Pope Leo: Canon Law Serves Persons' Supernatural Good
At the Pontifical Gregorian University's 150th anniversary, he said canon law serves the supernatural good by linking justice to truth, mercy and communion.
Pope Leo XIV received participants in the international conference marking the 150th anniversary of the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University on October 23, 2026, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace. The congress ran from October 20 to 24.
The faculty was established on August 16, 1876, by Blessed Pius IX through the Congregation for Studies, building on centuries of Jesuit tradition at the Roman College. The Holy Father, who holds a doctorate in canon law, stressed the lasting place of that discipline in the life of the Church.
Safeguarding Ecclesial Communion
Canon law, he said, performs “an essential service in safeguarding ecclesial communion” and is “extremely necessary for the Church,” citing St. John Paul II’s apostolic constitution Sacrae Disciplinae Leges of January 25, 1983. He noted that it is “impossible to translate perfectly into canonical language the conciliar image of the Church” drawn from Lumen Gentium, yet canon law “must nonetheless reflect that image.” Its aim is “to create such an order in the ecclesial society that, while assigning the primacy to faith, grace and the charisms, it at the same time renders easier their organic development.”
The faculty’s Program of Studies states that “Church law must always be directed towards the supernatural good of the individual faithful and the edification of ecclesial communion.” The Pope placed that orientation at the heart of the work entrusted to canonists.
Justice Ordered by Love
He urged those present to pursue “true justice, which in the Church is never separated from truth and mercy,” quoting St. Augustine: “Ordinata dilectio est iustitia.” Drawing on the Jesuit heritage, he recalled the maxim “Non multa, sed multum” from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and called for the formation of persons with “an ecclesial sense of the iustum,” shaped through study, tradition, and theological principles.
Students from many countries, he said, should experience the universal Church in Rome “as a treasure to be shared” upon returning to their particular Churches. The faculty holds a “special role in serving the Petrine mission,” in fidelity to the Magisterium and in service to the Apostolic See. Pope Leo XIV expressed confidence that it would continue to bear “fruits of doctrine, learning and holiness of life.”