Center for Law and Religion at St. John's University School of Law

09/16/2026

Law students take note! The 10th edition of the International Moot Court Competition in Law & Religion will take place from March 10-13, 2027, at the University of Milan Law School. This competition, which the Mattone Center co-sponsors, brings together teams from the US and Europe to argue a case before judges representing the US Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights. It’s a fantastic opportunity. Please check the website for the announcement and upcoming posting of this year’s case:

https://lawandreligionforum.org/

09/14/2026

Be sure to check out the latest Around the Web collection of law and religion news stories on our website!

Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:

09/10/2026

Each year, the Denise ‘90 and Michael ‘91 Mattone Center for Law and Religion selects student fellows who contribute to the Center’s mission of providing an unrivaled forum for exploring law and religion from domestic, international, and comparative perspectives. This year’s fellows are Anastasia Kaliabakos ‘27, Marc Austin Derrickson ‘28, Isabel Lane ‘27, and Vincent D’Avanzo ‘27. They look forward to playing an active role in the Center’s offerings. Photo courtesy of Kyle Valdez.

09/09/2026

While attending the biennial ICLARS (International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies) conference in Palermo last week, Center Director Mark Movsesian recorded a new Legal Spirits Short Take inspired by Frederick II’s tomb in Palermo Cathedral.

Medieval Sicily was a major theater in the long struggle between popes and secular rulers over the boundaries of spiritual and temporal authority, including disputes over bishops and church governance. Frederick II—Holy Roman Emperor, King of Sicily, and the famous “Stupor Mundi”—was deeply involved in that conflict. The episode asks what this history can tell us about a church-state contest that never wholly disappears.

Be sure to listen to A Short Take on a Tomb in Sicily and a Never-Ending Contest: https://lawandreligionforum.org/2026/09/09/legal-spirits-082-a-short-take-on-a-tomb-in-sicily-and-a-never-ending-contest/

09/07/2026

Be sure to check out our website for the latest important law-and-religion news stories from around the web!

09/03/2026

Center Director Mark Movsesian spoke on the Establishment Clause this week at the biennial meeting of the International Consortium of Law and Religion Studies in Palermo.

08/31/2026

New episode of Legal Spirits: Center Director Mark Movsesian speaks with Professor Arman Tatoyan of the American University of Armenia about a significant church-state crisis unfolding in Armenia.

The dispute raises important questions under the European Convention on Human Rights and the principle of church autonomy: How far may civil courts go in reviewing a religious community’s decisions about its own leaders? Can even a temporary court order, backed by criminal enforcement, become a serious burden on religious freedom?

Professors Movsesian and Tatoyan also compare the European approach with U.S. church-autonomy doctrine and consider why the controversy matters well beyond Armenia.

Listen here: https://lawandreligionforum.org/2026/08/31/legal-spirits-081-who-chooses-the-bishops-armenias-church-state-crisis/

08/31/2026

Be sure to check out the latest Around the Web collection of law and religion news stories on our website!

08/24/2026

In AtW: the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court barred the city of Quincy from installing two religious statues on the façade of a new public safety building, the FBI released its 2025 Reported Crime Statistics, showing a 7% overall decrease in hate crimes in 2025 as compared to the year before, and more.

Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:

07/29/2026

New from Legal Spirits: Center Director Mark Movsesian discusses a lawsuit by Catholic healthcare providers challenging New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act.

The plaintiffs argue that the law will require them to counsel patients about medically assisted su***de, even though their religious commitments prohibit them from participating in the practice.

The litigation is at a very early stage, and New York has not yet responded. But assuming the law operates as the plaintiffs allege, the case raises significant questions under the Free Exercise Clause.

Watch the clip and listen to the full episode: https://lawandreligionforum.org/2026/07/29/legal-spirits-080-a-short-take-on-religious-objections-to-new-yorks-assisted-su***de-law/