3/11/02-For the second year running, the Boston College Law School St. Thomas More Society sponsored a conference on current legal issues for Catholic students in the Boston area. The conference was held on March 9, 2002 at Boston College Law School in Newton at 12 noon.

St. Thomas More Society President Joe Donohue, who organized the event, said the conference was primarily "a forum for students, faculty, and alumni to get to know each other on an informal basis. The speakers explored various ways in which the practice of law and the practice of religion intertwine and interact." The conference was designed to expose Catholics to the work of leading scholars on current legal and ethical debates that shape the practice of law and religion.

The program began with Mass in Trinity Chapel, celebrated by Fr. William Leahy, S.J., President of Boston College. After lunch in Barat House, Dean John Garvey of BC Law gave an opening address to students, faculty, and alumni from Boston College, Harvard, Northeastern, Southern New England, Suffolk, and Boston University law schools, as well as students at the several local seminaries.

Faculty from area colleges and law schools lectured on seven different topics, ranging from The Defense of Marriage (Dwight Duncan, Southern New England School of Law) to Just War and Pacifism (Lisa Cahill, Boston College Theology Department) to The Two Great Commandments (Charles Donahue, Harvard Law School). BC Law professors Scott FitzGibbon, Tom Kohler, and Sr. Deborah Cerrullo also gave presentations.