Comillas hosts the XLIV Conference on Canonical News
The Rector opened the conference by recalling Pope Francis and thanking him for "his rich legacy"
29 April 2025
Comillas was the venue, for yet another year, for the XLIV Conference on Canonical News organised by the Spanish Association of Canonists. The conference was marked by the death of Pope Francis. As a sign of mourning, the Faculty of Canon Law decided to suspend the traditional Spanish wine and the Eucharist was offered in suffrage for the members of the association, also in memory of Francis.
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The rector of the university, Antonio Allende SJ, was in charge of inaugurating the conference, accompanied by the lecturer in Canon Law and president of the association, Carmen Peña. The rector began his speech by acknowledging Pope Francis: "We mourn his departure but we rejoice in his legacy, rich in evangelical audacity, pastoral compassion and reforming vision," he said. "It was he who invited us to think about the structures of the Church in the light of synodality and reminded us that canon law is a tool at the service of communion, truth and justice," he concluded.
Carmen Peña, for her part, also acknowledged that she shared the pain for the death of Pope Francis, but said that "the best way to honour his figure is to delve into his legacy". "The theme of the conference was a good synthesis of the Pope's areas of interest and action," she said.
Throughout the three days of the conference, specialists from various fields presented topics of great relevance to current canonical issues in their various interventions. Among them, the final document of the Synod 2021-2024, the situation of women and the exercise of the power of regime in a Church, canonical and civil foundations, marriage, parental authority, education and religious convictions, and autonomy and vigilance in autonomous monasteries of nuns.
The conference concluded with the intervention of the lecturer in Canon Law, Carlos Morán, who expressed his gratitude for holding a forum such as this and who focused his intervention on the status of the victims in criminal canonical proceedings.
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