The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1178 page)

 
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(
c.
675–
c.
749).
E. Christian theologian, known as Chrusorroas, ‘gold-flowing’. After holding a high official position in the Muslim government in Damascus for ten or twenty years, he moved to the monastery of St Sabas near Jerusalem, and became a priest. He came to prominence there after 726 on account of his
Three Apologies against those who Attack the Divine Images
(see
ICONOCLASM
). His other most important work, the
Fount of Wisdom
, was an important source for subsequent writers, including
Aquinas
. He was declared a
Doctor of the Church
in 1890, with a feast day on 27 Mar.; 4 Dec. in the E.

 
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(1495–1550).
Holy
fool and founder of the ‘Brothers Hospitallers’. Born in Portugal and piously brought up, he became a soldier and abandoned religious practice. When he was about 40, he was converted and sought to atone for his former life. Unsuccessful in his bid for martyrdom in Morocco, he returned to Spain and lived a life of sanctity marked by excesses of penitence and devotion. Under St John of Avila's influence, he diverted his energies to the care of the sick and poor. His order took shape after his death.

 
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(1542–91).
Poet, mystic, and joint founder of the Discalced
Carmelites
. He entered the Carmelite Order in 1563 and studied at Salamanca (1564–8). Faced with what he regarded as laxity in the order, he considered becoming a
Carthusian
.
Teresa
of Avila persuaded him to stay and undertake her own kind of reform. He spent the rest of his life furthering the reform and suffering imprisonment and banishment from those opposed to his and Teresa's vision. Out of his suffering his great works of mystical theology were born. All take the form of commentaries on his own poems, amongst the greatest in Spanish.
The
Ascent of Mount Carmel
and the
Dark Night of the Soul
expound the
dark night
, the
Spiritual Canticle
expounds the whole spiritual life through commentary on his long poem inspired by the
Song of Songs
, and the
Living Flame of Love
is concerned with the
unitive way
. He died on 14 Dec. (feast day), saying, ‘Tonight I shall sing
mattins
in heaven.’ He was canonized in 1726 and declared a Doctor in 1926.

 
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(1912–78).
Pope
from 26 Aug. to 28 Sept. 1978. He was made bishop of Vittorio Veneto in 1958, and patriarch of Venice in 1969. He was made
cardinal
in 1973. He was elected pope on the third ballot and was acclaimed as ‘God's candidate’, and as one who would develop
Vatican II
while conserving the tradition. He died of a heart attack while reading papers in bed. Subsequent theories (building in part on the absence of an autopsy) claimed that he was poisoned because of his determination to clarify the suspect dealings of the Vatican Bank. He wrote
Catechesis in Easy Stages
(1949) and
Illustrissimi
(1978), letters addressed to figures in the past. The hope that the papacy would continue to develop the vision of Vatican II and would be committed, not just in rhetoric but in reality, to a gospel of commitment to the poor, faded under his successor: see
JOHN PAUL II
.

 
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(b. 1920).
Pope since 1978. Karol Wojtyla was a professor at Lublin University and archbishop of Cracow before becoming the first non-Italian pope since 1523. An energetic man of engaging personality, he has become a well-known figure throughout the world because of his wide travels. He survived an attempt to assassinate him in Rome 1981. Conservative on moral and doctrinal issues, he has been concerned for social questions and for the defence of human rights.