Principi Apostolorum Petro

After looking at the great influence of St. Jerome in an earlier encyclical, here Pope Benedict XV looks at the example of the great Eastern Father, St. Ephrem the Syrian. After articulating several aspects of Ephrem’s enduring legacy, the encyclical culminates with Benedict declaring St. Ephrem to be a “Doctor of the Church”—a title reserved for a handful of the most influential writers, teachers, and thinkers in the history of the church.