Famous Priests

Pope Benedict XVI, born April 16, 1927, died December 31, 2022. He retired from the Catholic Church. Benedict headed the Church and governed the Vatican City State from 2005 until he resigned in 2013. Benedict became pope in the 2005 papal conclave after Pope John Paul II died. Benedict took the title "pope emeritus" after resigning. Since the mid-1980s, people called him "the main intellectual force in the Church." In 2013, Benedict unexpectedly announced his resignation. He did this in a speech in Latin before the cardinals, citing a "lac".

Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus II; Italian: Giovanni Paolo II; Polish: Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła; May 18, 1920 – April 2, 2005) was the Pope of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 to 2005. The second Papal conclave in 1978 elected him after Pope John Paul I, who succeeded Pope Paul VI, died after 33 days. Cardinal Wojtyła was elected on the third day and took his predecessor's name as tribute. People recognize John Paul II as helpi.

Sinéad O'Connor grew up in Glenageary, County Dublin, Ireland. She became an acclaimed singer-songwriter known for her distinct voice and strong lyrics. O'Connor started her music career young. She entered the mainstream with her 1987 debut album, The Lion and the Cobra. This album launched a career spanning decades, covering pop, rock, folk, and world music. Her second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, made her a global star. The single "Nothing Compares 2 U" covered a song by Prince.

Martin Luther (German: [ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈlʊtɐ]; November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, and a key figure in the Protestant Reformation. Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507. He rejected several Roman Catholic Church teachings and practices, especially the view on indulgences. Luther proposed an academic discussion of indulgences' practice and effect in his Ninety-five Theses in 1517. He refused to drop all his writings when Pope Leo X demanded it in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor.

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (UK: , US: , Italian: [anˈtɔːnjo ˈluːtʃo viˈvaldi] (listen); March 4, 1678 – July 28, 1741) was an Italian Baroque musical composer, a virtuoso violinist, a teacher, and a priest. Vivaldi was born in Venice, the capital of the Venetian Republic. He stands as one of the greatest Baroque composers; his influence spread across Europe during his life. He composed many instrumental concertos for the violin and other instruments, sacred choral works, and over forty operas. His best-known work is the series of violin concertos called the Four Seasons.

Thomas Aquinas (Italian: Tommaso d'Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar, Philosopher, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church. He became an influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in scholasticism, also known as the Doctor Angelicus and the Doctor Communis. Aquinas named his origins after the county of Aquino in present-day Lazio, Italy. He championed natural theology and started Thomism, arguing reason finds God.

Franz Liszt (German: [ˈlɪst]; Hungarian: Liszt Ferencz, in modern usage Liszt Ferenc [ˈlist ˈfɛrɛnt͡s]; 22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, teacher, arranger, and organist of the Romantic era. He also wrote, acted as a philanthropist, a Hungarian nationalist, and a Franciscan tertiary. Liszt became famous in Europe during the early nineteenth century for his amazing piano skill. He supported many composers of his time, such as Frédéric Chopin, Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, and Rober.

John Wesley (28 June [O.S. 17 June] 1703 – 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist. He led a revival movement in the Church of England called Methodism. Wesley founded societies that became the main form of the independent Methodist movement today. Wesley studied at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford. He was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford in 1726 and became an Anglican priest two years later. He led the "Holy Club," a group for studying and pursuing a devout Christian life.

Ernesto Cardenal Martínez (born 20 January 1925) is a Nicaraguan Catholic priest, poet, and politician. He is a liberation theologian and started the primitivist art community in the Solentiname Islands, where he lived from 1965–1977. Cardenal was a member of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, a party he later left. He served as Nicaragua's minister of culture from 1979 to 1987. Pope John Paul II banned him from administering sacraments in 1984, but Pope Francis restored his rights in 2019.

Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and cleric. He became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. Swift wrote works like A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). The Encyclopædia Britannica calls him the top prose satirist in the English language; he is less known for his poetry. Swift published his works using pseudonyms, such as

Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (US: , Italian: [ˈklaudjo monteˈverdi]) (born May 15, 1567 – died November 29, 1643) composed music, played strings, and led choirs. He wrote secular and sacred music. Monteverdi pioneered opera, acting as a key shift between Renaissance and Baroque music history. He studied music in Cremona. Monteverdi began his career at the court of Mantua (c. 1590–1613), then worked until his death in the Republic of Venice.

Thomas Becket, also Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London, and Thomas à Becket (born December 21, c. 1119 or 1120 – died December 29, 1170), served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his 1170 murder. The Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion both honor him as a saint and martyr. He fought with Henry II, King of England, over Church rights. Followers of the king murdered him in Canterbury Cathedral. Pope Alexander III canonized him after his death.

