The First Women Doctors of the Church

Abstract

The present contribution reflects on the first women to be proclaimed Doctors of the Church: Teresa of Avila and Catherine of Siena (1970); Thérèse of Lisieux (1997); Hildegard of Bingen (2012). The first point of interest explored here is that of the status of teaching in the Church, outside of the ordained ministry. The article then examines the symbolic and spiritual theology of these women. In conclusion, it attempts to define future points of reference for the ecclesial doctorate, in consideration of what may be described as the specifically female genius.