To work for the proper implementation of canon law is to play an extraordinarily

constructive role in continuing the redemptive mission of Christ. Pope St. John Paul II

SHMS

Students

Blog

Updated

2 dec 2024

Introduction to Canon Law (AT 780)

Notices ►

After property law we will go directly to Munera books, Teaching Office.

Quick

links

• Orientation to Canon Law

• People of God

• History of Canon Law

• Property

• General Norms

• Sanctions • Munera books

General remarks

Note: Before consulting this page see my Master Page for Sacred Heart Major Seminary Students, here.

Overview: This course presents an overview of the Johanno-Pauline Code of Canon Law (1983), as revised, especially as that Code relates to ordained ministry in an arch/diocesan context.

Class meets: Room 110, Thursdays, 1:00 pm to 2:50 pm.

Required texts: No texts need be purchased for this course, but students will need access to:

• Canon Law Society of America, Code of Canon Law, Latin-English Edition, New English Translation (Canon Law Society of America, 2012) ISBN: 1-932208-32-1. This volume is out of print, increasingly out-of-date, and generally over-priced in the used book market. A copy, however, is on reserve in the Szoka Library and the text of the law is available on-line, here.

• Scriptural, magisterial, and/or scholarly materials listed below.

Class format: Lecture and discussion.

Course grading: One final exam consisting of multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer questions focusing on required readings and matters discussed in class. A sample exam, non-graded, is distributed around midterms and assessed for students.

Course Outcome: Upon completion of this course the successful student will have a grasp of the nature and content of the canon law currently in force in the Catholic Church and how it applies in a pastoral context.

SHMS Bulletin description: Students will be introduced to an examination of the nature of canon law and a broad overview of its content; emphasis will be placed on the nature, purpose, and history of the law in the Church and on changes in the law brought about by Vatican II. Special attention will be given to Book Two, “The People of God,” of the 1983 Code of Canon Law and principles of interpretation. 2 credits.

Additional remarks

Bibliography

• SHMS has special courses on sacramental law and on marriage law; some areas of canon law (such as religious and procedural law) have only narrow usefulness in parish and arch/diocesan life.

• Canon law makes extensive use of scholarly commentary in both academic and administrative contexts and serves as the bibliography for this course. Various canonical commentaries are on reserve in the Szoka Library during this course, but students should become familiar with all of the admirable canon law resources available at SHMS year-round. The key shelves to be aware of are in the circulating collection, esp. nos. 4, 37, and 47, fronts and backs.

• The largest and most useful canon law website in the world is mine, CanonLaw.info.

Study technique

While understanding the 1983 Johanno-Pauline Code of Canon Law requires a firm grounding in the documents of the Second Vatican Council and familiarity with the scope and method of the 1917 Pio-Benedictine Code of Canon Law (1917), the focus of this course is on the 1983 Code itself, as modified from time to time since promulgation. Because it is essential to deal directly with the text of the revised law the following four-step approach to studies should be followed:

• Read the canons assigned below as a whole, straight through, but carefully.

• Identify and consider the footnoted sources, known as fontes, cited for the canons.

• Using a standard commentary re-read the individual canons along with the scholarly remarks on each.

• Re-read the canons as a whole this time recalling the key points made by the commentaries.

Eastern Canon Law

This course is directed to the exposition of Roman Catholic canon law, but Sacred Heart Major Seminary is entrusted with the academic formation of many Eastern Catholics and, while their canon law often complements, it sometimes contrasts with, Roman. Here, three kinds of observations on Eastern Code of Canon Law (CCEO) are offered as follows: a Western canon followed by CCEO with a simple canon number indicates the Eastern canon that corresponds (sometimes closely) to the Roman canon in question, while CCEO with a canon number and a comment (flagged with a 'blue note'), indicates notable differences between Eastern law and the corresponding Roman provision. Western canons with no CCEO provision identified have no parallel Eastern provision.

Topic 1

Orientation to canon law

Notion of canon law.

Canon Law, the internal legal system of the Catholic Church, is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the Western world and affects virtually every aspect of the faith life of over one billion Catholic Christians around the globe.