Vicky Gene Robinson was born May 29, 1947. Robinson served as a bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. He became bishop coadjutor in 2003 and took over as diocesan bishop in March 2004. Before his bishop role, Robinson served as Canon to the Ordinary for New Hampshire. Robinson became the first priest in an openly gay relationship to be consecrated a bishop in a major Christian denomination that accepts the historic episcopate. This caused much disagreement among theologically conservative Episcopalians in the United States.

James Melville "Mel" White, born July 26, 1940, is an American clergyman and author. White worked behind the scenes in the Evangelical Protestant movement during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. He wrote film and television specials and ghostwrote auto-biographies for televangelists like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Billy Graham. White came out as gay in 1994. He then devoted himself fully to ministering to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people, writing a lot about gay Christians.

Desmond Mpilo Tutu OMSG CH GCStJ (October 7, 1931 – December 26, 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian. Tutu worked as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996. Both times, he was the first black African to hold those roles. Theologically, he merged black theology with African theology. Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born from mixed Xhosa and Motswana heritage in a poor family in Klerksdorp, South Africa. As an adult, he trained as a teacher and married.

Plutarch (Greek: Πλούταρχος, Ploútarkhos, Koine Greek: [ˈplutarkʰos]; c. AD 46 – c. 120), later Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus upon becoming a Roman citizen, was a Greek biographer and essayist. He wrote mainly the Parallel Lives and Moralia. Plutarch is classified as a Middle Platonist. Plutarch's surviving works were in Greek but aimed at both Greek and Roman readers.

Mychal Fallon Judge, O.F.M. (Robert Emmett Judge, May 11, 1933 – September 11, 2001), served as a Franciscan friar and Catholic priest. He acted as a chaplain for the New York City Fire Department. He died in that role, becoming the first certified fatality of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) led the English Reformation. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII, Edward VI, and briefly Mary I. Cranmer helped build the argument for annulling Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. This annulment caused the English Church to separate from the Holy See. Cranmer supported Royal Supremacy with Thomas Cromwell. This meant the king held authority over the Church in his land. As Archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer handled...

Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen (January 24, 1932 – September 21, 1996) was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer, and theologian. Nouwen focused on psychology, pastoral ministry, spirituality, social justice, and community. Anton Boisen, Thomas Merton, Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh, and Jean Vanier heavily influenced Nouwen. After teaching at institutions like the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School, and Harvard Divinity School for nearly two decades, Nouwen worked with people who had intellect.

Simon Bailey may refer to: Simon Bailey (priest) (1955–1995), an Anglican priest and writer. Simon Bailey (archivist) is the Keeper of the Archives at the University of Oxford in England. Simon T. Bailey (born 1968) is an American speaker, author, life coach, and entrepreneur. Simon Bailey (British police officer) is the Chief Constable of the Norfolk Constabulary. Simon Bailey (runner) was born in 1980. Simon Bailly is an English fell runner. Simon Bailey is an English politician.

Francis Patrick Mary Browne (January 3, 1880 – July 7, 1960) was a distinguished Irish Jesuit and a prolific photographer. His best known photographs show the RMS Titanic and its passengers and crew taken before the ship sank in 1912. Browne received a military chaplain decoration during the First World War.

Leon Battista Alberti was an Italian humanist. He acted as an author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer. He embodied the Renaissance Man. James Beck observed that singling out one of Alberti's 'fields' as functionally independent helps no effort to describe his wide art explorations. Giorgio Vasari described Alberti's life in the Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.

Jeffrey Philip Hywel John, born February 10, 1953, is a Church of England priest. He became the Dean of St Albans in 2004. In 2003, he made headlines as the first person openly in a same-sex relationship nominated as a Church of England bishop. Because of this controversy, he reportedly withdrew his acceptance of the nomination. Since then, people have considered him for at least seven diocesan bishoprics across England, Wales, and the Isle of Man.

Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936. He became a Catholic priest in 1969. Pope John Paul II assigned him the role of cardinal priest in 2001. His film credits include "Stories of a Generation with Pope Francis" (Netflix, 2021) and "The Pope Answers" (Hulu, 2023). He died April 21, 2025, in Casa Santa Marta, Vatican City, Italy. He supported refugees, migrants, and the impoverished.

