Every diocese is required to have a Chancellor as stated in Canon Law:
“In every curia a chancellor is to be appointed whose principal function, unless particular law establishes otherwise, is to take care that acts of the curia are gathered, arranged, and safeguarded in the archive of the curia.” (Can. 482 §1.) If it seems necessary, the chancellor can be given an assistant. (§2.)
By church law, the Chancellor is also an ecclesiastical (Church) notary within the curia, whose signature establishes authenticity for any acts, for judicial acts only, or for acts of a specific case.
The Chancellor’s duties include:
- Drawing up the acts and instruments regarding decrees, dispositions, obligations, or other things which require their action;
- Recording faithfully in writing on any decree what has taken place and to sign it with a notation of the place, day, month, and year;
- Having observed what is required, to furnish acts or instruments to one who legitimately requests them from the records, and to declare copies of them to be in conformity with the original.
Meet Our Chancellor and Assistant Chancellors
Chancellor: Dr. Felix Menendez JCD, STL
Born in Spain in 1980, Felix Menendez earned his degrees in Moral Theology (STL) and Canon Law (JCD) from the Universidad Eclesiastica San Damaso in Madrid, and a master’s degree in International Relations from the Katholische Universitat Eichstatt-Ingolstadt in Germany. Fluent in Spanish, German, Italian, and French, Dr. Menendez has held several canonical positions in the United States and currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Canon Law Society of America.
Assistant Chancellor: The Reverend Christopher M. Ford
Ordained to the Holy Priesthood in 1987, Fr. Christopher M. Ford attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia and the Gregorian University in Rome where he received a license in Canon Law. He has served as Pastor in several parishes, as Judge in the Metropolitan Tribunal and as the Episcopal Vicar of the Western Vicariate. On January 5, 2022, he was appointed Chancellor of the Archdiocese and Pastor of St. Peter Claver Parish in West Hartford.
Vice-Chancellor: Sister Mariette Moan, ASCJ
Sr. Mariette Moan, ASCJ, J.C.L. is a religious sister belonging to the Institute of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Sr. Mariette holds a Masters degree in Canon Law from the University of Ottawa (Canada) and a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of St. Paul in Ottawa. Since July, 2024, she has served in the Metropolitan Tribunal as Canon Lawyer and Judge. She was appointed Vice-Chancellor in January, 2025 and Tribunal Administrator in July, 2025.