Administrative Canon Law (J.C.L.)

Program Overview

The Licentiate in Canon Law (J.C.L.) in Administrative Canon Law studies the law by which the church is governed from day to day. Most canonical decisions are not judgments but administrative acts: a decree merging parishes, a rescript granting a dispensation, a precept imposed on a cleric, the refusal of a permission. Each must be issued by someone with the power to issue it, for a lawful reason, through a fair procedure, and each can be challenged. This specialization trains the canonist who drafts those acts and the one who tests them. Students study the executive power of governance and its delegation; general decrees and instructions; singular decrees and precepts, rescripts, privileges, and dispensations; and the canons that require a decision-maker to gather information, hear those whose rights may be injured, and give reasons in writing. They then follow the remedies: the petition for revocation or amendment addressed to the author of the decree, hierarchical recourse to the superior, and contentious-administrative recourse before the Apostolic Signatura. The program closes with the special procedures for the removal and transfer of pastors, the suppression and merger of parishes, and the relegation of a church to profane but not sordid use. Graduates work in chanceries and curial offices, advise religious institutes and associations of the faithful, and represent members of the faithful in recourse. The licentiate thesis analyses one administrative question — the reasons a decree must give, the merger of parishes, or the remedies open to a removed pastor — through the canons, the practice of the dicasteries, and the decisions of the Signatura. Offices in the curia are conferred by the competent authority, who judges each candidate's qualifications.

Core Courses

• JCL 701 — General Norms and the Sources of Canon Law (6 credits)
• JCL 712 — The Power of Governance (6 credits)
• JCL 723 — Singular Administrative Acts (6 credits)
• JCL 734 — Administrative Recourse (6 credits)
• JCL 745 — Parishes, Offices, and Restructuring (6 credits)
• JCL 760 — Canonical Latin and Legal Method (6 credits)
• JCL 790 — Licentiate Thesis in Administrative Canon Law (12 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in canon law, or a master's degree in theology, ministry, or law with the canonical foundations completed during the program
• Experience in parish, chancery, tribunal, religious institute, or church administration
• Statement of purpose naming the canonical field chosen and the service it will support
• Reading knowledge of Latin, or willingness to develop it during the first year of study
• Current curriculum vitae or ministry profile
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available
• Letter of support from a bishop, religious superior, or employer when requested