The Fourteenth Colloquium of Anglican and Roman Catholic Canon Lawyers took place at the General Curia of the Order of Friars Minor, Rome, from 26 to 27 April 2013, where we enjoyed a characteristic Franciscan warm welcome and exceptional hospitality. The theme chosen for this year's Colloquium was ‘Teaching canon law’ in the two traditions. Representing the Anglican Communion were Professor Norman Doe, Anthony Jeremy, Professor Mark Hill QC, the Revd Dr Will Adam and Stephen Slack. From the Catholic Church the participants were Fr James Conn SJ, Fr Robert Ombres OP, Fr Fintan Gavin and Fr Aidan McGrath OFM, Secretary General of the Order of Friars Minor and our host.
Fr Robert Ombres presented a very enlightening paper in which he offered a sketch of how canon law was taught and studied in medieval universities, with particular reference to Ireland and Wales. He showed that many of the structures, degree titles and concepts we associate with canon law today have their origin in medieval times. It was interesting to note how much our two traditions hold in common, dating back to these times.
Professor Norman Doe, in a very comprehensive paper entitled ‘The teaching of church law and polity today: a global ecumenical perspective’, was able to establish through his own research what regulatory instruments churches use, such as charters, constitutions and statutes.Footnote 2 He then explored the educative role that law plays in the different traditions, as well as the requirement or not to study church law and polity in ministerial formation. He went on to outline the various approaches to content and style of courses of study in church law. His presentation showed the richness and the diversity of approach among the different Christian churches.
Dr Will Adam presented a paper on the teaching of canon law in the Anglican Communion, showing that there is quite a diversity in terms of both content and the amount of canonical training that clergy of the Anglican Communion receive. He concluded that expertise in legal matters is more likely to be found outside the clergy, and he suggested that there seems to be a preference in Anglicanism for such matters to be handled by lawyers rather than by clergy.
This was complemented by Stephen Slack's paper on ‘Canon law and the work of the Ministry Division of the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England'. Among the responsibilities of the Ministry Division is the setting of church-wide standards, the promotion of the development of best practice in training and formation development and, through its quality assurance work, checking that church-wide standards are maintained and encouraging training providers to develop best practice. Addressing himself to canon law he found that, while no specific requirement is made for the study of canon law, one of the learning outcomes deemed by the bishops as necessary for the office of deacon at the point of ordination is that candidates should ‘demonstrate familiarity with the legal, canonical and administrative responsibilities appropriate to the newly ordained and those working under supervision’. He noted that it is rare for canon law to be taught as a subject in its own right, and concluded with suggestions for ways in which the Church of England might strengthen the study and practice of canon law using a variety of means.
Professor James Conn, in his presentation on ‘The teaching of canon law in the (Roman) Catholic Church’, began by outlining the various pieces of legislation and administrative norms from the Apostolic See and of local bishops' conferences, which have governed the teaching of canon law in the Catholic Church at its various levels. He showed the systematic and almost uniform way that canon law is taught in the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world. There was much discussion about the contrast between this almost uniform and systematic approach to canon law in the Catholic Church, which is still predominantly, but not exclusively, the preserve of the clergy, and the much more diverse approach in the different Christian traditions presented by Professor Doe and more specifically in the Church of England, as highlighted in Dr Adam's and Mr Slack's presentations.
We had two short presentations on ‘The education role of the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland’, by Fr Aidan McGrath, and ‘The role of the Ecclesiastical Law Society in the teaching of canon law’, by Professor Mark Hill. It was found that the two have similar roles in supporting the education of canon lawyers in their respective traditions. The means employed are also very similar through the holding of conferences and seminars and the production of journals/newsletters and other publications.
Other highlights of the Colloquium were a dinner at the residence of the British Ambassador to the Holy See hosted by the Ambassador, Mr Nigel Baker, and an invitation to lunch at the Pontifical Irish College, Rome. The Colloquium was ecumenism in action, with honest and respectful sharing from both traditions in relation to canon law and teaching, highlighting many of the things that we hold in common and exploring some areas where our traditions are quite different, which helped us to come to a better understanding of each.
It was decided that the Fifteenth Colloquium will be held in London in March 2014 with the general theme of ‘Counsel and consent’.
