Friday, May 3, 2013

What is Canon Law?

What exactly is the Code of Canon Law?

 
Church law has a long and detailed history. For many centuries Church law was a collection of legislative acts and decisions coming from the writings of popes, local, provincial and general councils, and decisions of learned jurists. Custom also played an important role in the legal history of the Church. These would become the rule (canon) for the administration of justice in the community.

As the Church continued to grow out of the Roman Empire, more detailed collections were gathered and made use of, culminating in the Classic Age of Canon Law (middle of the 12th century). The practitioners of law associated with major universities developed a systematic approach to law resulting in the Corpus iuris canonici - the main source of Church Law until 1917. This was built on the outstanding work found in the Decree of Gratian (c. 1140). Other works such as the Decretals of Gregory IX (1234), the Liber Sextus (1298) and the Clementinae contributed to the development and methodology of Canon Law.

Over the course of the centuries, more decrees and writings were added especially the Decrees of the Council of Trent. However, it was not until1904 and the pontificate of Pius X that the idea of a codification of Church Law ( in one volume) was decided upon. Under the scholarly direction of Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, the Codex iuris canonici was promulgated by Pope Benedict XV in 1917. This was to be the official Church Law until 1983.

On January 25, 1959, Pope John XXIII announced along with the convocation of a Synod for the Diocese of Rome, the convening of an Ecumenical Council (Vatican II) the revision of the Code of Canon Law. This would be the last of the Council documents to be officially proclaimed. A committee of cardinals, bishops, canonists and others diligently undertook the daunting task of revision.

Finally on January 25, 1983, Pope John Paul II promulgated the new Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church. In contrast to the 1917 Code which had some 2414 canons (rules) the 1983 Code consists of 1752 canons. The Code is divided into seven books and deals with a variety of themes: Book I - the general norms; Book II - People of God; Book III - The Teaching Office; Book IV - The Sanctifying Office in the Church (Sacraments); Book V - Temporal Goods of the Church; Book VI - Sanctions in the Church( Penal Law) and Book VII - Processes ( Procedural Law).

Friday, May 3: Feast of Sts. Philip and James





Philip and James were apostles of Jesus. The choice of Philip as a disciples is recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. John's Gospel records several conversations between Jesus and Philip, which show he was present throughout Jesus' public ministry.

James the son of Alphaeus (called 'James the Less' because he was younger than the other apostle James) is mentioned in Mark and in the Acts of the Apostles. He is the author of the Letter of James. He was martyred by stoning c.62.