Famous Canon Lawyers

The Popes

	Pope Pius XII (May, 1939 – October, 1958) : A lawyer’s son and descended from a family of jurists, this Pope was the right hand of Cardinal Gasparri’s in codifying the canon law.  In 1931 he installed the Vatican Radio Station and was the first Pope to use it for pastoral purposes.
	Pope Benedict XV (September, 1914 – January, 1922) :  This Pope obtained his doctorate in civil law before he was ordained.  He promulgated the new Code of Canon Law of 1917 which had been complete in large part by his predecessor, Pius X.  He appointed the Commission charged with the interpretation of it.
	Pope Pius X (August 1903 – August, 1914) :  His motto was “To restore all things in Christ”   and he aimed all of his efforts to serving as a religious Pope and not a political one.  He thoroughly revised the Code of Canon Law.  Although he did not promulgate it, that work was completed during his reign.
	Pope Pius VIII (March, 1989 – November, 1830) : Studied canon law at Bologna and Rome after he was first ordained.  In his short papacy, begun in ill health,  he managed to complete one encyclical, Traditi Humilitati Nostrae.  He was vocal in condemning Freemasonry and its influence on education.
	Pope Gregory XIII (May, 1572 – April, 1585) : Studied and taught canon law at Bologna before he was ordained at the age of forty and with responsibility for a son.  He was so highly regarded in the law that he served in the Council of Trent as a canon law expert.   As required by Trent, he organized the publication of an approved edition of the Corpus of Canon Law in 1582.  On many occasions he used his legal expertise to accomplish the reversion of papal lands wherever a title appeared at all defective.
	Pope Leo X (March, 1513 – December, 1521) : Elected Pope at the age of thirty-seven, Leo was the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent de’ Medici.  He had begun his professional life in the Church at age 7.    It was during his reign that Martin Luther posted his ninety-five theses of protest on the Church.  It was Leo who excommunicated Luther.
	Pope Urban VI (April 1378 – October 1389) : Considered by many to be an expert in canon law, Urban was elected during riots that actually spilled into the Conclave room of the electors.    Soon after it became a common belief that Urban was deranged and incapable.  The situation became so bad that his opponents declared his election invalid due to the riots and elected Clement VII, which set off the Great Schism of the West.
	Pope John XXII (August, 1316 – December, 1334):  The election of this Pope took more than two years because the Conclave was interrupted frequently by riots.  A Frenchman, this Pope was trained in canon law at Montpellier.  His own decretals, The Extravagantes, long remained the basis of ecclesiastical jurisprudence.
	Pope Boniface VIII (December, 1294 – October, 1303) : This Pope was an expert in canon law who used his authority and expertise to counsel his predecessor, Pope Celestine, to abdicate his Papacy.  He was extreme and most unsuccessful in his political activities.   His major achievement was his work in forming the third part of the Corpus of Canon Law.
	Pope Gregory IX (March 1227 – August, 1241) : A personal friend to both Saint Dominic and Saint Francis of Assisi, this Pope canonized both men during his papacy.  He published the Liber extra in 1234.   This work was the first, authoritative collection of papal decretals , which remained the fundamental source of canon law until the twentieth century.
	Pope Innocent III (January, 1198 – July, 1216) : This Pope studied canon law at Bologna and was named Cardinal by his uncle.
	Pope Clement III (December, 1187 | March, 1191)  Despite the nepotism, this Pope is arguably one of, if not the greatest, of Popes, having established the Vatican and the College of Cardinals.  His papacy defies any squib here.
	Pope Urban II (March 1088 – July 1099) : A monk initially, this Pope’s most memorable achievement was the launching of the First Crusade.  He was such a learned canonist that many of his decisions were incorporated into the Church’s early legal code.

	The Saints
	Saint Charles Borromeo (1538 – 1584) He received his doctorate in canon law at the university at Pavia.  His uncle, Pope Pius IV, appointed him the Vatican Secretary of State, and then, the Cardinal of Milan. It was he who influenced his uncle to reconvene the Council of Trent in 1562. He was known for his concern for the poor and is the patron learning and the arts.
	Saint Cajetan of Thiene (1480 – 1547) : He was born in Vicencza, Italy.   He received doctorates in both civil and canon law from the University of Padua.  After his ordination in 1516, he founded the Oratory of Divine Love.  He was renowned as a great reformer and influenced many of the reforms of the Council of Trent.
	Saint Yves (1253 – 1303)  He was both a civil and canon lawyer, and after finishing his education, became ordained.  He was known as an advocate of the poor, and his resistance to the unjust taxation of the King.
	Saint Raymond of Penafort, (1175 – 1275), was a Spanish canonist who studied canon law and received his doctorate at Bologna.  In 1222 he joined the Dominicans and was a noted preacher.  He was the confessor of Pope Gregory IX at whose direction he compiled the Liber extra, the fundamental source of canon law until the work of Pope Pius X in the early nineteen hundreds.  Saint Raymond is the patron saint of canon lawyers.
	Saint Thomas Becket  (1118 – 1170) : Born in England, he studied civil law in London and the University of Paris;  he studied canon law at Bologna before he was ordained deacon.  He was named Archbishop of Canterbury in 1161.  On December 29 1170, he was murdered in his own Cathedral for upholding the rights of his Church.

The Distaff
It’s not the quantity, but the quality and these women are among the finest canonists in the United States.

Sister Lucy Vazquez, O.P.  :  Doctorate Of Canon Law from the Catholic University of America.  First female president of the Canon Law Society of America.  First woman to win the Role of Law Award from the CLSA.

Sister Lynn M. Jarrell, O.S.U.  : Doctorate of Canon Law from the Catholic University of America;  Second woman to serve as president of the Canon Law Society of America. 

Sister Charlotte Rigali, C.S.J. :  Doctorate of Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas.  Sister has been a canon lawyer in the service of her Church before I was born.  Imagine that.   Her brother, Archbishop Justin Rigali, when The CLSA met in St. Louis, said that as his older sister, she had been an inspiration to him! 

CURRENT HIERARCHY
 United States:

His Eminence William Cardinal Keeler of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, MD

His Emminence,Justin Cardinal Rigali of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, PA

Most Rev. Raymond L. Burke, of the Archdiocese St. Louis, MO

Most Rev. Thomas G. Doran, of the Diocese of Rockford, IL

Most Rev. David E. Fellhauer, of the Diocese of Victoria, TX

Most Rev. Joseph C. Pepe, of the Diocese of Las Vegas, NV

Most Rev. Ronald Gaynor of the Diocese of Louisville, KY

Most Rev. Joseph N. Perry, of the Diocese of Chicago, IL

Most Rev. Justin F. Rigali, of the Archdiocese of St. Louis

Most Rev. John J. Meyers of the Diocese of Newark, NJ

Republic of Ireland:
 
Most Reverend John McAreavey of the Diocese of Dromore