Canon Law
Accessing church laws | Combining law and practice
Canon law (canon law) deals with the legal dimension of the church. It researches the ecclesiastical legal system in terms of its history, theological foundation, implementation and areas of application. Both the laws of the Latin Church and those of the Eastern Catholic Churches are taken into account.
In addition to canon law norms, the department also deals with state law, which regulates the affairs of churches, faith communities and religions within the state legal system. This includes agreements, treaties and concordats between the respective states and the Holy See, as well as simple laws. They regulate the relationship between state and church.
Canon law is interdisciplinary in many areas. Within theology, it has many points of contact with all other theological disciplines. However, canon law also relies on disciplines outside of theology (e.g. Law and Psychology).
Canon law is represented within the degree programmes at the University of Innsbruck with regular courses. These include lectures on church constitutional law, the ministry of preaching and sanctification, marriage law and the legal foundations of education, counselling and pastoral care. There are also seminars on special current topics and excursions (e.g. to the Roman Curia).