• Internal: canon law lies wholly within the Church's authority to compose and administer, this, in contrast to the wide variety of external (usually civil) laws to which the Church generally defers in the pursuit of her divine mission;

• Legal: canon law operates according to the principles of law chiefly as set out in Aristotelian-Thomistic legal philosophy, this, in contrast to suggestions that canon law is simply applied theology, morals, or the rules of religious cult;

• System: canon law must be read as a whole for proper understanding and use, this, in contrast to suggestions that canon law is a collection of principles or aphorisms that can be adequately understood in isolation from each other.

[T]he Code is in no way intended as a substitute for faith, grace, charisms, and especially charity in the life of the Church and of the faithful. On the contrary, its purpose is rather to create such an order in the ecclesial society that, while assigning the primacy to love, grace, and charisms, it at the same time renders their organic development easier in the life of both the ecclesial society and the individual persons who belong to it. John Paul II, ap. con. Sacrae disciplinae leges (1983) [¶ 16].

The instrument which the Code is fully corresponds to the nature of the Church, especially as it is proposed by the teaching of the Second Vatican Council in general, and in a particular way by its ecclesiological teaching. Indeed, in a certain sense, this new Code could be understood as a great effort to translate this same doctrine, that is, the conciliar ecclesiology, into canonical language. John Paul II, ap. con. Sacrae disciplinae leges (1983) [¶ 18].

Canonical laws by their very nature must be observed. John Paul II, ap. con. Sacrae disciplinae leges (1983) [¶ 25].

John Paul II

(reg. 1978-2005)

Aspects of the ecclesial society served by canon law.

Definition of law.

Background Reading: Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae Ia-IIae Q 90 a 4, resp., here.

Types of law found in the Code.

Literary forms of canons in the Code.

Background Reading: L. Orsy, "Literary forms in the Code", in CLSA Comm (1985) at 41-42.

Topic 2

History of canon law

Canonical significance of various stages of Church history.

Anyone who knows merely the text of the Code ... will possess an inadequate knowledge; the whole field of the development of canon law will be a closed book. Ignoring centuries of jurisprudence is not desirable either in the training of a canonist or in his subsequent work. E. Roelker, Invalidating Laws (1955) at vii.

Required Readings:

• Pietro Cdl. Gasparri's "Preface" to the Pio-Benedictine Code (1917).

• Alphonse Cdl. Stickler's "Preface" to the Johanno-Pauline Code (1983).

Background Readings:

• Peters, wbp Resources in the general history of Canon and Roman Law, here.

• R. C. Mortimer, Western Canon Law, (University of California: Berkeley, 1953) 92 pp.

• J. Gilchrist, ed., The Collection in Seventy-Four Titles: A Canon Law Manual of the Gregorian Reform, (Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1980) 288 pp. ▪ Excellent translation of an important source of canonical practice in the early middle ages, with good introduction and supporting notes.

Pietro Cdl. Gasparri

(1850-1934)

• F. Firth, ed., Robert of Flamborough’s Liber Poenitentialis: A Critical Edition with Introduction and Notes, (Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1971). ▪ While not exactly Irish, this is a great example of the 'Irish penitential' genre. Text in Latin, notes in English.

Milestones in the organization of canon law.

• An example of the "moral maxims" approach to early Church discipline is, of course, the Didache. If you have not already read or listened to this masterpiece, I urge you to do so promptly. Among many options, this one works well.

• Gasparri suggests this neat, linear sequence in the development of canon law:

c. 1140

1545-1563

1917, 1983

1990

Ius Antiquum

Gratian inaugurates

the Ius Novum

Trent inaugurates

the Ius Novissimum

Codifications

I suggest, however, that the following sequence more accurately, if less tidily, reflects what actually happened in canonistics:

c. 1140 / 1234

1545-1563

1917, 1983

1990

Ius Antiquum

Gratian inaugurates

the Ius Novum (unofficial collections, 'Decretum')

Trent

Gregory IX inaugurates

the Ius Novissimum (official collections, 'Decretal Law')

Codifications

The rise of codified canonistics.

Background Reading: Peters, wbp Legislative history of the 1983 Code, here.

