Penal Canon Law (J.C.L.)

Program Overview

The Licentiate in Canon Law (J.C.L.) in Penal Canon Law prepares canonists for the part of church law that responds to wrongdoing. Penal cases are the hardest a diocese or a religious institute ever faces, and the cost of handling them badly falls on victims, on the accused, and on the credibility of the church itself. This specialization trains the canonist who can tell a bishop or a major superior what the law requires next, and why, at the moment when the pressure to act quickly or not at all is strongest. Students work through Book VI as revised by the apostolic constitution Pascite gregem Dei, which took effect on 8 December 2021: the purpose of penal sanctions, imputability and the circumstances that remove, diminish, or aggravate it, censures and expiatory penalties, penalties incurred automatically and those imposed by sentence or decree, the remission of penalties, and prescription. Particular attention goes to the delicts reserved to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the reporting procedures of Vos estis lux mundi, the preliminary investigation, and the choice between the judicial penal process and the extrajudicial decree. Throughout, the program holds together the protection of the vulnerable, the rights of the accused, and the restoration of justice. Graduates serve as canonical advisers to bishops and major superiors, members of safeguarding offices, notaries and auditors in penal cases, and advocates for the accused or for injured parties. The licentiate thesis addresses a penal question that practice keeps raising, such as imputability in cases of addiction, an allegation that arrives decades after the events, or the coordination of a canonical case with a civil prosecution. Appointment to judicial offices remains with the competent authority.

Core Courses

• JCL 701 — General Norms and the Sources of Canon Law (6 credits)
• JCL 712 — Principles of Canonical Penal Law (6 credits)
• JCL 723 — Delicts, Imputability, and Penalties (6 credits)
• JCL 734 — The Penal Process (6 credits)
• JCL 745 — Reserved Delicts and Safeguarding (6 credits)
• JCL 760 — Canonical Latin and Legal Method (6 credits)
• JCL 790 — Licentiate Thesis in Penal 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