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The education in canon law that I received at The Catholic University of America was a defining moment in my life as a priest. As a seminarian, however, I did not pay much attention to the subject, I am embarrassed to admit, because I did not think it would be that important for what I hoped to do in my ministry teaching in a Vincentian Catholic high school. Coming to CUA changed my perspective so much. I realized as I studied the “new code” and its underlying ecclesiology --- my previous seminary coursework had focused on the 1917 code --- that canon law was such an important way in which the Church presented itself and structured its application of the Gospel and Catholic theology to daily life in the Church. I concentrated my licentiate and doctoral coursework on canonical provisions for Catholic universities. Little did I know or even consider then that I would return to CUA one day as its president.
Truly great professors and canonists like Fr. Jack Lynch, Msgr. Tom Greene, Fr. Bob Kennedy, the late Fr. Jim Provost, Msgr. Fred McManus, Fr. Les Orsy, Sr. Sharon Holland, Sr. Elizabeth McDonough brought the 1983 Code of Canon Law to life for me. They are the ones who enabled me to be a seminary professor, to serve many dioceses as a tribunal judge and canonical consultant, to advise many religious communities, to negotiate the discussions surrounding Ex Corde Ecclesiae and to make some contribution, albeit modest, to the implementation of canon law within the Church in the United States.
My provincial at the time, also a canonist and a graduate of CUA’s program, offered me the opportunity to study canon law anywhere in the world. I chose The Catholic University of America and have never regretted it for one moment. The presence and experience of classmates from all over the country and the world not only opened my mind and my eyes to a larger vision of the Church but they opened my heart and soul to the realization that canon law was not a restricting obstacle but a work of pastoral charity for the service of the People of God. |
