A church is defined as a communion based on a unity of faith, a sacramental communion of all members with Christ as Lord and a unity of government. Many scholars argue that a church cannot exist without authority—that is, binding rules and organizational structures—and that religion and law are mutually involved. Thus, the appointment of a Church leader to office is considered important in the organizational structure and, like any other fundamental vocation in churches that accept the validity of canon law, it is also considered sacramental and related to the priesthood – which in turn includes a vocation to lead in liturgy and preaching. According to the Roman Catholic faith, the mission of the College of the Apostles (led by St. Peter in the 1st century AD) continues in the College of Bishops under the presidency of the Pope. Other churches can accept this view without at the same time accepting the authority of the Pope. The validity of canon law is therefore based on the acceptance of this sacramental vision and on the mission of the Apostles transmitted by the bishops. Canon law (from ancient Greek: κανών, canon, a „stick of measure right, ruler“) is a set of ordinances and regulations issued by the ecclesiastical authority (direction of the church) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is internal ecclesiastical law or operational policy that governs the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Church), the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches and the individual national Churches within the Anglican Communion. [1] The way in which such canon law is legislated, interpreted and sometimes decided is very different in these four ecclesiastical bodies.
In all three traditions, a canon was originally a rule adopted by a church council;[2] These canons formed the basis of canon law. The sources of canon law and canonical writers. Give us, it is true, rules of action, each with its specific purpose. We must now consider all these laws in their common abstract element, that is, canon law, its characteristics and practice. According to the excellent definition of St. Thomas (I-II:90:1), a law is a reasonable ordinance for the common good proclaimed by the head of the community. Ecclesiastical law is therefore committed by the head of the Christian community, about which it is strictly called so; its purpose is the common good of that community, even if this may cause inconvenience to the individual; it is adapted to the realization of the common good, which means that it is physically and morally possible for the majority of the community to conform to it; the legislator must intend to bind its subjects and to clearly express that intention; Finally, it must bring the law to the attention of the Community. A law is therefore different from a lawyer, which is optional and not mandatory; a commandment imposed not on the community, but on individual members; and a regulation or direction relating to ancillary matters.
It must be remembered that the Church existed for a long time before it had a complete and coordinated legal system; whereas many of the day-to-day actions of his administration, although objectively canonical, were of the same nature as similar acts in civil matters, such as contracts, obligations and, in general, the management of property; It was only natural for the Church to adapt to the existing currents in these areas without approving them positively. Later, when the canonists of the twelfth century began to systematize ecclesiastical law, they found themselves in the presence of a fragmentary canon law on the one hand and the complete methodical Roman code on the other; they resorted to the second to deliver what was missing in the first, hence the maxim adopted by the canonists and inserted in the „Corpus Juris“ according to which the Church acts according to Roman law when canon law is silent (cap. 1. „De novi op. Nunc. „, X, i, V, tit. In addition, the clergy in the German kingdoms followed Roman law as a personal status. With regard to written canon law, however, Roman law has lost its practical value in the Church (chap. 28, X, „De priv.“, X, lib. V, Tit.
xxxiii). It can be said that canon law has been taken over from Roman law, which refers to obligations, contracts, judicial measures and, to a large extent, civil proceedings. Other Roman laws were subject to more positive recognition than mere usage, that is, they were formally approved, for example those which were of secular origin but concerned ecclesiastical matters, e.g. the laws of the Byzantine Church, or laws of origin and civil character, but which were converted into canonical laws, for example the obstruction of marriage resulting from adoption. The legal influence of Teutonic law was much less important if one disregards the inevitable adaptation to the customs of the barbarian races, but some vestiges of this law in ecclesiastical legislation are remarkable: the somewhat feudal system of sinecures; the calculation of parents` degrees; harmonization of penitential practices with military money; finally, but only for a certain period, the justification of criminal charges on the oath of guarantors or co-jurors (De purgatione canonica, lib. V,. The canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches, which had developed several different disciplines and practices, went through its own process of codification, which led to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, proclaimed by Pope John Paul II in 1990. [16] For the history of canon law considered in its sources and collections, it should be mentioned that after the fourteenth century, in addition to its contact with the collections we have just covered, canon law loses its unity. The law itself is found in the works of the canonists and not in a particular collection; each collects his texts where he can; There is no sufficient general collection for this purpose.
It`s not about confusion, it`s about isolation and distraction. The sources of law according to the „Corpus Juris“ are: The two codes of canon law cover many areas of ecclesiastical service, and many laws are very pastoral. There are sections on sacraments, parishes, dioceses, Catholic education, religious orders, possession of property, protection of rights, and ecclesiastical punishments – to name a few. Both codes of canon law are available on the Internet. To understand many of the canons, a commentary is required (e.g., New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, edited by Beal, Coriden, & Green, 2000). Or you can appeal to the canonists who work in the court of our diocese. Among the canonists who followed the order of the titles of the decrees: the institutions and practices of canon law corresponded to the legal development of much of Europe and, therefore, modern civil law and common law bear the influences of canon law. As Edson Luiz Sampel, a Brazilian expert in canon law, says, canon law is included in the emergence of various civil law institutes, such as law in continental Europe and Latin American countries. Indirectly, canon law has a significant influence on today`s society.
[18] Modern law has only a limited and local influence on canon law, particularly on two points. On the one hand, the Church respects civil laws in mixed matters, especially with regard to the management of her property; in some cases, even it has finally adopted as its own measures adopted by the civil powers acting independently; a notable case is the French decree of 1809 on the „Fabriques d`église“. On the other hand, modern legislation is attached to canon law for certain beneficial measures: part of the criminal, civil and matrimonial proceedings and, to a certain extent, the organization of courts and tribunals. It is impossible to create a detailed and systematic catalogue of all works of particular value for the study of canon law; the most respected canonists are the subject of special articles in this encyclopedia. Those we have mentioned as commentators on the ancient canonical collections are of interest only from a historical point of view; but the authors who have written since the Council of Trent are still read profitably; In their great works we find our canon law practical.