Canonical mechanics.

• Code, (Book), Canon, section or paragraph, number, (clausula).

• Reading footnotes, 1983 Code, practice PDF here.

Background Reading: Peters, wbp Reading Footnotes of the 1917 Code, here.

Topic 3

General Norms

Pre-ambulatory norms.

1983 CIC 1. Scope of Johanno-Pauline Code. CCEO 1.

Background Reading: Peters, wbp Master Page on Eastern Canon Law, here.

1983 CIC 2. Distinction between canon and liturgical law. CCEO 3.

Background Reading: Edward Peters, "Liturgical Law: the Last Labyrinth", Adoremus Bulletin (Sep 1996) 3, here, explanation of why liturgical law is more difficult to research than is canon law.

1983 CIC 5. Custom. CCEO 6 n. 2.

1983 CIC 6. Effect of Johanno-Pauline Code on other laws. CCEO 6 § 1.

1983 CIC 7. Promulgation of law. CCEO 1488.

1983 CIC 8. Methods of promulgation. CCEO 1489.

1983 CIC 9. Future orientation of law. CCEO 1494.

1983 CIC 10. Ecclesia detestat invaliditatem. CCEO 1495.

1983 CIC 11. Scope of merely ecclesiastical law. CCEO 1490.

1983 CIC 16. Interpretation of law. CCEO 1498.

1983 CIC 17. Steps in discernment concerning of law. CCEO 1499.

1983 CIC 18. Strict interpretation of law. CCEO 1500.

Background Reading: Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'Most words are not crimes' (2015), here , applies 'narrow interpretation' rubric against casual expansion of canonical crimes.

1983 CIC 19. Lacunae in law. CCEO 1501.

1983 CIC 21. Continuity of law. CCEO 1503.

1983 CIC 22. Relation between canon and civil law. CCEO 1504.

Dispensation.

Background Reading: Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'Thoughts on the obligation to attend Mass during times of pestilence' (2020), here, sets out distinctions between 'impossibility', 'dispensation', and 'excuse'.

1983 CIC 85. Definition of dispensation. CCEO 1536.

1983 CIC 87. Role of bishop in dispensation. CCEO 1538.

1983 CIC 89. Exclusion of priests from power of dispensation. • CCEO ≠

• See also 1983 CIC 1245.

Background Reading: Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'What an invalid dispensation looks like' (2017), here, analysis of a purported dispensation issued by a parish pastor.

1983 CIC 90. Justification for dispensation. • CCEO ≠

Physical persons.

1983 CIC 96. Baptism as constitution of person in Church. • CCEO ≠

1983 CIC 97. Adults and minors in Church. CCEO 909 § 1.

1983 CIC 98. Rights of adults in Church. CCEO 910.

1983 CIC 102. Domicile and quasi-domicile. CCEO 912.

1983 CIC 128. Liability for harms inflicted. CCEO 935.

Ordinaries and governance.

1983 CIC 134. Categories of ordinaries. Note: To the extent that CCEO 984-987 read differently from Roman provisions here, those differences largely turn on the Eastern preservation of a functioning patriarchal level of governance.

1983 CIC 135. Categories of power of governance. CCEO 985.

1983 CIC 475. Vicar general. CCEO 245.

1983 CIC 746. Episcopal vicar. CCEO 246.

1983 CIC 478. Qualifications for vicars. CCEO 247 § 1, 2.

1983 CIC 479. Powers of vicars. CCEO 248.

1983 CIC 482. Chancellor. CCEO 252.

Ecclesiastical office.

1983 CIC 145. Ecclesiastical office. CCEO 936.

1983 CIC 149. Eligibility for office. CCEO 940, 946.

1983 CIC 150. Office with full care of souls. • CCEO ≠

1983 CIC 157. Free conferral of office. • CCEO ≠

1983 CIC 184. Loss of office. CCEO 965, 966.

Time.

1983 CIC 201. Continuous vs. useful time. CCEO 1544.

Topic 4

People

of God

Pre-ambulatory norms.

