56th Annual Conference – 4th to 7th September 2023
Christchurch New Zealand
The Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand announces the 56th Annual Conference which will be held at the Rydges Latimer, Christchurch New Zealand.
The hotel, Rydges Latimer, is in the heart of downtown Christchurch, 10.5km from the airport.
The Conference this year will conclude after breakfast on Thursday, 7 September, giving you time to enjoy Christchurch and catching up face-to-face with other members, seeing that our last Conference in person was back in 2019! Flights departing Christchurch for overseas are in the afternoon. Then, again, you might wish to take a day or two extra to see the beautiful South Island of New Zealand, including a day train trip on the TranzAlpine, from Christchurch to Greymouth.
Dr Michael-Andreas Nobel, canon law professor at St Paul University, Ottawa, will be giving several presentations: Church Records and Privacy; a Tribunal Handbook; Vulnerable Persons, the Code and Vos Estis; and a workshop, The Role of Assessors in Marriage Nullity Cases. The program has details of the other presentations and workshops.
The Conference will be held face-to-face (following public health guidelines). It will not be presented on Zoom, nor will it be recorded for later viewing online.
Members pay $1,200 Early-Bird (until 31 May 2023, then $1,350) and Non-Members pay $1,350 Early-Bird (until 31 May 2023, then $1,500).
The conference fee includes all meals and accommodation (3 nights), and drinks at dinner. Compared with other conferences, the CLSANZ Conference is the cheapest, partly because the Society’s funds subsidise the Conference and associated costs.
Dr Michael-Andreas Nobel completed a Diploma in Theology, at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany, in 2002, a JCL at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany, in 2004, and a PhD in Theology at the Theologische Fakultät Paderborn, Germany, in 2007. He has held several positions as an official in tribunals in Germany, Canada and Texas, and has been a professor in canon law at St Paul University, Ottawa since 2007. He has written several articles in refereed journals, including in The Canonist, and has published widely.
Deacon Dr Jerry Jorgensen PhD, JCL, is currently the consulting psychologist for the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, where he also serves as a judge in the Metropolitan Tribunal. He does ministry work at the Church of the Resurrection and is on the medical staff at Mercy Hospital, both in Dubuque. He is the father of three and husband to wife Mary. He graduated in canon law at Catholic University, Washington in 1998. During the Canon Law Society of America’s 80th Annual Convention in 2018, Deacon Jorgensen was presented with the prestigious Role of Law Award.
Dr Rocio Figueroa is a Peruvian Catholic theologian and is a systematic theology lecturer in Catholic Theological College, Auckland. She has previously lectured and worked in Peru, Italy and Mexico. She worked in the Holy See as head of the women’s section in the Pontifical Council for the Laity. Rocio’s present research focus is theological and pastoral responses for survivors of Church sexual and spiritual abuse.
