Ongoing projects

Commitment to quality assurance: Chairing function at AKAST

Since February 2023, Prof. Dr. Rafael M. Rieger OFM has been chairperson of the Agentur für Qualitätssicherung und Akkreditierung kanonischer Studiengänge (AKAST e.V.), based in Ingolstadt. AKAST specializes in the accreditation and evaluation of Catholic theological degree programs and works closely with the state accreditation council and the Vatican quality assurance agency AVEPRO.

As chairperson, Prof. Rieger is responsible for the strategic direction and higher education policy positioning of the agency. He contributes his expertise in canon law, particularly in the area of ecclesiastical higher education law, to issues relating to program development, personnel standards, and ecclesiastical recognition. AKAST thus ensures the academic quality and ecclesiastical relevance of theological education in Germany and beyond—a concern that Prof. Rieger also sees as part of his commitment to combining academic excellence and ecclesiastical responsibility.

Networking and practical dialog: The Eichstätt Conference on Canon Law

With the Eichstätt Conference on Canon Law, the Chair of Canon Law and the History of Church Law has created a new forum for interdisciplinary and practical exchange on religious law. In cooperation with the Chair of Canon Law at the Faculty of Theology in Trier, current challenges facing religious communities are discussed from a legal, spiritual, and pastoral perspective.

The focus is on topics such as the legal structuring of internal law, crisis management, personnel issues, financial developments, and the relationship with diocesan bishops—key areas in which canon law can open up specific options for action. Members of religious orders, diocesan representatives for religious orders, experts, and students are invited to attend.

The Conference on Canon Law strengthens the connection between scholarship and church practice and shows how canonical research can contribute to the shaping of ways of life and models of leadership in the Church.

Scientific edition of canonical norms: Project on the proper law of religious orders

In cooperation with the Faculty of Theology in Trier (Prof. Dr. Dr. Noach Heckel OSB), the Chair of Canon Law and the History of Church Law is currently developing an editorial project for the scientific exploration of the internal law of Catholic religious orders. The focus is on the systematic collection, commentary, and publication of constitutions and supplementary norms of selected communities.

The proper law forms the legal basis for the communal life, spiritual orientation, and leadership structures of the religious orders. The project aims to make this law visible in all its diversity, place it in its canonical context, and reflect on it from an interdisciplinary perspective. The goal is to make these previously difficult-to-access sets of rules sustainably available to scholars, ecclesiastical practice, and the religious orders themselves.
The edition is also intended as a contribution to fundamental canon law research. It opens up new perspectives for the systematic integration of proper law into the commentary on the Codex Iuris Canonici and contributes to rethinking the legal identity and self-image of religious communities in the context of ecclesiastical transformation processes. The richness of participatory and federative models of leadership—especially in female communities—can provide valuable impetus for the further development of ecclesiastical legal culture.

A hybrid publication with digital access is planned, supplemented by a scholarly introduction on the historical development and current significance of proper law. The long-term goal is to produce a comprehensive overview of religious law that systematically incorporates proper law into the commentary on the codified norms for the first time.

The project is currently in the process of applying for third-party funding.

Digital indexing of canon law research: collaboration on the DaKaR database

The Chair of Canon Law and the History of Church Law is an active partner of the Canon Law Database (DaKaR) – a central digital research tool for literature, norms, and case law in the field of ecclesiastical law. The database is aimed at researchers, teachers, and ecclesiastical practitioners and has been continuously expanded for decades.

With over 47,000 entries on specialist literature, legal texts, and court decisions, including the collection of guiding principles of the “Entscheidungen in Kirchensachen (KirchE)” (Decisions in Church Matters) since 1990, DaKaR makes an essential contribution to the visibility and accessibility of canon law research. Among other things, it includes the official gazettes of all German dioceses as well as relevant sources from Europe and around the world.

The database has been maintained since 1985 as part of a cooperative network of several universities and dioceses. The Eichstätt chair's contribution to the content reflects its commitment to the digital infrastructure of canon law scholarship and its aim to make research practical, internationally networked, and digitally available. Since 2021, DaKaR has been integrated into the Index Canonicus, an international open access project led by the University Library of Tübingen.

Scientific networking: Hirschberg Conference on Canon Law

The Chair regularly participates in the Hirschberg Conference on Canon Law, an established academic conference held every two years at the diocesan headquarters in Hirschberg Castle (Diocese of Eichstätt). Since its inception in 2010, the conference has developed into a central forum for current issues of canon law in German-speaking countries.

The conference is jointly organized by several chairs of canon law, including Frankfurt (Sankt Georgen), Mainz, and Eichstätt, and brings together scholars and practitioners of canon law. Current developments in ecclesiastical law are discussed in dialog with theology, law, sociology, and pastoral practice.

Topics range from reform processes in ecclesiastical criminal law to questions of church leadership and proclamation to fundamental questions of legal theology.