- Major Orders
The term major orders was a part of the clerical terminology of the Roman Catholic Church until shortly after the Second Vatican Council, when the use widely disappeared due to reform of the clerical structure. During the Counter-reformation, the Council of Trent issued a decree outlining the orders of the clergy. The first four, the minor orders, have various liturgical functions and were conferred upon seminarians studying for the priesthood. - George Herbert
George Herbert (April 3, 1593 - March 1, 1633) was a Welsh poet, orator and a priest. Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education which led on to him holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England, George Herbert excelled in languages and music. He went to college with the intention of becoming a priest, … - John Keble
John Keble (April 25, 1792 - March 29, 1866) was an English churchman, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, and gave his name to Keble College, Oxford (1870). He was born in Fairford, Gloucestershire where his father, the Rev. John Keble, was Vicar of Coln St. Aldwyns. He attended Corpus Christi College, Oxford and, after a brilliant academic performance there, became a Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, and was for some years a tutor and examiner in the University. - Emmanuel Milingo
Emmanuel Milingo (born June 13, 1930) was a Zambian Roman Catholic archbishop. In 1969, when Milingo was only 39, Pope Paul VI consecrated him as the Bishop of the Archdiocese of Lusaka. In 1983 he was asked to step down from his position as Archbishop of Lusaka for his performance of exorcisms and faith healing practices unapproved by Church authorities. In 2001, when Milingo was 71, he received a marriage blessing from Sun Myung Moon, the leader of the Unification Church, … - Phillip Aspinall
The Most Revd Phillip Aspinall (born 1959) has been the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia since February 2002, and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia since July 2005. His term will be up sometime in 2007. He was ordained deacon in Tasmania on 25 July 1988 and priest a year later. He succeeded Peter Hollingworth as Archbishop of Brisbane. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Deakin University and a PhD from Monash University. - Pietro Sambi
"Most Reverend" Pietro Sambi is an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, currently serving as the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. deathstyle=not applicableSambi was born in Sogliano al Rubicone, Forlì. He was ordained to the priesthood on March 14, 1964, and began work in the diplomatic service of the Secretariat of State in 1969, serving at the nunciatures in Cameroon, Jerusalem, Cuba, Algeria, Nicaragua, Belgium, and India. - Peter Smith
Peter Smith (born October 21, 1943) is an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, currently serving as Archbishop of Cardiff. Peter Smith was born in Battersea, and studied at Clapham College, Exeter University (from where he earned his bachelor's in laws), St. John's Seminary in Wonersh, and the Angelicum in Rome (earning his doctorate in canon law). He was ordained to the priesthood on July 5, 1972. After doing pastoral work from 1972 to 1974, … - J. Michael Miller
John Michael Miller, CSB (born July 9, 1946) is a Canadian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as coadjutor bishop of the Archdiocese of Vancouver. He was appointed to this post on June 1, 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI. He is also Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education for the Roman Curia. Furthermore, Archbishop Miller is also vice-president of the Pontifical Work of Priestly Vocations, … - Edwin Sandys
Sir Edwin Sandys (9 December 1561 - October 1629) was a British statesman and one of the founders of the proprietary Virginia Company of London, which in 1607 established the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States in the colony of Virginia, based at Jamestown. In addition to seeking profits for the company's investors, history records that his goal was a permanent colony which would enlarge English territory, relieve the nation's overpopulation, … - Henry Moore
Henry Moore (1751-1844) was an English Wesleyan minister and biographer, born in a suburb of Dublin and apprenticed to a wood carver. Impressed by the preaching of John Wesley, he frequented the Methodist meetings and joined a class in Dublin in 1777. He served from 1784 to 1786 as assistant traveling companion and amanuensis to John Wesley, and again from 1788 to 1790. Wesley made him one of his literary executors and appointed him to be, after his death, … - Peter Hans Kolvenbach
Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, SJ (born in Druten, November 30, 1928), is the 29th and current Superior General of the Society of Jesus, the largest religious order of the Roman Catholic Church. He is also known as the Black Pope. Kolvenbach's childhood was spent in Druten, the Netherlands, near Nijmegen where he attended Canisius College for his secondary studies. At Canisius he concentrated on modern languages. He entered the novitiate at Mariendaal on September 7, 1948. - Henry Wace
The Very Reverend Henry Wace (December 10, 1836 - January 9, 1924) was Principal of King's College London and Dean of Canterbury. Wace was educated at Marlborough College, Rugby School, King's College London, and Brasenose College, Oxford (BA Literae Humaniores and Mathematics, Honorary Fellow 1911). He took Holy Orders and served curacies at St Luke's, Berwick Street (1861-63), St James's, Piccadilly (1863-69), and Grosvenor Chapel (1870-72). - Charles Journet
