Michele Riondino (academic)

Michele Riondino was born and raised in Vittorio Veneto, a small city in the shadow of the Dolomites, northern Italy. The youngest of three siblings, he studied piano as a child and attended St Joseph’s College, where he received a strong Catholic primary and secondary education.

Riondino left home to study Law in Milan at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and Carlo Cattaneo University. During this degree he spent one semester as a visiting student at the University of Westminster Law School in London. Riondino obtained his Law Degree with a thesis on Family Mediation in Europe. He then moved to Rome to specialise in canon law. Here he undertook a Master's Degree (High Distinction) in Science of Marriage and Family, with a major in Canon Law, at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. Later, he completed a Bachelor of Philosophy and Bachelor of Theology at the Pontifical Lateran University, during which he spent one year in Granada (Spain) furthering his knowledge of religious studies and religious life, while also attending the School of Theology.

Finally, Riondino obtained a PhD in Canon Law (summa cum laude) at the Lateran University, at which time he completed his dissertation, Giustizia riparativa e mediazione nel diritto penale canonico (i.e. “Restorative justice and mediation in the penal law of the Church”), under the direction of Prof M. J. Arroba Conde and Prof L. Eusebi. This dissertation, which was published in its entirety, earned Riondino the Sub Auspiciis Lateranensibus prize for 2010’s best doctoral thesis.[4][5]

Riondino has researched and written on canon law, matrimonial law, restorative justice and mediation, the teaching function of the Church in relation to the Magisterium, sanctions in the Church, and international children’s rights with a particular focus on the right to education. He has published papers in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English and French, in numerous law journals, such as Apollinaris, JUS, Revista Española de Derecho Canónico, E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies, Vergentis, Il Diritto di Famiglia e delle Persone, Anuario de Derecho Canónico, Famiglia e Minori-Il Sole 24 Ore, Commentarium, Monitor Ecclesiasticus, Scientia Canonica, Studium, Suprema Lex and New Experiences of Juvenile Justice.[6][7][8][9][10] He began his academic career in 2006 as a teaching assistant in Children’s Rights and Juvenile Justice at LUMSA University in Rome, where, in 2009, he also taught in the Master’s Degree in Family Law and Child Law. Following this, he was an adjunct professor of Canon Law and Children’s Rights in 2010 at the Pontifical Lateran University,[11] where, in 2013, he won the open competition for a Full Professorship of Canon Law . From 2013 until 2016, he was also an adjunct professor of Canon Law at LUMSA University School of Law.[12] In 2017 he was a guest professor at the Catholic University of Murcia–UCAM,[13] lecturing in Canon Law in the postgraduate diploma in Matrimonial Law.[14] In 2018 he spent Spring Term as a visiting scholar at Heythrop College, University of London, focusing his research particularly on law and religion in educational matters.

On 25 February 2019, Riondino was appointed as foundation Professor of Canon Law at ACU. He lectures in both International Children’s Rights and Canon Law at ACU’s Thomas More Law School, and in Canon Law at ACU’s School of Theology.[15] Since 2020 Riondino has also been a visiting professor at John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences,[16][17] Madrid campus, where he lectures in International Children’s Rights.

Riondino has provided keynote addresses at various international conferences in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. He is a member of the Italian Association of Canon Lawyers (ASCAI), Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand, and the Consociatio Internationalis Studio Iuris Canonici Promovendo.

The Vice-Chancellor and President of ACU, Professor Greg Craven AO, appointed Professor Riondino as the inaugural director of the ACU’s Canon Law Centre, established at the University's North Sydney Campus in September 2019.[2] The Centre is the first of its kind in Oceania and has, as its mission, the promotion and the development of Canon Law, in both its theoretical and practical aspects, in Australia and overseas. The Director, is supported by a board of advisors, composed of ten members, and a board of consultants, consisting of experts from across the world in canon law and related fields. The support provided by this board of consultants includes specialised advice as well as contributions to publications.

One of the most significant endeavours currently being undertaken by the Centre is the development of a new English commentary on the Code of Canon Law. The commentary is being edited and directed by Professor Riondino and is due to be published by St Pauls Australia late in 2021 under the title "The Code of Canon Law: A Commentary". The text will be authored by 30 experts from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Philippines, Poland, Spain and United States.

Riondino is a member of scientific committees for two canon law journals: Monitor Ecclesiasticus (Italy) and Vergentis[18] (Spain). Previously, from 2013-2018, he was a member of the editorial board of Apollinaris, the law review of the Pontifical Lateran University School of Comparative Law (i.e. Institutum Utriusque Iuris).

He is also a member of the scientific committee for Auribus – Centre for Prevention of Sexual Abuse and Protection of Victims,[19] Rome, and gave a keynote address at its launch in January 2020.[20] At this event, Auribus and the Canon Law Centre established a partnership particularly for the promotion of events and seminars to further the protection of children in the Church.

Riondino is engaged as a legal advisor to both the Archdiocese of Melbourne and the ACU Institute of Child Protection Studies, and as a member of the review panel of the Ecclesiastical Regional Tribunal of New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory. Recently, he was also named as a delegate for the Australian Plenary Council 2020.[21][22]

In 2012, Riondino was appointed as a lawyer “ad casum” at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.