Pope Francis has announced that he plans to declare St Irenaeus of Lyon a Doctor of the Church with the title “Doctor unitatis,” meaning “Doctor of Unity.”
The pope made the announcement in a speech to the St. Irenaeus Working Group, a group of Catholic and Orthodox theologians who conducted a study together on synodality and primacy.
“Your patron, St. Irenaeus of Lyon - whom soon I will willingly declare a Doctor of the Church with the title Doctor unitatis - came from the East, exercised his episcopal ministry in the West, and was a great spiritual and theological bridge between Eastern and Western Christians,” Pope Francis said.
