History of Canon Law (J.C.D.)

Program Overview

The Doctor of Canon Law (J.C.D.) in the History of Canon Law asks where church law came from, because a canonist who knows only the current text will misunderstand it. Nearly every canon in force carries a history: a council that settled a dispute, a decretal that answered a hard case, a medieval commentator who framed the question, a codification that compressed centuries into a paragraph. Students trace the canonical tradition from the apostolic church and the early councils through the collections of late antiquity, the Pseudo-Isidorian forgeries, the reform of the eleventh century, Gratian's Decretum and the emergence of the classical period, the decretists and decretalists, the Liber Extra and later official collections, Trent and its disciplinary reforms, the ius commune, the 1917 Pio-Benedictine Code, the Second Vatican Council, and the 1983 Code and CCEO. Students learn the skills the field requires: reading canonical Latin, handling manuscripts and critical editions, tracing a canon through successive collections, and using historical sources responsibly to interpret current law. Graduates teach canon law and church history, serve tribunals and chanceries with unusual interpretive depth, and contribute to the scholarship on which future revision depends. The dissertation traces a specific canonical institution, canon, or collection and shows what its history means for present practice.

Core Courses

• JCD 801 — Sources and Method in Canonical History (6 credits)
• JCD 812 — Early Church, Councils, and Late Antique Collections (6 credits)
• JCD 824 — Gratian and the Classical Period (6 credits)
• JCD 836 — Trent to the Pio-Benedictine Code (6 credits)
• JCD 848 — Vatican II, the 1983 Code, and the CCEO (5 credits)
• JCD 860 — Doctoral Research Design in Canon Law (4 credits)
• JCD 899 — Doctoral Dissertation in the History of Canon Law (24 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree or ecclesiastical licentiate in canon law, theology, ministry, or law
• Experience in tribunal, chancery, diocesan, religious institute, or church governance work
• Statement of purpose describing canonical interests and intended service to the church
• Reading ability in Latin, or willingness to develop it during the program
• Current curriculum vitae or ministry profile
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available
• Writing sample, canonical opinion, or research paper when requested