CL 715 American Law for Canonists
Following courses on the juridical structure of the Church, norms of Church governance, marriage and religious freedom, this course provides students with an overview of the American legal system. Basic principles of American constitutional law and governance are touched on, with an emphasis on aspects of American law that are especially relevant to canon law today. As such, the course endeavors to assist students in seeing more clearly the relationship of canon law to civil law, and to become aware of the most significant areas where canon law and civil law are likely to interact.
The course presupposes a basic grasp of the Church's theological and juridic self-understanding. The course lays groundwork for understanding the most important issues concerning the relationship between the civil law and canon law in the United States today, with a view toward facilitating communication between canonists and civil lawyers who advise Church officials.