Exploring Law and Religion in Global Context: A Month with the Mattone Center

For 15 years, the Denise ’90 and Michael ’91 Mattone Center for Law and Religion has been a vibrant forum for exploring the intersection of law and religion across domestic, international, and comparative perspectives. Through a wide range of programs and initiatives, the Center invites St. John’s Law students, scholars, and practitioners to examine how law shapes the relationship between religion and the state, explore legal principles within diverse religious traditions, and engage in open dialogue on law and religion issues at the local, national, and global levels. November’s slate of events showcases how the Center continues to create formative opportunities for engagement and learning.

The latest installment of the Mattone Center’s biannual reading group brought 30 students together to discuss C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity. Hosted by Center Director Mark Movsesian, the session focused on Lewis’s views on natural law. “The reading groups give students a chance to explore sources other than the statutes and judicial opinions that typically shape their classroom learning,” Professor Movsesian observed. “We always have a great turnout and a great discussion at these events.”

Welcoming scholars and judges from the U.S. and Europe to the Law School, the Center hosted a two-day International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS) conference on education, religious freedom, and the role of the state. One panel explored public funding for religious schools, with speakers examining topics ranging from single-sex education to admissions criteria. Another addressed denominational instruction, the rights of teachers and students, and how schools navigate morally sensitive topics. The dialogue continued the next day with a panel on curriculum design and academic freedom, offering comparative perspectives from a range of countries and legal systems.

View the November events photo album

Students had another opportunity to consider law and religion from a global perspective when the Center welcomed Hon. Ioannis Ktistakis of the European Court of Human Rights to campus. A distinguished Greek jurist and leading voice on religious liberty and human rights, Judge Ktistakis shared insights from a career that spans teaching law in Greece and Turkey, litigating more than 60 cases before the European Court, and serving on the Court itself.

Students were particularly intrigued by Judge Ktistakis’s discussion of how judges are appointed, how the Court maintains transparency, and what it takes to manage tens of thousands of cases each year. “As a member of the Hellenic Law Students Association, I can speak for us all in saying how inspiring it was to see a Greek judge of such distinction take the time to meet with us,” says Anastasia Kaliabakos ‘27. “His guidance and example reminded us of the importance of our shared heritage and of pursuing meaningful careers in law.”

St. John’s Law Dean Jelani Jefferson Exum was delighted to have Judge Ktistakis at St. John’s sharing his work at the intersection of law, religion, and human rights with the students. “The Mattone Center is widely recognized as a center of excellence and prominence in the law and religion field,” she shares. “Through timely events for students and others as well as its Law and Religion Forum blog, Legal Spirits podcast, and Landmark Cases in Religious Freedom animated video series, the Center is making a significant impact at, and well beyond, St. John’s Law that will only continue to grow in the coming years.”