Leo J. O'Donovan was born in New York City in 1934. He became the 47th President of Georgetown University in Washington, DC, United States. He graduated from Iona Preparatory School in 1952 and Georgetown in 1956. O'Donovan studied at the University of Lyon on a Fulbright scholarship. He earned a doctorate in 1961 from Fordham University. He got his theology doctorate in 1971 from the University of Münster in Germany, studying under Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner. O'Donovan held a Danforth Fellowship and was a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Chicago.

George Herbert lived from April 3, 1593, to March 1, 1633. He was a Welsh-born poet, orator, and Church of England priest. His poetry links to the writings of the metaphysical poets. People recognize him as "one of the foremost British devotional lyricists." He grew up in an artistic, wealthy family and mostly in England. He got a good education that led to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1609. Herbert aimed to become a priest there but became the University's Public Orator, drawing King James I's attention. He served in the Parlia

Brendan Smyth O.Praem (June 8, 1927 – August 22, 1997) was a Roman Catholic priest in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He became notorious as a child molester. Smyth used his church position to gain access to victims. Over forty years, Smyth sexually abused and indecently assaulted at least 143 children in parishes across Belfast, Dublin, and the United States. Catholic officials often hid his actions from police and the public. Controversy over his case helped bring down the Republic of Ireland government in December 19

Leonardo Boff (Portuguese pronunciation: [leoˈnaʁdu ˈbɔf]), born December 14, 1938, was a Brazilian theologian and writer. He gained recognition for his active support of liberation theology. Today, he serves as Professor Emeritus of Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, and Ecology at the Rio de Janeiro State University.

John Donne (born January 22, 1572; died March 31, 1631) was an English poet and cleric in the Church of England. He represents the leading metaphysical poets. His works feature a strong, sensual style. These works include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires, and sermons. Donne's poetry shows a lively language and inventive metaphor, especially next to his peers. Donne's style uses sudden starts and many paradoxes, ironies, and shifts.

John J. Geoghan (June 4, 1935 – August 23, 2003) was an American Roman Catholic priest and a serial child rapist while assigned to parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts. He moved to other parish jobs involving children even after getting treatment for pedophilia. The investigation and prosecution of Geoghan were one of many cases of priests accused of sexual abuse. This scandal rocked the archdiocese in the 1990s and 2000s. It caused Boston's archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, to resign on December 13, 2002. Law lo

John Main OSB was a Roman Catholic priest and Benedictine monk. He offered a method of Christian meditation using a prayer-phrase or mantra. In 1975, Main started Christian meditation groups at Ealing Abbey, his monastery in West London, England, and later in Montreal, Canada. These groups started the ecumenical network of Christian meditation groups now known as the World Community for Christian Meditation.

John Henry Newman (February 21, 1801 – August 11, 1890) was a theologian and poet. He became an Anglican priest, then a Catholic priest and cardinal. Newman was an important, controversial figure in 19th-century English religious history. People knew him nationally by the mid-1830s. Newman started as an evangelical Oxford University academic and Church of England priest. He then adopted the high-church tradition of Anglicanism. Newman led and argued for the Oxford Movement, an influential, controversial group of Anglicans.

The Blessed Arthur Bell (January 13, 1590 – December 11, 1643) was an English Franciscan martyr. A court under Parliament found him guilty of being a Roman Catholic priest. Arthur Bell was executed at Tyburn in London.

John Claggett Danforth was a retired American politician. He started his career in 1968 as the Attorney General of Missouri. Danforth served three terms as a United States Senator from Missouri. In 2004, he briefly served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Danforth is an ordained Episcopal priest.

Richard Roger Lavigne was a former priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts. About 40 claims of sexual abuse of minors were placed against him in the Diocese of Springfield. Bishop John Marshall removed Lavigne from ministry in 1991. Lavigne pleaded guilty to two counts of child sexual abuse on June 26, 1992. He was the only suspect named in the unsolved 1972 murder of 13-year-old Danny Croteau of Springfield, Massachusetts. DNA tests failed to link Lavigne to the Croteau murder in 1994.

Hans Küng, born March 19, 1928, is a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and author. Since 1995, he has been President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic (Stiftung Weltethos). Küng rejected the doctrine of papal infallibility. Though not officially allowed to teach Catholic theology, his priestly faculties remain. In 1979, he left the Catholic faculty but remained a professor of ecumenical theology at the University of Tübingen, becoming an emeritus professor since 1996.

Andrew M. Greeley was an American Roman Catholic priest, sociologist, journalist, and popular novelist. Greeley taught Sociology at the University of Arizona and the University of Chicago. He also worked as a Research Associate with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). For many years, Greeley wrote a weekly column for the Chicago Sun-Times. He regularly wrote for The New York Times, the National Catholic Reporter, America, and Commonweal.

