Resources

Advice on Legal Practice

Confessions of a Catholic Litigator
David A. Shaneyfelt
17 U. St. Thomas L.J. 111 (2020)
Mr. Shaneyfelt, through the lens of faith, reflects on the external effects he has on others and the risks to which he exposes himself as a Catholic litigator.

The Catholic Lawyer: “Faith” in Three Parts
John M. Breen
20 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol’y 431 (2006)
Professor Breen considers what it means to be a faithful Catholic and a faithful lawyer.

Ethics

Catholic Moral Teaching and Natural Law: Changing the Way We Think About and Teach Professional Legal Ethics
Peter P. Meringolo
44 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 1067 (2013)
Mr. Meringolo “argues that Catholic law schools should educate their pupils in the moral tradition of natural law, and Catholic lawyers should seek to integrate this tradition into their day-to-day practice, especially in the area of professional ethics.”

Catholic Legal Education

The Catholic Sponsorship of Legal Education: A Bibliography
William J. Wagner & Denise M. Ryan
78 Marq. L. Rev. 507 (1995)

The Ideal of a (Catholic) Law School
Christopher Wolfe
78 Marq. L. Rev. 487 (1995)
Professor Wolfe discusses his ideal of a Catholic law school.

God and Man in the Catholic Law School
Leonard J. Nelson, III
26 Cath. Law. 127 (1981)
Professor Nelson examines the early history of Catholic law schools and obstacles to the realization of their vision, discusses examples of their development, and proposes reforms.

Catholic Social Teaching and the Law

Catholic Social Teaching and American Legal Practice
Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.
30 Fordham Urb. L.J. 277 (2002)
Cardinal Dulles argues “that faith-based, but rationally defensible, social theory can make a significant contribution to the work of professional schools, especially those operating in Christian and Catholic universities.”

On Doing Justice & Walking Humbly with God: Catholic Social Thought on Law as a Tool for Building Justice
Lucia Ann Silecchia
46 Cath. U. L. Rev. 1163 (1997)
Professor Silecchia discusses “the view developed in modern Catholic social thought about the role of law as a tool to achieve social justice.”

Law and Culture

Law and Culture
Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
1 Ave Maria L. Rev. 1 (2003)
In remarks at the dedication of Ave Maria School of Law, Cardinal George addressed the interplay of law and culture in American society.

Saint Thomas More

Apostolic Letter Issued Motu Proprio, Proclaiming Saint Thomas More Patron of Statesmen and Politicians
Pope John Paul II
2000

St. Thomas More
Richard Gilman
1 Cath. Law. 44 (1955).

St. Thomas More—Lawyer and Politician
Miles F. McDonald
1 Cath. Law. 121 (1955).

The Center for Thomas More Studies

Popes Addressing Lawyers

The Legacy of John Paul II to Lawyers
John F. Coverdale
36 Seton Hall L. Rev. 1 (2005)
Professor Coverdale discusses issues of philosophical and theological anthropology and examines St. John Paul II’s approach to specific issues related to the legal system.

Pope Francis and the Vocation of the Lawyer: Reflections on Service and Responsibility
Lucia A. Silecchia
54 J. Cath. Legal Stud. 23 (2015)
Professor Silecchia discusses Pope Francis’s views of the law and the vocation of the lawyer.

Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to Participants at the World Congress of the International Association of Penal Law
2019

Letter of Pope Francis to Participants in the 19th International Congress of the International Association of Penal Law and of the 3rd Congress of the Latin-American Association of Penal Law and Criminology
2014