Charles Cardinal Journet (January 26, 1891-April 15, 1975) was a Swiss Catholic theologian and cardinal. Born in Geneva, Charles Journet studied at the seminary in Fribourg before being ordained to the priesthood on July 15, 1917. He then did pastoral work in the Diocese of Fribourg until 1924, and there taught at the seminary from 1924 to 1965. Journet was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on August 13, 1946. - Thomas Bickerton
Thomas J. Bickerton is a Bishop in The United Methodist Church, elected and consecrated to the Episcopacy in 2004. Born July 2, 1958, Bishop Tom Bickerton was reared in West Virginia and graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology/Psychology. Subsequently, he entered seminary at Duke University Divinity School and completed the Master of Divinity degree in 1983. - John Still
John Still (c. 1543 - February 26, 1608), bishop of Bath and Wells, formerly reputed to be the author of "Gammer Gurton's Needle", was born about 1543 at Grantham, Lincolnshire. He became a student of Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1562, MA in 1565, and DD in 1575. In 1561 he became a fellow of his college and took holy orders. He was appointed in 1570 Lady Margaret professor of divinity, subsequently held livings in Suffolk and Yorkshire, … - William Dodd
William Dodd (29 May 1729 - 27 June 1777) was an English Anglican clergyman and a man of letters. He lived extravagantly, and was nicknamed the "macaroni parson". He dabbled in forgery in an effort to clear his debts, was caught, convicted, and, despite a public campaign for a Royal pardon, became the last person to be hanged at Tyburn for forgery. Dodd was born in Bourne in Lincolnshire, the son of the local vicar. - John Fell
John Fell, was an English churchman. The son of Samuel Fell, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, he was born at Longworth, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) and received his primary education at the free school at Thame in Oxfordshire. In 1636 he obtained a studentship at Christ Church, and in 1640 he was specially allowed by Archbishop William Laud because of his "known desert," when wanting one term's residence, … - Margaret Clitherow
Saint Margaret Clitherow is a saint and martyr of the Roman Catholic Church. She is sometimes called "the Pearl of York". - Thomas Sprat
Thomas Sprat (1635 - May 20, 1713), English divine, was born at Beaminster, Dorset, and educated at Wadham College, Oxford, where he held a fellowship from 1657 to 1670. Having taken orders he became a prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral in 1660. In the preceding year he had gained a reputation by his poem "To the Happie Memory of the most Renowned Prince Oliver, Lord Protector" (London, 1659), and he was afterwards well known as a wit, preacher and man of letters. - Henry Hammond
Henry Hammond (August 18, 1605 - April 25, 1660), was an English churchman. He was born at Chertsey in Surrey, and was educated at Eton College and at Magdalen College, Oxford, becoming demy or scholar in 1619, and fellow in 1625. He took Holy Orders in 1629, and in 1633 in preaching before the court he won the approval of the Earl of Leicester and was presented with the living of Penshurst in Kent. In 1643 he was made archdeacon of Chichester. - Robert Drinan
Father Robert Frederick Drinan, S.J. (November 15 1920 - January 28 2007) was a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, lawyer, human rights activist, and Democratic U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. He was also a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center for the last twenty-six years of his life. - Thomas C. Oden
Thomas Clark Oden (born October 21, 1931) is an American United Methodist religious author associated with Drew University in New Jersey. He was born in Altus, Oklahoma, and holds a Doctor of Literature from Asbury College. Oden is best-known as a proponent of paleo-orthodoxy, an approach to theology that often relies on patristic sources. - Pope-Elect Stephen
Stephen, a priest of Rome elected pope in March of 752 to succeed Pope Zachary, died of apoplexy three days later, before being ordained a bishop. In those times, the pope was chosen from among the priests and deacons of Rome and never from among bishops from other dioceses. By definition, the pope was the bishop of Rome and was considered legitimate only from the day of his ordination. As a result, Stephen was not considered a legitimate pope and as such, … - Fred Rogers
Reverend Frederick McFeely "Fred" Rogers was an American educator, minister, songwriter and television host. Rogers was the host of the internationally acclaimed children's television show "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", in production from 1968 to 2001. As Mister Rogers, he became an iconic presence to millions of viewers. Rogers was also an ordained Presbyterian minister. - Thomas Stevens
Thomas Stevens (or Stephens), Abbot of Netley Abbey and Beaulieu Abbey; (b. prob. c. 1490) (d. 1550) was an English renaissance clergyman and Cistercian monk. Little is known of Thomas' early life, but at some time in the early sixteenth century he became a monk at the small and poor Cistercian monastery of Netley Abbey in Hampshire. There he took holy orders and rose through the ranks so that by 1529 he was named abbot of Netley, succeeding John Corne. - Peter Watson
The Most Reverend Peter Watson was the archbishop of the Anglican diocese of Melbourne. He was born in Sydney, ordained priest in Sydney in 1962, consecrated as Bishop of Parramatta (in Sydney) in 1989 and became Bishop of South Sydney in 1993. In 2000 he was elected to succeed Keith Rayner, the retiring Archbishop of Melbourne, and was installed as Archbishop on 14 May, 2000, a position he held until 2005. - Richard Barnes
