Msgr. Fred Easton Role of Law Award Response from 2003

CITATION

                    ROLE OF LAW AWARD

                     Rev. Lawrence J. O’Keefe

 As a tantalizing clue to the identity of tonight’s Role of Law Honoree (for those who have not already discovered it), I will tell you at the outset that our recipient is a ham . . . . radio operator and an accomplished musician. We had considered asking him to give us a concert in lieu of an acceptance speech, but this would be too radical a departure from our tradition. Why should we, in contrast to our forebears, be entertained with fine music when we should be listening to a fine talk?

Our Society’s Code of Professional Responsibility delineates in rather eloquent terms the qualities to which the canonist  should aspire. He or she is portrayed as, “a person firmly committed to Christ and the Church ... marked by zeal for justice in the Church, aware that while each individual must sacrifice for the common good, true communion is advanced only when the dignity and fundamental rights of each person are held inviolable.” The Professional Responsibility Code further stipulates: “Since the laws of the Church are to be interpreted and administered in the spirit of justice and equity, issuing in charity, the canonist strives to be a person of compassion, emotional balance and sound judgment, committed to the pastoral care of the people of God.”

The person whom we honor tonight with the Role of Law Award exemplifies these qualities to a remarkable degree. Having first entered the seminary in 1954, he was ordained a priest in 1966. In 1969 he was awarded a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Lateran University in Rome, and since that time has served as an official of his Archdiocesan Tribunal in one capacity or another. In 1980 he was named as Officialis or Judicial Vicar for his Tribunal, and has filled that post ever since. In August, 1997 he was appointed a Prelate of Honor by Pope John Paul II.

Our Honoree has been generous in his service to the Society: He has presented papers at past conventions, been a contributor to the Church Finance Handbook and served as General Editor of the Festschrift in honor of Rev. Lawrence Wrenn. In 1994 he was elected Secretary of the CLSA and in 1997 was elected as Vice-President / President-elect. He presided at our 1999 Convention in Minneapolis.

2002 was a banner year for the service our Honoree rendered to the CLSA: he accepted an appointment to edit Canon Law Digest XV, to chair the Special Task Force to Prepare for the Presidential Hearing on the Canonical Response to Sexual Abuse Issues at the Cincinnati convention, and finally a re-appointment as Chair of the Special Task Force with the new mandate to develop the “Guide to the Implementation ...” Under his skilled leadership the Guide was published in February, 2003 and has won critical acclaim for its canonical precision and pastoral practicality. With the two “task force” assignments successfully accomplished, our Honoree currently serves as Chair of the successor On-Going Committee on the Canonical Aspects of Questions Regarding the Sexual Abuse of Minors.

The impressive canonical achievements of the 2003 Role of Law Honoree are exceeded only by his impressiveness as a loving priest and a thoroughly great-hearted man. It is truly a privilege for me, on behalf of the Canon Law Society of America, to present the 2003 Role of Law Award to Msgr. Frederick C. Easton, of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.