Famous Religious Figures

• Aaron

  The brother of Moses who performed miracles with a rod

• Abraham

  Patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

• Arinze, Francis

  The African cardinal who was a potential successor to Pope John Paul II

• Asahara, Shoko

  Founder of Japan's Aum Shinri-kyo religion

• Bagnasco, Angelo

   Italian cardinal from Genoa

• Baha'u'llah

  The central figure of the Baha'i faith

• Bergoglio, Jorge Mario

  The Argentinian cardinal who became Pope Francis I

• Buddha

  The founder of Buddhism

• Bunyan, John

  Author of The Pilgrim's Progress

• Cranmer, Thomas

   The English reformer behind The Book of Common Prayer

• Dalai Lama

  The spiritual and political leader of Tibet

• Farrakhan, Louis

  Head of the Nation of Islam, 1978-

• Fox, George

  The founder of Quakerism

• Fox Sisters, The

  The toe-cracking teens who claimed to be spiritualists

• Haile Selassie

  Emperor of Ethiopia, 1930-74

• Held Evans, Rachel

  The LGBT-friendly Christian blogger who died tragically at 37

• Hildegard von Bingen

  Medieval prophet, healer and composer

• Hubbard, L. Ron

  Sci-fi author and founder of Scientology

• Hutchinson, Anne

  Religious midwife banished from colonial Massachusetts

• Jesus of Nazareth

  The son of God in the Christian religion

• Jones, Jim

  Christian preacher who led 908 followers to their deaths

• Koresh, David

  Founder of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas

• Lao Tzu

  Legendary founder of Taoism

• Magdalene, Mary

  The closest female disciple of Jesus of Nazareth

• Maimonides, Moses

  Medieval Jewish philosopher who wrote "Guide of the Perplexed"

• Mary

  Virgin mother of Jesus of Nazareth

• Moon, Sun Myung

  Founder of the Unification Church

• Moses

  Hebrew liberator who received the Ten Commandments

• Mother Ann Lee

  The founder of the American Shaker movement

• Mother Teresa

  The humanitarian nun of Calcutta who was made a saint in 2016

• Muhammad

  Founding prophet of Islam

• Muhammad, Elijah

  Nation of Islam leader, 1934-1975

• Murray, Pauli

  The Civil Rights Era hero who became an Episcopalian priest

• O'Malley, Seán Patrick

  Archibishop of Boston, 2003-present

• Penn, William

  The Quaker who founded Philadelphia

• Pope Benedict XVI

  The supreme leader of the Catholic Church, 2005-2013

• Pope Gregory XIII

  The pope who changed the calendar in 1582

• Pope John Paul I

  The pope who reigned for 33 days

• Pope John Paul II

  History's first Polish pope

• Pope Julius II

  The pope who hired Michelangelo for the Sistine Chapel

• Pope Leo X

  The Medici pope when the Reformation started

• Pope Pius IX

  The longest reigning pope ever

• Pope Urban VIII

  The pope who named Galileo a heretic

• Prabhupada, Srila

  Founder of the Hare Krishna movement

• Prester John

  Legendary medieval African Christian king

• Raël

  Founder of the Raëlian Movement

• Richelieu, Cardinal

  The power behind the throne of Louis XIII

• Rumi, Jalal Al-Din

  Founder of the Whirling Dervishes

• Russell, Charles T.

  Founder of the Watchtower Society

• Sadr, Muqtada al-

  Fiery young anti-U.S. cleric in post-Hussein Iraq

• Scola, Angelo

  The Archbishop of Milan, 2011-

• Smith, Joseph

  Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

• Tettamanzi, Cardinal Dionigi

  Catholic Archibishop of Milan, 2002-2011

• Turkson, Peter

   First Ghanian Catholic cardinal

• White, Ellen G.

  Seventh-Day Adventist visionary and writer

• X, Malcolm

  Assassinated leader of the 1960s black power movement

• Young, Brigham

  Early Mormon leader

• Zoroaster

  The founder of Zoroastrianism

See: Index by Occupation