Conference on Catholic Legal Thought

The 4th Annual Conference on Catholic Legal Thought will be hosted at Catholic University’s Law School (Washington D.C.) from June 9 – 11, 2009.

As you may know, in June, 2006, at Fordham Law School, twenty-three Catholic law professors from all over the country met for three days to explore ways to foster the development of the emerging body of Catholic legal thought. At this initial meeting, it was decided that the group would meet annually to support the development of Catholic legal theory, and provide an enriching opportunity for law faculty to gather and discuss this theory and their work in the field. The annual meeting, it was decided, would be hosted by a different law school each year. This year, the Conference will be in Washington D.C., hosted at The Catholic University of America.

As with the prior conferences, this meeting is for those law professors who are just beginning to integrate Catholic social thought into their scholarship and teaching, as well as those law professors who are more experienced. As has become traditional, the first afternoon will be an introduction to basic principles of Catholic social teachings. The second and third days will consist of more in-depth, interactive presentations and discussions. Our time together will also encompass daily Mass and spiritual exercises, as well as the opportunity for participants to share meals and much informal fellowship.

For this 2009 Conference, we selected as our theme “The Legal Implications of the Work of Pope Benedict XVI” with the idea that our conversation would be organized around three central themes in his writings: Love, Hope, and Law (with the additional hope that these would correspond neatly with the first encyclicals of his papacy – the two already written and the highly anticipated one yet to come.) Unlike many typical conferences, we hope that this will not be a collection of presentations an audience, but rather that it will truly be a discussion led by our presenters with all conference participants. To that end, a list of reading materials will be circulated to all registrants in advance of the conference.

If you would like further information about the Conference and registration materials, please contact Prof. Lucia Silecchia (silecchia [at] law.edu).