Richard Barnes (1532-August 241587) was an Anglican priest who served as a bishop in the Church of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was born in Bold which was then a village in south Lancashire. He attended Farnworth grammar school and then was admitted to Brasenose College, Oxford. Here he was elected a fellow in 1552, and received his BA in 1553. This was followed by a BD and then a MA in 1557. Finally he became a DD in 1579. - Albert Outler
Albert Cook Outler (1908-1989) was a 20th century American Methodist theologian and philosopher. Outler is generally considered to be one of the most important Wesley scholars in the history of the Church as well as the first real United Methodist theologian. He was also a key figure in the 20th century ecumenical movement. Outler was born and raised in Georgia and was an ordained Methodist Elder who served in several appointments. - Samuel Phillips
Samuel Phillips was an English journalist, the son of a Jewish tradesman. He was educated at University College London, and then at Göttingen. Having renounced the Jewish faith, he returned to England and entered Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University, with the design of taking orders. His father's death, however, prevented this, and in 1841 he took to literary work. He wrote a novel, "Caleb Stukely" (1862), and other tales, … - Alfonso Salmeron
Alfonso (Alphonsus) Salmeron (September 8, 1515 - February 13, 1585) was a biblical scholar and one of the first Jesuits. - Mauro Piacenza
Mauro Piacenza (born September 15, 1944) is an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, President of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, and President of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology in the Roman Curia. Piacenza was born in Genoa, and was ordained to the priesthood by Giuseppe Cardinal Siri on December 21, 1969. - Hans Hermann Groër
Hans Wilhelm Groër was born in Vienna to Sudeten-German parents, with whom he moved in 1929 to Czechoslovakia, where they remained for the next decade. He attended seminaries in Hollabrunn and Vienna (where he received his doctorate in theology) before being ordained to the priesthood on April 12, 1942 by Theodor Cardinal Innitzer. Groër then served as a chaplain in Petronell and Bad Vöslau until 1946, … - Felix Maria Davídek
Felix Maria Davídek was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was born in Chrlice in what today is the Czech Republic. He was ordained a priest on June 29, 1945 in the diocese of Brno. He was arrested by the Czech secret police and was in prison from 1950 to 1964. He was secretly ordained a bishop by Bishop Jan Blaha, under appeal to pontifical privileges granted from 1951 to 1989 to bishops in communist countries, on October 29 1967, … - Louis Vezelis
Louis Vezelis, OFM (born 1930) is a Franciscan bishop and a Traditional Catholic. - Guido Gezelle
Guido Gezelle (May 1, 1830 - November 27, 1899) was a Flemish writer and poet and a Roman Catholic priest. He was born in Bruges in the province of West Flanders, where he also spent most of his life. He was ordained a priest in 1854, and worked as a teacher and priest in Roeselare. He was always interested in all things in English and was given the prestigious right of being the priest for the 'English Convent' in Bruges. - Herbert Cardinal Vaughan
Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (April 15, 1832 - June 19, 1903) was a British Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Westminster. He was born at Gloucester, the eldest son of Lieutenant-Colonel John Francis Vaughan, head of an old recusant (Roman Catholic) family, the Vaughans of Courtfield, Herefordshire. His mother, a Catholic convert, Eliza Rolls from The Hendre, Monmouthshire, Wales, was intensely religious; and all five of the Vaughan family's daughters became nuns, … - Walter Farquhar Hook
Walter Farquhar Hook, was an eminent Victorian churchman. He was the Vicar of Leeds responsible for the construction of the current Leeds Parish Church and for many ecclesiastical and social improvements to the city in the mid-nineteenth century. His achievements, as a High Churchman and Tractarian in a non-conformist city are remarkable. Later in life he became Dean of Chichester. Hook was born in London on 13 March, 1798, and educated first at Tiverton, … - Richard Stanyhurst
Richard Stanyhurst (1547 - 1618), was an Irish alchemist, translator, poet and historian, born in Dublin. His father, James Stanyhurst was recorder of the city, and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in 1557, 1560 and 1568. Richard was sent in 1563 to University College, Oxford, and took his degree five years later. At Oxford he became intimate with Edmund Campion. After leaving the university he studied law at Furnival's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. - Medardus
Saint Medardus (French "Médard"; c. 456-8 June, c. 545) was the bishop of Vermandois who removed the seat of the diocese to Noyon. Medardus was born at Salency (Oise), in Picardy. His father, Nectardus, was of Frankish origin, while his mother Protagia was Gallo-Roman. The "Roman Martyrology" includes the fanciful tale that Saint Gildardus, Bishop of Rouen, was his brother, "born on the same day, consecrated bishops on the same day, … - Henry Francis Lyte
Henry Francis Lyte (June 1, 1793 - November 20, 1847) was an Anglican divine and hymn-writer. He was born in West Mains (a farm) near Ednam, near Kelso, Scotland, which was then known as "the Cottage", in the year 1793. His father was a naval officer, which is curious partly because the farm was not so near the sea. His family came from Somerset in South West England. In 1804, the family went to Ireland and he was educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, …
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