On November 19, 2021, Catholic Law faculty members met for the most recent installation of the Faculty Research Series hosted by Professor Cara H. Drinan, Director of Faculty research. This month’s program featured the scholarship of Catholic Law Professor Marshall J. Breger. Breger’s expertise lies in administrative law, foreign relations law, The Middle East peace process, professional responsibility, and arbitration.

Breger presented a paper based on his forthcoming book to be published by Cambridge University Press in summer 2022, The Contest and Control of Jerusalem’s Holy Sites: A Legal and Political Analysis, which he is co-authoring with Leonard Hammer, Stein Family Visiting Professor of Modern Israel Studies at the University of Arizona. Breger began the discussion by outlining comparative legal issues related to sacred space—discussing how Israel defined what is holy site or sacred space. He then zoomed in more specifically on the challenge of sacred space in Jerusalem. He described the historical and current significance of the "Status Quo" (an understanding among religious communities with respect to religious sites in Jerusalem) as well as other issues related to sacred space, focusing on the Temple Mount/ Haram al-Sharif and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He concluded by considering what the future of Jerusalem will look like as the issue of the Status Quo becomes more intertwined in religio- and ethnonationalism.

In January, the Faculty Research Series will address the impartiality of patent judges and will be led by Professor Megan La Belle. Please check back on the News and Events page for updates regarding upcoming events.