Diocesan News17 Sep 15

Bishop of Cork Takes Part in Colloquium at Harvard University

The international group of lawyers, legal scholars and teachers who met in Harvard on Saturday, 12th September.

An ecumenical colloquium, believed to be the first meeting of its kind in the USA, was held at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, 12th September under the auspices of the Centre for Law and Religion at Cardiff University Law School.

The colloquium was an ecumenical exploration of the teaching of church law to ordinands and others in churches. It was organised by Professor Norman Doe, Director of the Centre for Law and Religion at Cardiff Law School. The Bishop of Cork, Dr Paul Colton, took part in his capacity as an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University Law School.

More than forty lawyers and teachers took part, mostly from the USA, but also from Canada, England, Wales, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and South Africa. The day was spent examining the purposes of teaching and study in church law in ministerial training, the subjects of study, the methods used, and also whether there would be longer term value in setting up an international network of teachers and scholars in this field for greater ecumenical understanding.

Among the lawyers, the Christian denominations represented were: Roman Catholic, Anglican/Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, Dutch Reformed, and several other reformed churches.