Licentiate of Canon Law (Latin:Juris Canonici Licentiatus;[1]JCL) is the title of an advancedgraduate degree with canonical effects in theRoman Catholic Church offered by pontifical universities and ecclesiastical faculties ofcanon law.Licentiate is the title of a person who holds an academic degree called a licence. The licentiate of canon law is the ordinary way for forming future canonists, according toVeritatis gaudium.[2]
Licentiate programs in canon law involve a study of the whole corpus ofcanon law in the Roman Catholic Church, understood in terms of itstheological, philosophical, andhistorical background, and the method and practice of scholarly scientific research. Consequently, experts incanon law have a comprehensive understanding of the nature of law specifically in the life of the church.
The usual prerequisites for a licence in canon law are that a candidate must have theBachelor of Sacred Theology degree (STB),Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.),Master of Arts (MA) degree inRoman Catholic theology, orJuris Doctor (JD) degree and a bachelor's degree in canon law (JCB) or its relative equivalent. Candidates with a heavy concentration of theological and philosophical coursework during undergraduate studies may be exempted from further academic prerequisites.
In order for a candidate to obtain the licentiate of canon law, he or she must complete a six-semester (two years year-round, three years with summer break), program of canonical studies, pass a comprehensive oral examination before a jury of faculty members, and write a thesis on a particular theme that demonstrates the student's ability to function professionally in the field.
The licence in canon law is required for a person to teach canon law in apontifical university orCatholic seminary. The licence is also the prerequisite to thedoctorate in the same field (JCD). Furthermore, the degree is a prerequisite for several officers of Catholicecclesiastical courts: judges (including thejudicial vicar), thePromoter of Justice, and theDefender of the Bond all must at least possess this degree.
Notable faculties which offer the licence in canon law include: thePontifical Lateran University (Lateranum, also known as "The Pope's University"), thePontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum); thePontifical Gregorian University (Gregorianum), thePontifical University of the Holy Cross (Santa Croce), thePontifical Urban University (Urbanianum), theUniversity of Navarra inPamplona, theCatholic University of America,Saint Paul University in Canada, thePontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas inManila, Philippines, theKatholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, theInstitut Catholique de Paris, theLudwig Maximilian University of Munich, theWestfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster in Germany, and the Faculty of Canon Law "S. Pio X" in Venice ofStudium Generale Marcianum.
