Great Teachers

Discover the greatest teachers of the Faith as Pope Benedict XVI highlights their essential role during a time of scandal and strife in the Church.

Focusing specifically on the thirteenth-century founding of the Franciscans by St. Francis of Assisi and the Dominicans by St. Dominic Guzman, the pope said personal holiness led the two saints to preach -- and to help actualize -- a return to Gospel poverty, a deeper unity with the Church, and a new movement of evangelization, including within the European universities that were blossoming at the time.

Their example continues to be relevant today as we struggle with a culture that "focuses more on having than on being," and look to emulate those holy people who chose to live very simply.