PONTIFICAL CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Intellectual life in service of truth

PCU-USA brings students and faculty together for rigorous teaching, original research, and the formation of the whole person. Natural Law, the Law of Nations, and Canon Law form the inaugural offering of a University whose academic horizon also embraces philosophy, theology, and the humanities.

Explore the programs Discover the University

Inaugural offering

LL.M. · S.J.D. · Ph.D.

University life

Teaching · Research · Publication

United States

Indianapolis, Indiana

Research

The PCU Review · PCU Scholar

Academic offering 2026–2027

The inaugural academic offering

The inaugural offering centers on three juridical fields of advanced study. The academic catalog will grow with the intellectual life of the University and its community of faculty and scholars.

Law of Nations and Christian Jurisprudence

Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) in Law of Nations

The Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) in the Law of Nations is the University’s highest research degree in law. It is devoted to original juridical scholarship on the principles governing relations among peoples, political communities, sovereign authorities and nations. The program studies jus gentium through Natural Law, Christian jurisprudence, Catholic moral thought and the classical tradition of the Law of Nations. Its intellectual range extends from classical and medieval sources through the School of Salamanca, with particular attention to Francisco de Vitoria and Francisco Suárez. Candidates examine sovereignty, political authority, war and peace, human dignity, international order, relations among nations and the moral foundations of international legal institutions. Each candidate develops an original dissertation under faculty supervision. The dissertation must present a sustained contribution to legal scholarship and demonstrate command of the primary sources, languages and research methods appropriate to its subject.

Doctor of Juridical Science60 credits

Explore the program

Canon Law

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Canon Law

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Canon Law is an advanced research degree devoted to the sources, history, institutions and jurisprudence of the Church’s canonical tradition. The program develops command of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches and the historical sources that inform their interpretation. Doctoral study encompasses governance, the rights and obligations of the faithful, teaching and sanctifying offices, temporal goods, sanctions, marriage, procedural law, tribunals and relations between ecclesiastical and civil legal orders. Each candidate undertakes original research under faculty supervision and produces a dissertation that contributes to the study of canon law or canonical institutions.

Doctor of Philosophy76 credits

Explore the program

Natural Law and Christian Jurisprudence

Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Natural Law

The Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Natural Law is a graduate academic program dedicated to the systematic study of natural law within the Christian intellectual and juridical tradition. The program examines the relationship between law, morality, reason, human nature, justice, and the common good, with particular attention to the classical and Catholic traditions of jurisprudence. Students engage with foundational authors and schools of thought, including Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, the Scholastic tradition, the School of Salamanca, and later developments in Christian jurisprudence. Natural Law is studied as an enduring intellectual framework for examining the foundations and limits of positive law, human dignity, rights, duties, political authority, and the moral structure of legal systems. The curriculum emphasizes Thomistic philosophy of law; the relationship among divine, natural, and human law; justice and the common good; Christian jurisprudence; natural rights; classical and medieval legal thought; Catholic social and legal thought; and contemporary debates in jurisprudence.

Master of Laws36 credits

Explore the program

The University

Veritas Splendet in Caritate

Academic life at PCU-USA grows from the encounter between faith and reason. The University brings disciplined reading, juridical and philosophical inquiry, scholarly exchange and original research together in a community of study ordered to truth and the common good.

Research and publication

Scholarship takes public form

Student and faculty work follows a complete academic path: inquiry, supervision, field review, editing and institutional preservation.

0 issues

The PCU Review

The University’s interdisciplinary academic journal, with submission, editorial review and publication by issue.

Discover the journal

5 collections

PCU Scholar

The institutional repository for theses, dissertations, faculty work and selected scholarship.

Explore the repository

University life

News and events from the University

View all news and events

News · Sep 30, 2026

University announces its inaugural graduate programs

The inaugural academic offering brings together advanced study in Natural Law, the Law of Nations and Canon Law.

News · Sep 29, 2026

PCU-USA establishes its journal and institutional repository

The PCU Review and PCU Scholar create distinct pathways for peer-reviewed publication and long-term scholarly preservation.

Message from the Presidency

“The University cultivates a disciplined intellectual life in which faith, reason and academic research strengthen one another. We bring students and faculty together around primary sources, enduring questions and the patient work of study.”

Dr. Matheus H. N. Andreazzi, Ph.D.President

Dr. Daniel H. C. Zamboni, Ph.D.Vice President

Admissions

Apply to our graduate programs

Review the requirements, assemble your academic record and present your research project to the University.

Explore admissions