Pontifical Oriental Institute

Eastern Canon Law

The Pontifical Oriental Institute is home to the only Catholic Faculty of Oriental Canon Law in the world.

The main area of work of this Faculty is the CCEO, which is the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Teaching and research also include the historical sources of the canons, the philosophy and theology of law, and the study of the various particular laws of the Churches sui iuris.

After completing the Bachelor's degree in Theology (first cycle), students are admitted to the Licentiate (D.C.O.L.).

After completing the Licentiate (second cycle), students can enroll in the Doctoral program (D.C.O.D.).

Those who are interested in deepening a specific topic or having a general knowledge of Eastern Canon Law can enroll in the Diploma in Eastern Canon Law.

Courses and exams are generally held in Italian. An adequate knowledge of the language (level B1) is required and must be certified at the time of enrollment.

Knowledge of Italian is assessed at the beginning of the academic year through a test. Based on the results, the student is placed in the class of Italian offered by the Institute that corresponds to his or her level of language proficiency.

In addition, the study of Latin is deepened during the Licentiate in order to have a full understanding of the canonical texts.

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