''The Jurist: Studies in Church Law and Ministry'' or simply ''The Jurist'' is a

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

and the only journal published in the United States devoted to the study and promotion of the

canon law of the Catholic Church The canon law of the Catholic Church ("canon law" comes from Latin ') is "how the Church organizes and governs herself". It is the system of laws and ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Cathol ...

. It was initiated in 1940 to serve the academic and professional needs of Catholic church lawyers. It originally focused on the canon law of the

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

, but came to include

Eastern Catholic canon law The Eastern Catholic canon law is the law of the 23 Catholic ''sui juris'' (autonomous) particular churches of the Eastern Catholic tradition. Eastern Catholic canon law includes both the common tradition among all Eastern Catholic Churches, now ...

as well.

History

The first issue appeared on January 6, 1941. Initial responses to the journal were favorable, as it was declared "We applaud its present performance and look forward to the improvement which its initial effort promises and which maturity will bring" and "the first issue warrants the belief that the scholars of the United States will make valuable contributions to the study of canon law.".John C. Ford "Current Moral Theology and Canon Law," ''Theological Studies'' 2 (1941) p. 556 Until 1976, the journal was a quarterly publication, but since then it has been issued twice yearly; beginning with volume 71, the journal has been published by the

Catholic University of America Press The Catholic University of America Press, also known as CUA Press, is the publishing division of The Catholic University of America. Founded on November 14, 1939, and incorporated on July 16, 1941,Roy J. Deferrari ''Memoirs of the Catholic Univer ...

for the

Catholic University of America School of Canon Law The School of Canon Law is the only faculty of canon law of the Catholic Church, Catholic canon law in the United States. It is one of the twelve schools at The Catholic University of America, located in Washington, D.C.editorial board The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take. Mass media At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, a ...

consists of the faculty of the School of Canon Law at the Catholic University of America, the only such school in the United States. The journal is published in print and online at

Project MUSE Project MUSE, a non-profit collaboration between libraries and publishers, is an online database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books. Project MUSE contains digital humanities and social science content from over 250 university ...

Scope

Initially the journal focused largely on issues of Latin church law both in terms of its history, medieval and modern, and contemporary practice. However, within the past few decades since the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

, it has broadened its horizons and audience. For it also explores questions of interest to theologians,

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...

church lawyers, civil lawyers, diocesan planners and diocesan finance and personnel officials. Recent issues have contained the decisions of the

Apostolic Signatura The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura () is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church (apart from the pope himself, who as supreme ecclesiastical judge is the final point of appeal for any ecclesiastical judgment). In additio ...

in Latin and English translation.

Editors

Previous editors included

Jerome Daniel Hannan Jerome Daniel Hannan (November 29, 1896 – December 15, 1965) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Scranton from 1954 until his death in 1965. Biography Early life Jerome Hannan was ...

Frederick R. McManus Frederick Richard McManus (born February 8, 1923, Lynn, Massachusetts – died November 27, 2005, Boston, Massachusetts) was an American Catholic Church, Catholic Priesthood (Catholic Church), priest and academic, who served as a peritus on the li ...

(1959-1989), James H. Provost, Thomas J. Green, and

Kurt Martens Kurt Martens (born March 31, 1973 in Tielt, Belgium) is a Belgian professor and canon lawyer. Biography Martens studied as a secondary school student at the Sint-Jozefscollege in Tielt. Later as a student at the Catholic University of Louvain, h ...

. The current editor is William L. Daniel.

References

Publications established in 1941 Academic canon law Law and religion journals American law journals Biannual journals English-language journals Academic journals published by university presses of the United States Catholic University of America academic journals Catholic University of America School of Canon Law Peer reviewed law journals Catholic studies journals {{Catholic-Church-journal-stub