Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

Saintly writers of the early centuries whom the Church recognizes as her special witnesses of the faith. Antiquity, orthodoxy, sanctity, and approval by the Church are their four main prerogatives. They are commonly divided into the Greek and Latin Fathers. It is now generally held that the last of the Western Fathers (Latin) closed with St. Isidore of Seville (560-636), and the last of the Eastern Fathers (Greek) was St. John Damascene (675-749).

LATIN FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (340-97)

Arnobius, apologist (d 327)

St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354-430)

St. Benedict, father of Western monasticism (480-546)

St. Caesarius, Archbishop of Arles (470-542)

St. John Cassian, abbot, ascetical writer (360-435)

St. Celestine I, Pope (d. 432)

St. Cornelius, Pope (d. 253)

St Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (d. 258)

St. Damasus I, Pope (d. 384)

St. Dionysius, Pope (d. 268)

St. Ennodius, Bishop of Pavia (473-521)

St. Eucherius, Bishop of Lyons (d. 449)

St. Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspe (468-533)

St. Gregory of Elvira (died after 392)

St. Gregory (I) the Great, Pope (540-604)

St. Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers (315-68)

St. Innocent I, Pope (d. 417)

St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (130-200)

St. Isidore, Archbishop of Seville (560-636)

St. Jerome, priest, exegete, translator of the Vulgate (343-420)

Lactantius Firmianus, apologist (240-320)

St. Leo the Great, Pope (390-461)

Marius Mercator, Latin polemicist (early fifth century)

Marius Victorinus, Roman rhetorician (fourth century)

Minucius Felix, apologist (second or third century)

Novatian, the Schismatic (200-62)

St. Opatus, Bishop of Mileve (late fourth century)

St. Pacian, Bishop of Barcelona (fourth century)

St. Pamphilus, priest (240-309)

St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola (353-431)

St. Peter Chrysologus, Archbishop of Ravenna (400-50)

St. Phoebadius, Bishop of Agen (d. 395)

St. Prosper of Aquitaine, theologian (390-463)

Rufinus, Latin translator of Greek theology (345-410)

Salvian, priest (400-80)

St. Siricius, Pope (334-99)

Tertullian, apologist, founder of Latin theology (160-223)

St. Vincent of Lérins, priest and monk (d. 450)

GREEK FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

St. Anastasius Sinaita, apologist, monk (d. 700)

St. Andrew of Crete, Archbishop of Gortyna (660-740)

Aphraates, Syriac monk (early fourth century)

St. Archelaus, Bishop of Cascar (d. 282)

St. Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria (c. 297-373)

Athenagoras, apologist (second century)

St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea (329-79)

St. Caesarius of Nazianzus (330-69)

St. Clement of Alexandria, theologian (150-215)

St. Clement I of Rome, Pope (30-101)

St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem (315-86)

St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria (376-444)

Didymus the Blind, theologian (313-98)

Diodore, Bishop of Tarsus (d. 392)

Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, mystical theologian (late fifth century)

St. Dionysius the Great, Archbishop of Alexandria (190-264)

St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis (315-403)

Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea (260-340)

St. Eustathius, Bishop of Antioch (fourth century)

St. Firmillian, Bishop of Caesarea (d. 268)

Gennadius I, Patriarch of Constantinople (d. 471)

St. Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople (634-733)

St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Sasima 329-90)

St. Gregory of Nyssa (330-95)

St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop of Neocaesarea (213-70)

Hermas, author of The Shepherd (second century)

St. Hippolytus, martyr (170-236)

St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (35-107)

St. Isidore of Pelusium, abbot (360-c. 450)

St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople (347-407)

St. John Climacus, monk (579-649)

St. John Damascene, defender of sacred images (675-749)

St. Julius I, Pope (d. 352)

St. Justin Martyr, apologist (100-65)

St. Leontius of Byzantium, theologian (sixth century)

St. Macarius the Great, monk (300-90)

St. Maximus, abbot and confessor (580-662)

St. Melito, Bishop of Sardis (d. 190)

St. Methodius, Bishop of Olympus (d. 311)

St. Nilus the Elder, priest and monk (d. 430)

Origen, head of the Catechetical School of Alexandria (184-254)

St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (69-155)

St. Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople (d. 446)

St. Serapion, Bishop of Thmuis (died after 362)

St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (560-638)

Tatian the Assyrian, apologist and theologian (120-80)

Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia (350-428)

Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus (393-458)

St. Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch (late second century)