Elected May 8, 2025, Pope Leo XIV was influenced by Pope Leo XII, whose Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the first industrial revolution, an important social issue at that time. Similarly, Pope Leo XIV views developments in AI as the important revolution of our times. In addition, his name harkens back to Pope Leo the Great, a pivotal figure in the early Church, known for his leadership and diplomatic skills, both of which will be necessary to navigate the global issues of our times.

ICJF gathers scholars bound by a common purpose to ensure that international governance and policy does not threaten the subsidiary action of the human person in ways that are antithetical to the inherent dignity of the same, the fundamental unit of society, the natural family, and the local communities that flow from the social nature of the human person.

COVID

Equality & Nondiscrimination

Migration

  • 2017: International Expert Meeting on “The UN Global Compacts on Migrants and Refugees” co-sponsored by Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński
  • 2024: Book “Two Towers and a Minaret: Migration from a Catholic Perspective” (En Route Books) by Fr. Piotr Mazurkiewicz with a preface by John M. Klink and a foreword by Jane F. Adolphe

Rule of Law

Rule of Subsidiarity

  • 2023: The Subsidium-ICJF Project was launched in Poland and later in South Korea, see the description, infra.

The Subsidium-ICJF Project

1. What does Subsidium mean? The term SUBSIDIUM is the Latin term for subsidiarity: a “principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most appropriate level, usually the most immediate or local level, consistent with their resolution.”

2. What is the purpose of Subsidium Project? The project, currently supported by the ICJF, and referred to as Subsidium-ICJF, exists to further the understanding of how human societies flourish best. Education is lacking about why local ordering is superior to top-down organization. It seeks to fill that gap with a particular vision and methodology.

3. Who are the participants? An international and interdisciplinary group of scholars, scientists, and practitioners united by a common mission to ensure that international governance and policy does not threaten the subsidiary action of the human person in ways that are antithetical to peace, security, the family, and authentic community.

4. What does the Subsidium Project do? It holds meetings, conferences, summer clinics and so forth with academic partners at universities in South Africa, Australia, the United States, Asia, and Europe.

5. Who is on the Executive Committee?
 
*Iain T. Benson, PhD, JD, FRSN iainbenson2@gmail.com;
*Mark D. Retter, PhD, LLM, LLB mark.retter@cantab.net;
Tom Angier, PhD, PhD tom.angier@uct.ac.za;
*Fulvio Di Blasi, PhD fulviodibalsi@gmail.com; and
*Jane F. Adolphe, JCD, JCL, LLB, BCL janefa111000@gmail.com
(NOTE: * means Qualified Lawyer)

6. What has been its activities?

Subsidum was launched at two international conferences:

1) “A New, Even More Brave World…The Hope of Faith and the Hope of Politics: In memory of Pope Benedict XVI,” at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Warsaw (Nov. 30 to Dec. 1, 2023).

2) IVF 2024 Special Workshop: Can the Rule of Law Survive an Eclipse of Natural Law? At The Rule of Law, Justice and the Future of Democracy, at Soongsil University, Seoul, Republic of Korea (July 7 – July 12, 2024).

Subsidium-ICJF co-sponsored:

1) The Natural Law Summer School, on “Justice & Solidarity,” Jagiellonian University, Kraków (April 30 -May 03, 2025): Department of Law and Legal Ethics, Department of Roman Law and Its Center for Law and Religious Freedom.

2) An International Expert Meeting on “Truth, Freedom of Speech, and Modern-Day Censorship” (Sept. 25-27, 2025), Washington D.C.

SEE THE FULL BROCHURE HERE: Subsidium-ICJF Project

The Forum of Catholic Inspired NGOs (CINGOs)

Michael Vacca, Esq., Director of ICJF, participated regularly in the Forum of CINGOS and sometimes with the assistance of law students from Ave Maria School of Law. The Forum, a separate entity from the Papal Secretariat of State provided a place of encounter and dialogue to strengthen the Catholic voice of CINGOs in public debates before intergovernmental bodies with the support of members of the Roman Curia, who participated at annual conferences and meetings.

ICJF’s contributions are directed toward the defense of life, family, and religious freedom based on a solid foundation in the natural moral law within the context of Catholic social teaching and fundamental principles of international law, especially international human rights law.

The first Forum, held 30 November to 2 December 2007, was organized to explore ways to improve the impact of CINGOs within the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations, on the one hand, and to deepen relations between CINGOs and the Roman Curia,  on the other hand. Dr. Jane Adolphe delivered a keynote address to the 2010 Forum on “New Challenges for Catholic-Inspired NGOs in Light of Caritas in Veritate,” while ICJF Board of Director, Geoffrey Bedford Strickland, Esq., skilled in multiple languages, joined the CINGO Secretariat. While working under the supervision of Johan Ketelers, Strickland was tasked with addressing issues ranging from daily activities, website management and supervisor of legal interns to the organization of international gatherings, interim meetings with members of the Papal Secretariat of State and other dicasteries to the editing of CINGO publications.

NOTE: Saint John Paul II recognized the strength of Catholic NGOs for the promotion of Catholic principles when he invited them to attend the Major United Nations Conferences held in the mid-1990s. The Holy See played a key role at these conferences, and through its skilled diplomats managed to block efforts to create an international right to abortion and enshrine gender ideology through the term “gender”.