(16-11-2022) Third centenary of the proclamation of Saint Isidore of Seville as a Doctor of the Church

We celebrate this year the third centenary of the proclamation as Doctor of the Church of Saint Isidore of Seville, a Spanish bishop and theologian who lived between 560 and 636.  Acclaimed with the title Doctor Egregius as early as a few years after his death by virtue of his profound wisdom, adding to his charity and humility, Innocent XIII in 1722 conferred the authoritative title of Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis.  To the genius of Saint Isidore we owe the first authentic Encyclopedia, known as the “Etymologiae,” which encompassed all knowledge of the time in twenty books. The work gained extraordinary popularity throughout the Middle Ages, thanks to its simple and effective presentation, soon becoming a real source of knowledge for anyone wishing to draw knowledge from it. The Vatican stamp dedicated to the anniversary features an oil-on-canvas painting depicting the Saint, a work by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo in 1655 and found at the Cathedral of Seville.