History

The Institute of Law and Religion looks back on a long history dating back to the middle of the 20th century. In 1956, Prof. Dr Eugen Isele laid the foundation stone for the institution with the establishment of a documentation centre for church and state. Following the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church, Synod 72 was held in Switzerland from 1972 to 1975. There, the need was formulated to conduct more academic research into church and state church law. This led to the creation of a corresponding institution at the University of Fribourg, which was still strongly Catholic at the time. In 1978, the university senate authorised the founding of the institute. At the beginning of February 1979, it began its work under the direction of Prof. Dr Louis Carlen, holder of the Chair of Legal History and Canon Law at the Faculty of Law. It also published the book series ‘Freiburger Veröffentlichung aus dem Gebiet von Kirche und Staat’.

Following the retirement of Louis Carlen, the management of the Institute was initially taken over by a three-member committee consisting of Prof Nicolas Michel, Prof Pier V. Aimone and Prof René Pahud de Mortanges. In 1998, Prof René Pahud de Mortanges took over the management completely. In the same year, the book series was renamed ‘Freiburger Veröffentlichungen zum Religionsrecht’ (FVRR).

In view of social change, the name of the Institute was also changed to the Institute oft Law and Religion in 2004 and new statutes came into force.

Between 2007 and 2011, the Institute participated in National Research Programme 58, which dealt with the relationship between religion, state and society.

With the introduction of the Religious Law Mention in 1994, the Institute's range of courses expanded and has since enabled students to specialise in canon and religious law at Bachelor's and Master's level.

From its beginnings as a documentation centre to the present day, the Institute of Law and Religion aims to provide academic support for the political and social debate on the relationship between state and religion in Switzerland.