The team of the Chair of Canon Law welcomes you on these pages. Here we inform you about the profile of our department, the tasks of the chair, introduce the staff and their main areas of research. You will also find current information about conferences and excursions.
As part of the seminar "Catholic Church in Germany - meeting people and institutions in Berlin", the responsible persons, Prof. Dr. Myriam Wijlens and Dr. Mykola Marksteiner-Mishchenko, organised the opportunity for students from the Faculty of Theology at the University of Erfurt to talk to management staff from five different institutions in Berlin on 31 October 2022. The aim was, on the one hand, to get to know the work tasks and projects of the institutions and, on the other hand, to explore potential traineeships and work positions.
Informative lectures, exciting discussions and enriching encounters took place for the 17 participants with Ms. Uta Losem, Deputy Head of the Commissariat of the German Bishops - Catholic Office, Mr. Andreas Unrau, Head of Department for Entrepreneurial Issues and Economy of the Social at the Caritas Association Germany, Prof. Dr. Thomas R. Elßner, Senior Scientific Director of the Catholic Military Bishops' Office and Dr. Jörg Lüer, Executive Director of the German Commission Justitia et Pax. For the shot, Nunciature Counsellor Dr Jürgen Doetsch received the group at the Apostolic Nunciature. After his lecture, he surprised the group with a wonderful light meal so that everyone could start the return journey refreshed. The students had prepared themselves for the encounters in terms of content in a seminar beforehand. They were very impressed by the work done by the different institutions. After the last few years, which were strongly influenced by Corona, it was good for everyone to be together as a group. A big thank you to all participants for a successful event!
Special thanks go to the Friends of the Catholic Theological Faculty Erfurt e.V., which was founded in 1996 with the aim of promoting the Catholic Theological Faculty both ideally and economically, and which supported the trip to Berlin financially. Further sponsorship measures and supporting projects as well as the possibility to become a member can be found at:
The universal Church will have much to learn from the global south at the Synod of Bishops about Synodality in the fall of 2023. "It's going to be an exciting story," said Prof. Myriam Wijlens, whom Pope Francis recently appointed as a consultor of the Synod of Bishops. She considers Synodality - the common journeying of the People of God - to be an extremely urgent topic.
You can read the whole article about the interview of Prof. Wijlens with Grudrun Sailer from Vatican News here.
Here you will find important information about exams in canon law.
Materials:
The following materials are generally permitted in the canon law examinations and are provided by the examination chairpersons/supervisors:
- Codex Iuris Canonici (CIC), with a supplement on the amendments in the case of older editions.
- Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium (CCEO).
Today, our graduates are active in many areas in Church and society, for example, in the German Bishops' Conference, in (inter)diocesan offices or in the leadership of a diocese.
Do you have questions about how to continue in the field of canon law after graduation?
We will be happy to advise you!
Here you will find a collection of important links:
Sources texts for canon law
Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium (1990)
Direktorium zur Ausführung der Prinzipien und Normen über den Ökumenismus (1993)
Instruktion zu einigen Fragen über die Mitarbeit der Laien am Dienst der Priester (1997)
Collection of materials