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The 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' (abbreviated 1983 CIC from its Latin title ''Codex Iuris Canonici''), also called the Johanno-Pauline Code, is the "fundamental body of ecclesiastical laws for the
Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
". It is the second and current comprehensive codification of canonical legislation for the Latin Church '' sui iuris'' of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. It was
promulgated Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect. After a new law ...
on 25 January 1983 by
John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
Sacrae Disciplinae Leges
accessed Jan-11-2013
and took legal effect on the First Sunday of Advent (27 November) 1983. It replaced the 1917 ''Code of Canon Law'' which had been promulgated by
Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his deat ...
on 27 May 1917.


History


Background

The current Code of Canon Law is the second comprehensive codification of the non-liturgical laws of the
Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
, replacing the Pio-Benedictine code that had been promulgated by
Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his deat ...
in 1917.
Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
, when proclaiming a new ecumenical council for the Catholic Church, also announced the intention of revising the 1917 CIC.


Work

The ''Pontificia Commissio Codici iuris canonici recognoscendo'', which had been established in 1963, worked on revising the 1917 ''Code of Canon Law'' through the pontificate of Paul VI, completing the work in the first years of the pontificate of
John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
.


''Sacræ disciplinæ leges''

On 25 January 1983, with the apostolic constitution ''Sacrae disciplinae leges'' John Paul II
promulgated Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect. After a new law ...
the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' for all members of the Catholic Church who belonged to the
Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
. This apostolic constitution instituted the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' for the
Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
. It entered into force the first Sunday of the following Advent, which was 27 November 1983. In an address given on November 21, 1983 to the participants in a course at the Gregorian University in Rome on the new ''Code of Canon Law'', the Pope described the new code as "the last document of
Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...
".


Official language

While there have been many vernacular translations of the 1983 ''Code'', only the original
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
text has the force of law.


Ecclesiological inspiration of the 1983 code

The Vatican II decree '' Optatam totius'' (no. 16), in view of the decision to reform the existing Code, laid down that "the teaching of Canon law should take into account the mystery of the Church, according to the dogmatic constitution '' De Ecclesia''". The 1917 Pio-Benedictine Code was in fact structured according to the
Roman law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Ju ...
division of "norms, persons, things, procedures, penalties".
John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
described the ecclesiological inspiration of the 1983 ''Code'' in this way: Thus the 1983 ''Code'' is configured, as far as possible, according to the "mystery of the Church", the most significant books – Two, Three and Four – corresponding to the ''munus regendi'', the ''munus sanctificandi'', and the ''munus docendi'' (the "missions" of governance, of worship/sanctification, and of teaching) which in turn derive from the kingly, the priestly and the prophetic roles or functions of
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
.


Structure in detail

The 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' contains 1752 canons, or laws, most subdivided into paragraphs (indicated by "§") and/or numbers (indicated by "°"). Hence a citation of the Code would be written as Can. (or Canon) 934, §2, 1°.


Subdivisions

The ''Code'' is organized into seven Books, which are further divided into Part, Section, Title, Chapter and Article. Not every book contains all five subdivisions. Organized hierarchically, the subdivisions are *Book (Bk.) **Part (Pt.) ***Section (Sec.) ****Title (Tl.) *****Chapter (Ch.) ******Article (Art.) Most of the Code does not utilize all these subdivisions but one example is *"Book II. The People of God; **Part II. The Hierarchical Constitution of the Church; ***Section II. Particular Churches and Their Groupings; ****Title III. The Internal Ordering of Particular Churches; *****Chapter II. The Diocesan Curia; ******Article II. The Chancellor, other Notaries and the Archives." The basic unit of the Code is the
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
. Its subdivisions appear as *Canon (Can.) **Paragraph (§, e.g. §2) ***Number (°, e.g. 3°) Some canons contain "numbers" without "paragraphs", while most canons contain "paragraphs", and most "paragraphs" do not contain "numbers".


Outline

This is the outline of the seven books of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. * BOOK I. GENERAL NORMS (Cann. 1–203) : Explains the general application of laws * BOOK II. THE PEOPLE OF GOD (Cann. 204–746) : Goes into the rights and obligations of laypeople and clergy, and outlines the hierarchical organization of the Church * BOOK III. THE TEACHING FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH (Cann. 747–833) : Christian ministry, missionary activity, education, and social communication * BOOK IV. THE SANCTIFYING FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH (Cann. 834–1253) : Sacraments and other acts of worship; places of worship; feast-days and fast-days * BOOK V. THE TEMPORAL GOODS OF THE CHURCH (Cann. 1254–1310) : Ownership, contracts, and wills; akin to the civil Business Law * BOOK VI. SANCTIONS IN THE CHURCH (Cann. 1311–1399) : Crimes and punishment * BOOK VII PROCESSES (Cann. 1400–1752) : Procedural law; trials and tribunals; special processes; penal procedures; administrative procedures


Summary


Book I. General Norms (Cann. 1–203)

This part of the Codex contains the general rules concerning *legal sources * physical and juridic persons *governance and offices *the computation of time Legal sources are laws (including
custom Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to: Traditions, laws, and religion * Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom * Norm (social), a r ...
as a special way of legislation because of the need of the approval of the legislator), which contain universal regulations, general decrees (legislative or executory), instructions and statutes which refer to a special group, and in case of statutes are legislated by this group itself, and administrative acts, which only decide single cases. Persons are physical persons or juridic persons. Not everyone is considered a "physical person" according to the definition of the 1983 Code, because one is constituted a person with consequent duties and rights only by
baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
. The Codex specifies conditions for the validity of a juridical act, especially in relation to form, coercion, misapprehension and lack of participation. Legal power is divided into the three authorities of legislative, executive and judicial. The ability to conduct juridical acts can be attached to an office or it can be delegated to a person. Appointment and loss of ecclesiastical office are regulated. Time regulates prescription, which goes along with the national regulations, but can only be achieved in good faith, and definitions of time.


