Michael Joyce, CM: Role of Law Response 2021

Each year the Canon Law Society of America presents its distinguished Role of Law Award to an individual considered to be outstanding in the field of canonical science. The By-Laws of the Society directs the Board of Governors to select a person who demonstrates in his or her life and legal practice the following characteristics:
 
Embodiment of pastoral attitude, commitment to research and study, participation in the development of law, response to needs or practical assistance, facilitation of dialogue and the interchange of ideas within the Society and with other groups.
 
These qualifications are a concise re-statement of the constitutionally-expressed purposes of the Society.
 
The person to whom this award is given is viewed by us as one who embodies all that we, as members of the Society hold dear, as one to whom we can look for guidance and inspiration. Such an official statement alone is perhaps the greatest honor that can be bestowed on anyone – to be selected by one’s friends and peers as outstanding among them.
 
Our recipient this year has the unique honor of being the first (and I think, the only) chaplain to take the DePaul University men’s basketball team to an NCAA Final Four game.
 
He was ordained a presbyter in 1976. He received a licentiate in canon law in 1977 and earned his doctorate in canon law at the Catholic University of America in 1992. He has taught canon law at DeAndreis Seminary located outside of Chicago, at St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, and Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis. He has served as a judge in the tribunals of the Archdioceses of Chicago, Denver, and St. Louis. He was judicial vicar of the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and the Tribunal of the Diocese of Memphis.
 
The recipient is a past president of the CLSA. He was chair of the Religious Law Committee and co-editor of Procedural Handbook for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. He also has served as chair of the Committee on Convention Planning and has presented several times at the Annual Convention. He currently serves as a canonical consultant and as an advocate in ecclesiastical proceedings. He continues to advise several institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life.
 
The 2021 Role of Law Award goes to Vincentian Father Michael Joyce, the Congregation of the Mission.