Professor Dr Louis Carlen passed away on 23 August 2022 at the age of 93. From 1971 to 1993, he held the Chair of Legal History and Canon Law at the University of Fribourg i.Ue. Building on the documentation centre for church and state run by his predecessor Eugen Isele, he founded the Institute for Church Law and State-Church Law in 1979 in order to scientifically document the changes in the relationship between the state and churches since the 1960s. In doing so, he realised a postulate of Synod 72. With the help of experts from Switzerland and abroad, he organised numerous academic conferences on current issues of canon law and state-church law. The conference proceedings, as well as many monographs, were published in the series ‘Freiburger Veröffentlichungen aus dem Gebiet von Kirche und Staat’, which he edited. In addition, Louis Carlen dealt intensively with questions of canon law, legal history and legal ethnology, as evidenced by his catalogue of over 1000 publications. In recognition of his academic achievements, Louis Carlen received numerous honours and commemorative publications. In 2004, the institute he founded was renamed the Institute for Religious Law.

The Institute for Religious Law thanks him for his work and contribution to the society for church and state-church law as well as his unrivalled commitment to and for the Institute.