Barbara Brown Taylor is an American Episcopal priest, professor, author, and theologian. She is one of the United States' best-known preachers. TIME magazine put her on its 2014 TIME 100 list of most influential people globally. Taylor earned her undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1973. She studied at Yale Divinity School, graduating in 1976. She was ordained in 1984. In 1992, she became the rector of Grace-Calvary Episcopal Church in Clarkesville, Georgia. In 1996, she earned a spot among the twelve "most effective" preachers.

José Martiniano Pereira de Alencar fathered José de Alencar.

David Jasper is a theologian. He is currently a Professor of Literature and Theology and Associate Dean for Postgraduates at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. David Jasper founded the Conference on Literature and Religion at Durham University in 1980. Since then, the organization has organized international meetings every other year. These meetings provide a forum for inter-disciplinary study of literature and theology in contemporary Europe. David Jasper remains one of the most distinguished European scholars in this field. His recent research focuses on some of the ear

Jan Hus (Czech: [ˈjan ˈɦus] (listen); c. 1369 – 6 July, 1415), sometimes Anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and also called Iohannes Hus or Johannes Huss, was a Czech theologian, philosopher, master, dean, and rector of the Charles University in Prague. He became a church reformer, an inspirer of Hussitism, a key predecessor to Protestantism, and a seminal figure in the Bohemian Reformation. Hus was the first church reformer after John Wycliffe, the theorist of ecclesiastical reform, because he lived before Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli. His teachings had a stron

Pope Paul VI (Latin: Paulus VI; Italian: Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanːi baˈtːista enˈriːko anˈtɔːnjo maˈriːa monˈtiːni]); 26 September 1897 – 6 August 1978) headed the Catholic Church and the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death in 1978. Succeeding John XXIII, he continued the Second Vatican Council, which he closed in 1965. He put into effect its reforms and built better ecumenical relations with Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches. This caused many historic meetings and agreements.

Jon Sobrino, born in 1938, is a Jesuit Catholic priest and theologian. He is known mostly for his work in liberation theology. In 2007, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a notice about doctrines they called "erroneous or dangerous and may cause harm to the faithful."

Thomas J. Reese, SJ, is an American Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, author, and journalist. He works as a senior analyst at the National Catholic Reporter. Reese formerly edited the weekly Catholic magazine America. Reese joined the Jesuit Order in 1962 and received his priesthood in 1974. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. Reese served as an associate editor for America from 1978 to 1985. He was a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center from 1985 to 1998. Reese became editor in chief of America from 1998 to 2005. He returned to Woodstock in 2006 and stayed until 2013.

Matthew Fox, born Timothy James Fox on December 21, 1940, is an American priest and theologian. Fox was a member of the Dominican Order in the Roman Catholic Church. He joined the Episcopal Church after being expelled from the order in 1993. Fox became an early, influential exponent of Creation Spirituality. This movement draws inspiration from the mystical philosophies of medieval Catholic visionaries like Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas Aquinas, Saint Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, Dante Alighieri, Meister Eckhart, and Nicholas of C.

John J. McNeill (born 1924 or 1925; died September 22, 2015) was an American Roman Catholic priest, psychotherapist, and academic theologian. McNeill gained a reputation in queer theology.

Gerard Manley Hopkins (July 28, 1844 – June 8, 1889) was an English poet and Jesuit priest. His posthumous fame placed him among the leading Victorian poets. Hopkins manipulated prosody, especially his concept of sprung rhythm and image use, establishing him as an innovative verse writer. Two main themes in his work were nature and religion. Robert Bridges began publishing some of Hopkins's mature poems in anthologies after Hopkins died, aiming to help his style gain wider acceptance. By 1930, critics recognized his work as among the most original literary.

Matteo Ricci, S.J. (Italian pronunciation: [matˈtɛːo ˈrittʃi]; Latin: Mattheus Riccius Maceratensis; October 6, 1552 – May 11, 1610), was an Italian Jesuit priest. Ricci was one of the founders of the Jesuit China missions. His 1602 map of the world in Chinese characters introduced European exploration findings to East Asia. The Roman Catholic Church considers him a Servant of God. Ricci arrived at the Portuguese settlement of Macau in 1582. He started his missionary work in China there. Ricci became the first European to enter the Forbidden City of Beijing in 1601 after the Wa invited him.

Angelico Chavez, O.F.M., (April 10, 1910 – March 18, 1996) was an Hispanic American Friar Minor, priest, historian, author, poet, and painter. Chavez used "Angelico" as his pen name and dropped the accent marks from that name.