History and Purpose
History
Pope Leo XIII in establishing the University in Magni nobis gaudi, authorized the granting of degrees in pontifical law. In 1891, the Reverend Doctor Sebastian Messmer, later Archbishop of Milwaukee and a member of the faculty of the School of Sacred Sciences, held the Myles O'Connor Chair of Canon Law. The Degree of Bachelor in Canon Law was first awarded in 1912, and the first doctor of canon law in 1916. In 1923, canon law was erected as a school in its own right distinct from the School of Theology, which status continues today (from 1976 to 2002 canon law was a department within the School of Theology). The School of Canon Law remains the only graduate program in canon law in the United States with the authorization to grant ecclesiastical degrees in that discipline.
Purpose
As an ecclesiastical faculty, the School of Canon educates students for licentiate and doctorate degrees in canon law. As authorized by the Apostolic See, the canonical degrees, Licentiate in Canon Law, J.C.L., and Doctorate in Canon Law, J.C.D., are awarded.
The Master of Church Administration Degree, a civil degree, incorporates a foundation in canon law with additional course work in a complementary area of study.
The School is a community of students, faculty and staff engaged in the common enterprise of serving the Catholic Church through the study, interpretation and application of canon law, with particular attention to the needs and opportunities of the Church in the United States. Students are educated both in the theory and practice of the law, and therefore are prepared for the professional practice of canon law in diocesan and religious administration, ecclesiastical tribunals, the teaching of canon law, and for scientific research.
The primary focus of courses offered in the school is the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church, promulgated by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1983 and as partially revised by Pope Francis in 2021, with attention also to the Code of Canons in Eastern Churches, promulgated by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1990. A proper understanding and implementation of the provisions of the current law of the Church require not only acquired skill in the technicalities of legal interpretation, but also a broad grasp of the historical, theological and legal influences which have contributed to its development, interpretation and application. The faculty members of the School inculcate in the students the importance of service to the Church through their own service in providing canonical advice to the bishops of the United States, major superiors of religious institutes and societies, and to individuals.
In keeping with the conciliar declaration Gravissimum Educationis, on Christian Education (n. 11), and formed by the Apostolic Constitution, Veritatis gaudium, the curriculum affords clergy, religious, and lay persons a thorough, contemporary, scholarly, pastoral preparation for service to the Church in positions of canonical responsibility.
The personal guidance of the faculty is directed at every level of instruction and inquiry to the practical needs of canonists at the present time, as well as to thesis and dissertation work that will acquaint and equip students with the applied methods of canonical research and writing needed by both practitioners and scholars.