The title Father of the Church, which has its origin in the name of .. Father" given to bishops 1 as early as the second century, was commonly used in the fifth century to designate the old ecclesiastical writers - ordinarily bishops - who died in the faith and in communion with the Church. According to modern theologians, the title applies only to those writers who have the four following qualifications: orthodoxy of doctrine, holiness of life, ecclesiastical satlctiotJ, and antiquity. Practically, however, it is given to many others who do not possess the first three requisites. Nobody,...