A 2nd-century saint who served as a link between eastern and western Christianity went another step toward being named a doctor of the church, the Catholic Church’s highest accolade.
Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the head of the Vatican’s saint-making office, told Pope Francis that the agency’s members had agreed that St. Irenaeus should be honored and urged that Francis declare it, according to the Vatican.
The audience on Thursday was largely ceremonial, as Francis had already stated in October that he wanted to name Irenaeus the “doctor of unity” soon, but no date has been established.
The title of doctor is reserved for people whose writings have greatly served the universal church. Only 36 people have been given the title, including St. Augustine, St. Francis de Sales and St. Teresa of Avila.
St. Irenaeus, who is believed to have ministered in present-day France, is known for his fight against heresies. But Francis, who has made outreach to the Orthodox a key priority of his pontificate, emphasized his importance to the message of unity when he addressed a Catholic-Orthodox working group studying the saint’s writings in October.
He described the saint, also known as Irenaeus of Lyon, as “a great spiritual and theological bridge between Eastern and Western Christians.”
Francis in 2015 added the last doctor to their ranks, bestowing the title on a 10th-century mystic and poet, St. Gregory of Narek.
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