Honouring the Canonist Thomas Green

More than a decade ago now, when I was finishing my doctorate in Ottawa, I was invited to give a paper to the Peter and Paul Seminar, and I used the occasion to speak about the structural similarities and differences in the patriarchal churches of the Orthodox East. Thomas Green, the canonist and scholar from Catholic University of America, was present, and I enjoyed dinner with him and our conversation during and after the conference as I drove him about town.

He was then editor of The Jurist and oversaw the publication of my paper (“A Diversity of Polities: Patriarchal Leadership in the Orthodox Churches,” The Jurist 68 [2008]: 460-496). He was extremely gracious in his comments about it, and I was always very grateful for his kindnesses to me. It is, then, a happy occasion to direct attention to a forthcoming Festschrift which is to be published early in the new year: A Service Beyond All Recompense: Studies Offered in Honor of Msgr. Thomas J. Green, ed. Kurt Martens The Catholic University of America Press (2018), 420pp.

The publisher tells us the following about this collection:

When Monsignor Thomas J. Green, professor at the School of Canon Law at The Catholic University of America, approached his seventy-fifth birthday and the fiftieth anniversary of his priestly ordination, his colleagues planned on offering him a fitting tribute in the form of a festschrift. Six people with different backgrounds, but all related to Msgr. Green on one way or another, have written a laudatio – a short congratulatory letter – in honor of Monsignor Green. No less than fifteen contributions on various topics by colleagues, canon law scholars, clearly relate and reflect upon the honoree's scholarly contributions to canon law. The topics are extremely varied, and illustrate how Monsignor Green has been or is active in nearly every area of canon law. Virtually every book of the Code of Canon Law is covered, if not directly, at least indirectly. While the book is a tribute to an eminent professor, the various scholarly contributions are unique pieces of scholarship.

Further details are available here.

Ad multos gloriosque annos!