Law of Consecrated Life (J.C.D.)

Program Overview

The Doctor of Canon Law (J.C.D.) in the Law of Consecrated Life serves institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life — communities whose internal law is often the difference between flourishing and slow institutional collapse. Superiors, formators, and canonical advisers face questions the Code answers only in part: what proper law must contain, how a chapter is convoked, what autonomy a monastery retains, how a fragile community may be helped or united with another. Students work through Book II, Part III: the erection and suppression of institutes, the distinction between religious institutes, secular institutes, and societies of apostolic life, admission and formation, the profession of the evangelical counsels and their canonical effects, obligations and rights of members, the government of institutes and the competence of chapters and superiors, the administration of goods, separation from the institute in its several forms, and the canonical status of hermits, consecrated virgins, and new forms of consecrated life. Cor Orans and the norms for women's contemplative monasteries receive particular attention, as do federations, the accompaniment of ageing communities, and the canonical questions raised by declining vocations. Graduates serve as canonical advisers to institutes, formators, delegates and visitators, and teachers of the law of consecrated life. The dissertation usually addresses a live question for real communities: the revision of proper law, the canonical shape of a union or federation, or the treatment of a member in a difficult separation.

Core Courses

• JCD 801 — General Norms and the Structure of Church Law (6 credits)
• JCD 812 — Institutes of Consecrated Life and Their Proper Law (6 credits)
• JCD 824 — Admission, Formation, and Profession (6 credits)
• JCD 836 — Government, Chapters, and Authority (6 credits)
• JCD 848 — Goods, Separation, and Institutional Change (5 credits)
• JCD 860 — Doctoral Research Design in Canon Law (4 credits)
• JCD 899 — Doctoral Dissertation on the Law of Consecrated Life (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