Famous French Spiritual & Religious Leaders

Salomon Isaacides, also popularly known as Rashi, was a medieval French rabbi. He is acclaimed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud. He also authored a  commentary on the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh). His works, penned in a concise and lucid manner, form the foundation of contemporary Jewish studies and rabbinic scholarship and interpretation.

Louise Marie Therese was a French nun who lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. She has been mentioned in many different sources, some dubiously claiming that she was the daughter of the Queen of France, Maria Theresa of Spain. She was a black woman and a Benedictine nun in the abbey of Moret-sur-Loing. 

John Baptist de La Salle, also known as La Salle, is remembered as the founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, or the de La Salle Brothers. Apart from setting up charitable boarding schools, he also trained teachers. He is revered as the patron saint of school teachers and educators.

Vincent de Paul was a 17th-century Catholic saint who established the Congregation of the Mission, whose followers are also known as Lazarists, or Vincentians. Known for his charity toward the peasant community and the poor, he also formed associations of women who helped and nursed the sick.

Peter the Hermit, also known as Little Peter, was a major figure of the First Crusade and a leader of the People’s Crusade, which entered the East before the Crusaders. He preached on the Mount of Olives just before Jerusalem was stormed. He also established an Augustinian monastery in Neufmoustier.

Pope Clement V heralded the Avignon Papacy by choosing Avignon as the papal residence instead of Rome. He also crushed the order of the Knights Templar and was known to favor his relatives. Following his death, his body was completely destroyed in a church fire caused by a lightning strike.

Jean-Louis Tauran was a French cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He was also the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church. Ordained to the priesthood in 1969, he entered the Vatican's diplomatic service a few years later. He was the Vatican's chief archivist and librarian for several years. 

Joseph Justus Scaliger was a French Calvinist scholar and religious leader. His works on chronology were regarded as one of the most important contributions of Renaissance scholars. Joseph Justus Scaliger is best remembered for inflating the idea of classical history from ancient Roman and Greek history to include Babylonian, Persian, ancient Egyptian, and Jewish history. 

Henri Grégoire, or Abbé Grégoire, was not just a Catholic priest but also a revolutionary. He first gained prominence with his Essay on the Regeneration of the Jews. A radical Jacobin, he was the first priest of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and also presided over the National Convention.