LICENZA. — An academic degree granted by ecclesiastical universities and faculties to ecclesiastical or lay students who, having completed the studies required in the respective discipline, have demonstrated that they are qualified to teach in schools that do not confer academic degrees.
Arising more or less contemporaneously during the first half of the thirteenth century in the major medieval universities, especially those of law and theology, and with purposes analogous to one another, only through a gradual development did it become an institution distinct from the doctorate, of which it subsequently became, and still remains, a step. It is currently regulated by the constitution Deus scientiarum Dominus of 24 May 1931, by the Ordinaciones of the S. Congregation of Seminaries and Universities of Studies of 12 June 1931, and by the Dichiarazione of the same Congregation of 23 May 1948; and it is indispensable for proceeding, generally after only one year, to the doctorate. It may be conferred exclusively by canonically erected faculties and in all disciplines in which the laurea is conferred (v.), according to their respective statutes, brought into conformity with the aforementioned apostolic documents. The l. is conferred solely in the name of the supreme pontiff or, during a vacancy of the see, in the name of the Holy See. Unlike the laurea, the l. is not conferred ad honorem.
To obtain the l., the following are required: 1) successful completion of the examinations in all the individual disciplines proper to the degree, for which attendance is absolutely required; without examinations and without the said attendance (continued for at least two-thirds of the academic year or semester, where the year is divided into distinct academic semesters), the conferral of the degree is invalid by law; this also applies to those who legitimately transfer to another faculty; 2) a special examination to be taken at the end of the course immediately preceding the l. itself and comprising several academic disciplines (in theology, canon law, and philosophy, this examination must comprise all the subjects specifically proper to the respective three faculties); 3) the submission of a brief written work demonstrating the candidate’s ability in scientific research; 4) a written examination on some point selected from any of the subjects of the entire academic course; 5) participation in the so-called practical exercises, that is, in scientific research under the guidance of a professor. In order to receive the certificate of the l., the candidate must make the profession of faith in accordance with can. 1406 § 1 n. 8 of the CIC. The Dichiarazione of 23 May 1948 must be borne in mind: proceeding from the observation that, for the l., as regulated by the constitution of Pius XI and by the Ordinaciones of 1931, what had been proper to the laurea before 1931 is in practice required, it grants the same l., when obtained thereafter, all the juridical effects that the laurea itself had produced until then. The laurea, however, is still indispensable for anyone appointed professor in a faculty that confers academic degrees, and for auditors of the S. R. Rota in accordance with can. 1598 § 2 of the CIC. Therefore, in all cases in which the CIC requires the laurea (generally for certain ecclesiastical offices and benefices), today the l. alone suffices (v. LAUREA).