1983 CIC 204. Incorporation by baptism. CCEO 7.

1983 CIC 205. Markers of full communion. CCEO 8.

• Lumen gentium 14. They are fully incorporated in the society of the Church who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept her entire system and all the means of salvation given to her, and are united with her as part of her visible bodily structure and through her with Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. The bonds which bind men to the Church in a visible way are profession of faith, the sacraments, and ecclesiastical government and communion.

Background reading: "Credo of the People of God" in Paul VI (reg. 1963-1978), m.p. Solemni hac liturgia (30 iun 1968), AAS 60 (1968) 433-446, Eng. here. • wiki "Athanasian Creed", here.

1983 CIC 206. Catechumens. CCEO 9.

• See 1983 CIC 1170, 1183 § 1.

1983 CIC 207. Categories of the faithful. CCEO 323 § 2.

Common rights & duties.

1983 CIC 208. Equality among the faithful. CCEO 11.

1983 CIC 209. Obligation of communion. CCEO 12.

1983 CIC 212. Relationship between faithful and hierarchy. CCEO 15.

1983 CIC 213. Right to spiritual goods of the Church. CCEO 16.

1983 CIC 214. Right to worship God. CCEO 17.

1983 CIC 215. Right to associate. CCEO 18.

1983 CIC 216. Right to organize. CCEO 19.

1983 CIC 217. Right to education. CCEO 20.

1983 CIC 218. Right to study and expression. CCEO 21.

1983 CIC 219. Freedom from coercion. CCEO 22.

1983 CIC 220. Right to reputation. CCEO 23.

1983 CIC 221. Right to 'due process'. CCEO 24.

1983 CIC 223. Exercise and regulation of rights. CCEO 26.

Seminaries.

1983 CIC 232. Church's right to form ministers. CCEO 328.

1983 CIC 238. Seminaries have juridic personality. CCEO 335.

1983 CIC 239. Leadership in seminaries. CCEO 338, 339 § 1.

1983 CIC 240. Access to spiritual advisors in seminary. CCEO 339 § 2-3.

1983 CIC 242. National program of priestly formation. Note: Per 330 § 1 the patriarchal synod fulfills the function served in the West by the conference of Bishops.

Background Reading: The sixth edition of the US "Program of Priestly Formation" was approved by the USCCB in June 2022. The fifth edition is available, here. The Canadian programs of priestly formation are oriented to English programs (2019), here, and French programs (1999), here.

1983 CIC 249. Learning Latin and other languages. • CCEO ≠

• Optatam totius 13. Seminarians are to acquire a knowledge of Latin which will enable them to understand and make use of the sources of so many sciences and of the documents of the Church.

1983 CIC 251. Philosophical instruction in seminaries. CCEO 349.

1983 CIC 252. Theological instruction in seminaries. CCEO 350.

Incardination.

Eastern law: Eparchies, not dioceses, are the primary locus of incardination in Eastern law.

1983 CIC 265. Necessity of incardination. CCEO 357 § 1.

1983 CIC 266. Acquisition of incardination. CCEO 358, 428.

1983 CIC 267. Formal change of incardination. CCEO 359, 364.

1983 CIC 268. Constructive change of incardination. CCEO 360 § 2.

Clerical obligations.

1983 CIC 273. Clerical obligation of reverence and obedience. CCEO 370.

1983 CIC 276. Clerical obligation to pursue holiness.

1983 CIC 277. Clerical obligations of continence and celibacy.

1983 CIC 280. Common life among clerics. CCEO 370.

1983 CIC 284. Clerical garb. CCEO 387.

• USCCB, Compl. norm re Canon 284 (01 nov 1999), here , US clerical dress is usually black suit and Roman collar; cassock use at cleric's discretion.

• CCCB, Decr. 25 (oct 1986), Canadian clergy should dress "in such a way as to be identifiable as clergy", here.

1983 CIC 285. Clerical obligations regarding certain activities.

• See also Pascite 1393 § 2.

1983 CIC 286. Clerical prohibitions against trade.

• See also Pascite 1393 § 1.

1983 CIC 288. Specific authorizations for 'permanent' deacons. • CCEO ≠

Loss of clerical state.

