origen and Tertullian, despite influential contributions, are barred due to their embrace of heresies.
Eminence demands quality and impact, not volume. St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas produced vast corpora, yet St. Catherine of Siena and St. Thérèse of Lisieux qualify with comparatively modest outputs.
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Exemplary Holiness: The individual must be a canonized saint, evidencing heroic virtue. This excludes living luminaries or uncanonized theologians, such as the late Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), regardless of scholarly prowess.
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Papal Proclamation: Only the pope can bestow the title. The practice began with Pope Boniface VIII in 1298, who named the four great Western Fathers: Sts. Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory the Great. Their Eastern counterparts — Sts. John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Athanasius — gained formal recognition under Pope Pius V in 1568. That same pope elevated his fellow Dominican, St. Thomas Aquinas; Pope Sixtus V added St. Bonaventure in 1588.
The roster stood at 10 until the 18th century, when expansions began. Today, including Newman, there are 38 Doctors. Four are women: Sts. Teresa of Ávila, Catherine of Siena, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Hildegard of Bingen.
Laypersons Eligible
Yes, laypeople can — and have — received the honor. St. Catherine of Siena, a third-order Dominican laywoman, exemplifies this. Most Doctors, however, were clergy or religious.
Recent Proclamations and Emerging Candidates
Recent additions include:
- St. Thérèse of Lisieux (Pope St. John Paul II, 1997)
- Sts. John of Ávila and Hildegard of Bingen (Pope Benedict XVI, 2012)
- Sts. Gregory of Narek and Irenaeus of Lyon (Pope Francis, 2022)
- St. John Henry Newman (Pope Leo XIV, 2025)
Momentum builds for others. In October 2019, the Polish bishops’ conference petitioned Pope Francis to declare St. John Paul II a Doctor, citing his theological, philosophical, and magisterial legacy.
Another contender is St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein, 1891–1942), a Discalced Carmelite philosopher. A Jewish convert to Catholicism in 1922, she studied under phenomenologist Edmund Husserl and fused his methods with Thomistic thought in works like Finite and Eternal Being. Martyred in Auschwitz on Aug. 9, 1942, she was canonized in 1998. In April 2024, Discalced Carmelite Superior General Father Miguel Márquez Calle formally urged Pope Francis to name her a Doctor during a private audience.
As the Church marks Newman’s elevation, these criteria underscore a title reserved for saints whose teachings endure as beacons of truth.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from OSV News
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