Department of Canon Law – Canon Law History – Law and Religion

Welcome to the website of our seminar!

Practical Science

Canon Law aims at the explanation of legal structures and relationships as well as at decision-making processes, both on the level of the particular and of the universal church. The reform of the Code of Canon Law in the second half of the 20th century opened the door to universal church issues. Contemporary Canon Law of the 21st century needs to internalize this perspective in order to see the legally relevant reactions elsewhere related to the demands of time.

Legislative Changes 

Since the winter semester 2019/20, the canonically and state-recognised and certified training and further education: Counselling in ecclesiastical marriage law for theologians and lawyers has been established. Registration for this course is directly with the professorship: kirchenrecht[at]uni-mainz.de.

Historical research

The Catholic Church commands a huge body of legal historical norms. This body is partly developed through older and / or modern editions of research. To some extent, this is still in progress. Therefore, research and education mainly focus on the elucidation of legal historical relationships without which the contemporary canon law, both on universal and particular basis, would be inconceivable. All legal historical research of the department aims at this goal.

Law and Religion

Church and State Law (modern: Law and Religion) also belongs to the curriculum of the department. In cooperation with the protestant-theological faculty and the law faculty all students have interdisciplinary access to the subject.

Diocesan law

Canon Law should preferably be in a reflective dialogue between responsible persons and believers in the diocese. As a practical discipline, Canon Law serves the particular church, its hierarchy and the believers.

International Postgraduate Studies

The international cooperation with the Faculty of Canon Law of the KU Leuven provides graduates of theology and / or of law from the JGU Mainz with the opportunity of consecutive postgraduated studies in the majors "Society, Law and Religion" and "Canon Law " (Master of Arts (MA); Master of Comparative Law (MCL); Licentiate of Canon Law / Juris Canonici Licentia (JCL)).