1983 CIC 290. Distinguishing ordination and clerical state. CCEO 394.

1983 CIC 291. Distinguishing clerical state and obligation of celibacy. CCEO 396.

1983 CIC 292. Effects of loss of clerical state. CCEO 395.

1983 CIC 293. Readmission to clerical state. CCEO 398.

Pope and the College of Bishops.

1983 CIC 330. Unity of Peter and the college of bishops. CCEO 42.

1983 CIC 331. Authority of the Roman Pontiff. CCEO 43.

The terms “papacy” and “pontificate” are related but distinct. The “papacy” is an office instituted by Christ and exercised by hundreds of men over the centuries. A “pontificate” is the exercise of the “papacy” by an individual holder of the office. Thus one could say, “The papacy is an awesome responsibility” or “The pontificate of John Paul II was quite long”, but one would not say “The papacy of Leo XIII brought the Church into the twentieth century”.

Background Reading: Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'What the pope can do, can't do, might do, won't do' (2013), here , overview on the range of and limits on papal authority.

1983 CIC 332. Eligibility for and resignation from papal office. CCEO 44.

Background Reading: Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'Francis was never pope? Call me unpersuaded' (2017), here. • Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'Lighter fare: can bad Latin save a papacy?' (2014), here.

1983 CIC 336. Authority of the College of Bishops. CCEO 49.

Topic 5

Property

Pre-ambulatory norms.

1983 CIC 1254. Declaration on and purpose of temporal goods. CCEO 1007.

1983 CIC 1255. Subjects of temporal goods. CCEO 1009 § 1.

1983 CIC 1256. Ownership of ecclesiastical property. CCEO 1008 § 2.

Background Reading: Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'Why Detroit's plan for parishes is in accord with canon law and sound theology' (2018), here.

1983 CIC 1257. Public juridic persons are subject to Book V. CCEO 1009 § 2.

1983 CIC 1258. Notion of 'Church' in regard to property. • CCEO ≠

1983 CIC 1259. Acquisition of temporal goods. CCEO 1010.

1983 CIC 1260. Church's authority to require temporal goods. CCEO 1011.

• See also 1983 CIC 222.

1983 CIC 1261. Right of faithful to donate goods to Church. • CCEO ≠

1983 CIC 1262. Cooperation of faithful with appeals for funds. • CCEO ≠

Background Reading: Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'About withholding donations to the Church' (2018), here, withholding donations from parishes has a relatively minor impact on arch/dioceses even though the latter, specifically the leadership thereof, are usually the occasion of such boycotts.

Juridic persons.

1983 CIC 113. Moral and juridic person. CCEO 920.

1983 CIC 114. Establishment of juridic person. CCEO 921.

1983 CIC 120. Perduration of juridic person. CCEO 927.

1983 CIC 123. Resolution of juridic person. CCEO 925, 930.

Consultation and consent.

1983 CIC 127. Provisions on consultation and consent. CCEO 934.

Arch/diocesan taxes.

1983 CIC 1263. Arch/diocesan taxation authorization. CCEO 1012.

Donor intention.

1983 CIC 1267. Presumptions regarding donations. CCEO 1016.

Background Reading: Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'A canonical look at Fr. Pokorsky's idea' (2019), here, some 'restricted' donations might actually be 'modal-conditional' obligations triggering different canonical consequences.

Topic 6

Sanctions

Note: The penal law of the Roman Church contained in Book VI of the 1983 Code was abrogated by Pope Francis and replaced by that contained in his apostolic constitution Pascite. See Francis (2013-), ap. con. Pascite gregem Dei (23 mai 2021), L'Osservatore Romano (4 iun 2021), Latin text on-line here, Eng. text on-line here.

Required Reading: Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'A few thoughts on the revised Book VI of the Code' (2021), here.

Benignity.

Pascite 1311 olim 1983 CIC Authority of Church to punish offenders.

Pascite 1312 olim 1983 CIC General types of sanctions in the Church.

Pascite 1313 olim 1983 CIC Impact of change of law.

Pascite 1314 olim 1983 CIC Ferendae sententiae procedures preferred over latae sententiae.

