Richard Simon CO, was a French priest, a member of the Oratorians, who was an influential biblical critic, orientalist and controversialist.

The Congregation of the Oratory of Jesus and Mary Immaculate, best known as the French Oratory, is a society of apostolic life of Catholic priests founded in 1611 in Paris, France, by Pierre de Bérulle (1575–1629), later a cardinal of the Catholic Church. They are known as Bérullians or Oratorians. The French Oratory had a determinant influence on the French school of spirituality throughout the 17th century. It is separate and distinct from the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, which served as its inspiration.