ARTICLE ON THE WEB THAT STATES STO. TOMAS DE VILLANUEVA IS A CANDIDATE FOR THE NEXT TO BE DECLARED DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH.

Vatican Diary / A new doctor of the Church. And seventeen more on hold

The new one is Saint John of Avila, a great preacher and spiritual master of the sixteenth century. Another, Bernardino of Siena, is close to the goal. The candidates include six women
VATICAN CITY, August 21, 2011 – Saint John of Avila (1499-1569) will be the 34th doctor proclaimed by the Catholic Church, the first under the pontificate of Benedict XVI.

The pope made the announcement at the end of the Mass celebrated on the morning of Saturday, August 20, in the cathedral of Madrid, with the seminarians who had gone there for World Youth Day.

So the title of doctor of the Church has once again been assigned to a man, after being granted consecutively to the first three women in history to bear it: Paul VI invested Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Catherine of Siena with it in 1970; John Paul II gave it to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux in 1997.

Currently, the practices regarding new doctors of the Church are being examined jointly by the congregation for the causes of saints and the congregation for the doctrine of the faith.

There is not much official information available on the subject. Some of it was provided by the Jesuit Giandomenico Mucci in the article "The title of doctor of the Church" published in the last issue of 1997 of "La Civiltà Cattolica."

In it, Mucci, building on theses formulated by the Franciscan Umberto Betti (made a cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2007, and deceased two years later), spoke out in favor of granting the title of doctor to martyrs as well, but not to popes.

"Because the title of doctor of the Church," he wrote, "is based specifically on the 'eminens doctrina,' it cannot be concealed under any gift of sanctity possessed by the candidate for the title of doctor. So even a martyr in whom the Church recognizes the 'eminens doctrina' (Ignatius, Irenaeus, Cyprian) can be elevated to the doctorate, despite the different historical practice."

However, "it seems problematic," Mucci then added, "to grant the title of doctor of the universal Church to a saint who was a Roman pontiff. In fact, the documents of his magisterium are authoritative not because of the 'eminens doctrina' possessed as a personal gift of grace, but by virtue of the office that constituted him supreme pastor and doctor of all the faithful."

In the same article, Mucci listed the saints and blesseds on the waiting list for the title of doctor.

Six of them are women: Saint Veronica Giuliani, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Gertrude of Helfta, Saint Bridget of Sweden, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Blessed Julian of Norwich.

And twelve are men: in addition to Saint John of Avila, Saint Gregory of Narek, Saint John Bosco, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Saint Lorenzo Giustiniani, Saint Antonino of Florence, Saint Thomas of Villanova, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, Saint Bernardino of Siena.

The last of these – Mucci emphasized – is lacking "only the final act reserved for the Holy Father. Which has not come so far.


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http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1349083?eng=y