CANON LAW January 19, 2008

CANON LAW
January 19, 2008
Fr. Ferguson

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, a law is an ordinance of reason for the good of the community by a competent authority that is promulgated.

For Canon Law, the Church is the competent authority.
• For the universal Church, the competent authority is the Pope
• For the diocese, the competent authority is the bishop
Law is:
• An ordinance
• A standard
• An established boundary
• Protector of rights
• Rule of good order
• Protector of values
Law is not:
• A value, or belief—we have the Creed for this purpose
- The Constitution is the law that protects the values expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
- However, Canon Law is not strictly norms. There is a blurring of norms and values. Cannon Law has a theological basis.

HISTORY OF CANON LAW
New Testament
Acts of the Apostles:
• Conversion of the Gentiles to Christianity
o The apostles gathered in a council and made a decision that the Gentiles did not have to be circumcised or follow Jewish dietary laws in order to be Christians (Council of Jerusalem).
Middle Ages:
• Church was less centralized, much more autonomy.
• Gratian—first to attempt codification of the various local church laws.
o Concordance of Discordant Canons
• St. Raymond of Peñafort—tried to gather all the various laws and have just one.
19th/20th centuries:
• Up until the early 20th century, there was still no single code of law
o Pius X and Benedict XV—first code of Canon Law: the Pio-Benedictine Code (1917)
o CIC/17 was the Code for most of the 20th century
• Pope John XXIII (January 25, 1959)—3 things happened:
o Convocation of the Vatican Council
o Reform of the CIC/17
o Convocation of a synod of the Diocese of Rome
• Vatican Council II:
o CIC/83—reflects teachings of Vatican II and some holdover of CIC/17
o CIC/83 was the final punctuation of Vatican II
Context:
• Prior to Vatican II:
o Model of the church as a perfect society—very secular model—for example, only the Church can select its own leaders and pursue its own ends.
• Today:
o The Church is a mystery
All of the Canons are not contained in one book

Canon 1: The canons of this Code concern only the Latin Church.
• Canons apply only to the members of the Latin Rite Church
Canon 2: For the most part the Code does not determine the rites to be observed in the celebration of liturgical actions. Accordingly, liturgical laws which have been in effect hitherto retain their force, except those which may be contrary to the canons of the Code.
• Liturgical law still exists
Canon 3: The canons of the Code do not abrogate, nor do they derogate from, agreements entered into by the Apostolic See with nations or other civil entities. For this reason, these agreements continue in force as hitherto, notwithstanding any contrary provisions of this Code.
• Church’s relations in public forum with other states
o Promulgated after the code
 Ex Cordae Ecclesiae “Out of the Heart of the Church”
 Instruction on Latin Rite Mass per John XXIII
Canon 4: Acquired rights, and likewise privileges hitherto granted by the Apostolic See to either physical or juridical persons, which are still in use and have not been revoked, remain intact, unless they are expressly revoked by the canons of this Code.
• Acquired rights—individuals or communities: might have acquired rights prior to CIC/83
Canon 5: §1- Universal or particular customs which have been in effect up to now but are contrary to the provisions of these canons and are reprobated in the canons of this Code, are completely suppressed, and they may not be allowed to revive in the future. Other contrary customs are also to be considered suppressed, unless the Code expressly provides otherwise, or unless they are centennial or immemorial: these latter may be tolerated if the Ordinary judges that, in the circumstances of place and person, they cannot be removed.
§2- Customs apart from the law, whether universal or particular, which have been in effect hitherto, are retained.
• Distinction between universal and particular laws
o Universal law supercedes particular law
Titles of Book I: General Norms
Title I—Ecclesiastical Laws
• Diversity of laws
• Divine positive laws
• Natural law
• Universal or particular
• Marriage
o Marriage is a sacrament between 2 baptized people
• Law has to be promulgated
• Subject to interpretation
Title II—Custom
• Favors what is written over custom
Title III—General Decrees and Instructions
• Hierarchy of norms
o When there is a doubt of the law

Title IV—Singular Administrative Acts
• Rescripts—refer to the written communication of a privilege or dispensation.
o Privilege—a favor
o Dispensation—the relaxation of the law for a just cause
• Disparity of cult:
o In marriage, the lack of baptism is an impediment to a valid marriage. For just cause, a dispensation is needed.
Invalid—not following the form
• Catholic marrying at another Christian Church requires a dispensation.
• Two baptized Christian in a Catholic marriage is considered valid but not licit if permission was not obtained prior to the marriage ceremony.

Title V—Statutes and Rules of Order

Title VI—Physical and Juridic Persons
• Canon 96—incorporation into the Church by Baptism (juridic act)
o Juridic—corporate personality

Title VII—Juridic acts
• Implication for the status of the individual

Title VIII—Power of Governance
• Either ordinary to an office or delegated
• All governance power is vested in the bishop, however it can be delegated
o Proper—who holds it originally
o Vicarious—act in lieu of but in his mind
Title IX—Ecclesiastical Office
Title X—Prescription
• Church entering into relations with secular authorities


Title XI—Computation of Time
Time to exercise their rights
• Useful time—business days
• Continuous—from birth

TEXT: New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law: Study Edition
by John P. Beal (Editor), James A. Coriden (Editor), Thomas J. Green (Editor)
Gratian's vast compilation, which he entitled "The Concordance of Discordant Canons," was actually a university textbook, not an official body of laws, thought it was often treated as such (and, of course, it contained a lot of official laws, which the user could evaluate on his own, guided by Gratian's commentary and the glosses).
St. Raymond of Peñafort was summoned to Rome by Pope Gregory IX, appointed to the papal court, and made papal confessor. He was then charged with the task of rearranging and codifying the canon laws of the Church. His success in this vast editorial job is astonishing, since he had to rewrite and condense decrees that had been accumulating for centuries. Completed in 1234, the work remained the most authoritative compilation within the body of canon law until 1917, when a new code was published.
Due to the requests of the bishops at Vatican Council I, Pope Pius X ordered that work begin on reducing the diverse documents into one, single code. The code was promulgated by his successor Benedict XV, on May 27, 1917. Pope Benedict XV set May 19, 1918 as the date on which the Code of Canon Law would become effective. For the most part, it dealt only with the Latin Church.
Codex Iuris Canonici
Apostolic Constitution of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II on Catholic Universities available on www.papalencyclicals.net