Yesterday, on February 23, it was reported that Pope Francis formally declared Gregory of Narek to be a Doctor of the Universal Church. Gregory of Narek was an Armenian priest, monk, and poet who is greatly revered by Armenians but virtually unknown otherwise. So far as I can tell, he is the first and only non-Catholic among only 36 doctors of the church. He lived and died out of communion with the Catholic Church, and most likely was an adherent of the Miaphysite heresy. Traditionally, a doctor of the church is chosen only among recognized Catholic saints.

Is this a problem? Well, the words of the Catholic Encyclopedia are somewhat consoling:


"It is not in any way an 'ex cathedra' decision, nor does it even amount to a declaration that no error is to be found in the teaching of the Doctor. It is, indeed, well known that the very greatest of them are not wholly immune from error."

And yet, and yet .... this is setting a potentially disastrous precedent. Gregory of Narek may have been a man of extraordinary sanctity; he may have been a great teacher; and it may be a laudable thing that his works become known to the larger Christian world outside of the Armenian community. But if a man is declared a "Doctor of the Universal Church", the faithful have the right to assume that he is, at the very least, a Catholic. Furthermore, as Ann Barnhardt drives home, granting this title to a non-Catholic Armenian priest sends an unmistakable message to all the faithful: heresies that amount to attacks on the First Commandment are no big deal; heresy itself is no big deal; and schism is no big deal.

At this point in this sorry pontificate, given what we know about Pope Francis and his many expressions of religious indifferentism, it is safe to assume that he has an ulterior motive. Bypassing what must be dozens if not hundreds of qualified orthodox Catholics (Dom Prosper Gueranger is already de facto a doctor of this stature), Pope Francis instead chose an obscure mystic who died outside of the Church and presumably held to the heresy of his co-religionists at the time. Why this choice? Let me make a little prediction: By this act, Pope Francis is preparing the faithful for the canonization of the first non-Catholic "saint".

https://culbreath.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/pope-francis-declares-a-non-catholic-a-doctor-of-the-church/

As a skeptic, I looked into the Roman Martyroloy from the 18th century and from 1914. There is no sign of any Gregory Narek in the Roman Martyrology at those times. However there is sign of him in the 2005 Roman Martyrology.

If this is the case that he was never on recognized as a saint by the Church, only to be subtly placed in the Martyrology post Vatican II, then Ms. Barnhardt is right with her assertion that he is not Catholic.

As I said before, official canonizations were already well established (803 AD) by the time of his death in 1003 AD, and if he was not canonized or even recognized as a martyr till 2005, then Bergoglio is cooking up something.

For the record: A new Doctor of the Church

As reported today on the Vatican Bollettino, Pope Francis has decided to elevate Gregory of Narek (c. 950 - c. 1005) perhaps the greatest of Armenian sacred writers, sometimes called "the Armenian Pindar", as Doctor of the Church. A translation of his Book of Lamentations can be found here.

Although not mentioned in the Bollettino, this act also apparently serves as an equipollent canonization of Gregory, who was already venerated as a Saint in both the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church.


It is interesting to note that Gregory lived at a time when the Armenian Church, to which he belonged, was not formally in communion with Rome and Constantinople. However, as those interested in the extremely tangled history of Christianity in the first millennium are well aware, one cannot always speak straightforwardly of "schism" and "heresy" when dealing with the theological and ecclesiastical divisions of Christendom in that era.(Rorate Caeli 2/23/15)

http://www.barnhardt.biz/2015/02/24/the-first-commandment-is-first-for-a-reason/

Apparently he was miaphysite. A non Catholic heretic yesterday, a Catholic saint and Dr of the Church today. I wonder if Luther will become a Dr of the Church and equipollent saint in 2017.

"I saw that many pastors allowed themselves to be taken up with ideas that were dangerous to the Church. They were building a great, strange, and extravagant Church. Everyone was to be admitted in it in order to be united and have equal rights: Evangelicals, Catholics, sects of every description. Such was to be the new Church ... But God had other designs. "

"I saw also the relationship between two popes ... I saw how baleful would be the consequences of this false church. I saw it increase in size; heretics of every kind came into the city of Rome. The local clergy grew lukewarm, and I saw a great darkness...

"I saw again  the strange big church that was being built there in Rome. There was nothing holy in it. I saw this just as I saw a movement led by Ecclesiastics to which contributed angels, saints, and other Christians. But there in the strange big church all the work was being done mechanically according to set rules and formulae. Everything was being done according to human reason ...I saw all sorts of people, things, doctrines, and opinions. There was something proud, presumptuous, and violent about it, and they seemed very successful. I di not see a single Angel nor a single saint helping in the work. But far away in the background, I saw the seat of the cruel people armed with spears, and I saw a laughing figure which said: " Do build it as solid as you can; we will pull it to the ground."

This is wonderful news!!!  And I will be purchasing a copy of St. Narek's Book of Lamentations.

CounterRevolutionary, I hope this is a consolation and a confirmation for you that we really are one Church and that one need not leave the Western Church to drink from Eastern sources.

Speaking for myself, I want it all.