Katana VentraIP

Doctor of Canon Law (Catholic Church)

Doctor of Canon Law (Latin: Juris Canonici Doctor, JCD) is the doctoral-level terminal degree in the studies of canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. It can also be an honorary degree awarded by Anglican colleges. It may also be abbreviated ICD or dr.iur.can. (Iuris Canonici Doctor), ICDr, DCL, DCnl, DDC, or DCanL (Doctor of Canon Law). A doctor of both laws (i.e. canon and civil) is a JUD (Juris Utriusque Doctor) or UJD (Utriusque Juris Doctor).

Course of study[edit]

A doctorate in canon law normally requires earning the degree Licentiate of Canon Law, then at least two years of additional study and the development and defence of an original dissertation that contributes to the development of canon law. Only a pontifical university or ecclesiastical faculties of canon law may grant the doctorate or licentiate in canon law.


The Licentiate of Canon Law is a three-year degree. The prerequisite for it is normally the graduate-level Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology, a Master of Divinity, or a Master of Arts in Catholic Theology.


While not a civil law degree, the doctor of canon law is in some ways comparable to the Doctor of Juridical Science (JSD) or doctor of laws (LLD) in terms of the nature of study, as they are terminal academic research degrees as opposed to professional degrees.

Ecclesiastical office prerequisite[edit]

Members of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, Auditors of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, judicial vicars, ecclesiastical judges, defenders of the bond, and promoters of justice, must possess either a doctorate or licence in canon law. Either of the degrees is recommended for those who serve as vicar general or episcopal vicar in a diocese. Candidates for bishop must either possess the doctorate in canon law or the doctorate in sacred theology or be truly expert in one of those fields. Canonical advocates must possess the doctorate or be truly expert.

President Emeritus of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See

Lorenzo Antonetti

Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guayaquil, Ecuador; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)[1]

Antonio Arregui Yarza

former Master of the Order of Preachers; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)[2]

Carlos Azpiroz Costa

pope

Pope Benedict XV

cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia, United States

Anthony Bevilacqua

cardinal, Prefect-Emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)

Alberto Bovone

Cardinal Archbishop of Armagh, Ireland

Seán Brady

Cardinal Prefect - Emeritus of the Apostolic Signatura, Archbishop Emeritus of Saint Louis, Missouri, and Bishop Emeritus of La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States

Raymond Leo Burke

cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Bologna, Italy

Carlo Caffarra

cardinal, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei

Darío Castrillón Hoyos

mathematician and astronomer of the Renaissance, formulated a heliocentric model of the universe; received degree 31 May 1503 (Jure Canonico ... et doctoratus)

Nicolaus Copernicus

Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, England; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)[3]

Kevin John Dunn

cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of New York, United States

Edward Egan

President Emeritus of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei

Angelo Felici

Archbishop, Prefect of the Papal Household, private secretary to Pope Benedict XVI

Georg Gänswein

cardinal, Holy See Secretary of State, codifier of the 1917 Code of Canon Law

Pietro Gasparri

late Titular Archbishop of Xanthus, Apostolic Nuncio Emeritus to Great Britain, prominent armorist of twentieth-century ecclesiastical heraldry

Bruno Heim

cardinal, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)[4]

Julián Herranz Casado

Archbishop Emeritus of Baltimore, United States

William Keeler

Archbishop Emeritus of Louisville, Kentucky, United States; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)[5]

Thomas C. Kelly

Apostolic Nuncio to Australia

Giuseppe Lazzarotto

Archbishop of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and formerly Bishop of La Crosse, Wisconsin; Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, Illinois, United States; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)[6]

Jerome Edward Listecki

English Bishop of St Davids, diplomat and canonist, most notable for the publisher of The Provinciale

William Lyndwood

President of Ireland 1997 - 2011

Mary McAleese

Archbishop Emeritus of Miami, Florida, and namesake of Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, United States

Edward A. McCarthy

archbishop, Apostolic Nuncio to Poland and formerly the Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer, Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations

Celestino Migliore

Bishop Emeritus of Hallam, England; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)[7]

Gerald Moverley

Bishop of Trenton, New Jersey, United States, and President Emeritus of the Catholic University of America; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Catholic University of America[8]

David M. O'Connell

cardinal, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)[9]

Silvio Oddi

Bishop of Springfield, Illinois, United States

Thomas Paprocki

pope; awarded Doctorate in Canon Law from the University of Milan

Pope Paul VI

Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff, Wales; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)[10]

Peter Smith

referendary of the Apostolic Signatura; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Catholic University of America School of Canon Law in 1991

Edward N. Peters

Bishop of Santiago del Estero, Argentina

Francisco Polti Santillan

Dean of the College of Cardinals

Giovanni Battista Re

cardinal, former President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue

Jean-Louis Tauran

professor of Canon Law at Catholic University of Leuven, former senator for the Christian Democratic and Flemish party in the Belgian Senate, former rector of the Catholic University of Leuven

Rik Torfs

cardinal, Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly, India; awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)[11]

Mar Varkey Vithayathil