Background Reading: Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'Automatic penalties confuse every topic they touch' (2019), here, argues for the abolition of Roman latae sententiae penalties as the Eastern Churches have done.

Pascite 1315 olim 1983 CIC Authority to issue penal law.

Pascite 1316 olim 1983 CIC Consistency of penal law.

Pascite 1317 olim 1983 CIC Occasion of penal law.

Pascite 1318 olim 1983 CIC Restriction on new latae sententiae penalties.

Pascite 1319 olim 1983 CIC Authority to issue penal precepts.

Pascite 1320 olim 1983 CIC Liability of religious to local penal law.

Pascite 1323-1324. Exempting and mitigating factors in application of sanctions.

Pascite 1323 olim 1983 CIC The following are not subject to a penalty when they have violated a law or precept:

1° a person who has not yet completed the sixteenth year of age;

2° a person who without negligence was ignorant that he or she violated a law or precept; inadvertence and error are equivalent to ignorance;

3° a person who acted due to physical force or a chance occurrence which the person could not foresee or, if foreseen, avoid;

4° a person who acted coerced by grave fear, even if only relatively grave, or due to necessity or grave inconvenience unless the act is intrinsically evil or tends to the harm of souls;

5° a person who acted with due moderation against an unjust aggressor for the sake of legitimate self defense or defense of another;

6° a person who lacked the use of reason, without prejudice to the prescripts of cann. 1324 § 1 n. 2 and 1325;

7° a person who without negligence thought that one of the circumstances mentioned in nn. 4 or 5 was present.

Pascite 1324 olim 1983 CIC § 1. The perpetrator of a violation is not exempt from a penalty, but the penalty established by law or precept must be tempered or a penance employed in its place if the delict was committed:

1° by a person who had only the imperfect use of reason;

2° by a person who lacked the use of reason because of drunkenness or another similar culpable disturbance of mind;

3° from grave heat of passion which did not precede and hinder all deliberation of mind and consent of will and provided that the passion itself had not been stimulated or fostered voluntarily;

4° by a minor who has completed the age of sixteen years;

5° by a person who was coerced by grave fear, even if only relatively grave, or due to necessity or grave inconvenience if the delict is intrinsically evil or tends to the harm of souls;

6° by a person who acted without due moderation against an unjust aggressor for the sake of legitimate self defense or defense of another;

7° against someone who gravely and unjustly provokes the person;

8° by a person who thought in culpable error that one of the circumstances mentioned in can. 1323 nn. 4 or 5 was present;

9° by a person who without negligence did not know that a penalty was attached to a law or precept;

10° by a person who acted without full imputability provided that the imputability was grave.

§ 2. A judge can act in the same manner if another circumstance is present which diminishes the gravity of a delict.

§ 3. In the circumstances mentioned in § 1 the accused is not bound by a latae sententiae penalty.

Specific types of sanctions.

Pascite 1331 olim 1983 CIC Excommunication.

Background Reading: Peters' Canon Law Blog, 'Be careful what you ask for ...' (2019), here , if censures prove themselves ineffectual (say by having supposedly throngs of faithful laboring under them with no apparent modifications in their behavior) such censures have been in the past, and should be in the future, withdrawn.

Pascite 1332 olim 1983 CIC Interdict.

Pascite 1333 olim 1983 CIC Suspension.

Pascite 1336 olim 1983 CIC Expiatory penalties.

Penal process.

Pascite 1341 olim 1983 CIC Factors influencing decision to invoke penal law.

Pascite 1342 olim 1983 CIC Choice between judicial and administrative penal procedures.

1983 CIC 1717 olim 1983 CIC First steps in penal process.

General penal norm.

Pascite 1399 olim 1983 CIC 1399. General penal norm.

Topic 7

Munera books

Teaching office.

1983 CIC 747. Teaching mission of the Church. CCEO 595.

1983 CIC 748. Obligation to seek truth in freedom. CCEO 586.

1983 CIC 749. Infallibility. CCEO 597. Lecture resumes here.

1983 CIC 750. Obligations toward infallible assertions. CCEO 598.

"Subjects and objects and modes, oh my!", here.