Book II. The People of God (Cann. 204–746)

Book two describes the "People of God". It discusses the general rights and obligations of members of the church, and then discusses the ordering of the church, from the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
to the local parish. The hierarchical constitution of religious and secular institutes and societies of apostolic life is shown to a degree adequate to explain the scope of applicability of the regulations of part two. A religious institute is a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public vows. This book is divided into three parts: *The Christian faithful *The hierarchical constitution of the church * Institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life. The Christian faithful shows the obligations of the faithful in common, those of the lay and those of the sacred ministers or clerics with special consideration of the formation and incardination and excardination of clerics and personal prelatures. Furthermore, the
associations of the Christian faithful In the Catholic Church, an association of the Christian faithful or simply association of the faithful (Latin: ''consociationes christifidelium'') sometimes called a public association of the faithful, is a group of baptized persons, clerics or la ...
especially their recognition as a juridic person are constituted, divided in public, private associations and those of the lay. Part II is entitled, "The Hierarchical Constitution of the Church". This part describes the composition, rights and obligations of the Supreme Authority of the Church, consisting of the Roman Pontiff, the College of Bishops, the Synod of Bishops, the
College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are app ...
, the Roman Curia and the Papal legates. A secular institute is an institute of consecrated life in which the Christian faithful, living in the world, strive for the perfection of charity and seek to contribute to the sanctification of the world, especially from within. Societies of apostolic life do not use a vow.


Book III. The Teaching Function of the Church (Cann. 747–833)

Book III describes the teaching function of the church. The forms of teaching are the ministry of the Divine Word in the forms of the preaching of the word of God and the catechetical instruction, the missionary action of the church, the Catholic education in schools, Catholic universities and other institutes of higher studies and the ecclesiastical universities and faculties, the instruments of communication and books in particular and finally the profession of faith.


Book IV. The Sanctifying Office of the Church (Cann. 834–1123)

In book four the function of the church and its religious acts are explained. This book is composed of three parts *the sacraments *the other acts of divine worship *sacred places and times The sacraments are
baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
, confirmation, the most holy
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
, penance, anointing of the sick, holy orders and
marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
. These sacraments are described with conditions, ceremony and participants. Other acts of divine worship are sacramentals, the
liturgy of the hours The Liturgy of the Hours (Latin: ''Liturgia Horarum'') or Divine Office (Latin: ''Officium Divinum'') or ''Opus Dei'' ("Work of God") are a set of Catholic prayers comprising the canonical hours, often also referred to as the breviary, of the ...
, ecclesiastical funerals, the veneration of the saints, sacred images and relics and the vow and oath. Sacred places are those which are dedicated for divine worship or for the burial of the faithful. The Code knows five kinds of sacred places: churches, oratories and private chapels, shrines,
altars An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism ...
and cemeteries. Sacred times are holy days of obligation, feast days and days of penance.


Book V. The Temporal Goods of the Church (Cann. 1254–1310)

This part of the Corpus Juris is the regulation of the civil law. There are instructions concerning the acquisition and administration of goods especially the acquisition by bestowal either through an act ''inter vivos'' or through an act ''mortis causa'' and contracts with special care of alimentation.


Book VI. Sanctions in the Church (Cann. 1311–1399)

Book VI contains the canonical equivalent to secular criminal law. The book has two parts: *Delicts and penalties in general *Penalties for individual delicts The first part declares the necessity of a violation of a law and shows the limits and requirements of such a penal law. It determines reasons, which eliminate the punishment as lack the use of reason, nonage (less than seventeen years), mistake in law or facts, missing causality or intent and self-defence. It also describes social cases as complicity, wilful default and attempt. Possible penalties are censures (
excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
and suspension), expiatory penalties (prohibition or an order concerning residence in a certain place or territory, privation of a power, office, function, right, privilege, faculty, favor, title or insignia) and penal remedies and penances. Finally the right of the application and cessation of penalties is regulated. The canon 1374 made implicit ant reference to the penalty of excommunication for Freemasons, that was enforced by the canon 2335 of the code of 1917, which enforced exclusively to the Pope the right to prosecute and excommunicate Roman Catholic Freemasons. In 1981 the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith restated that canon law forbade "Catholics, under the penalty of excommunication, to enroll in Masonic or other similar associations." Membership was still forbidden in a document dated back to 1983, but the emphasis was put on the prohibition for Freemasons to receive the Holy Communion. The second part shows individual delicts, divided into delicts against religion and unity of the church, those against ecclesiastical authorities and the freedom of the church, those against special obligations, those against human life and freedom, usurpation of ecclesiastical functions and delicts in their exercise, and the crime of falsehood. In addition to these cases (and those stated in other laws) the external violation of a divine or canonical law can be punished when the special gravity of the violation demands punishment and there is an urgent need to prevent or repair scandals.


2021 revisions

The Catholic Church updated Book VI of its 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' in June 2021 (taking effect on 8 December 2021) for clearer rules on numerous offences, including sexual ones. The revision was the result of a long process commenced in 2009 to better prevent and address
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, nuns, Popes and other members of religious life. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the cases have involved many allegations, investigations, trials, convictions, a ...
, mostly committed by clerics against underage children entrusted in their care, but also against vulnerable adults, or other sexual offences the Church regards as
sinful In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
due to breaching the
clerical celibacy in the Catholic Church Clerical celibacy is the discipline within the Catholic Church by which only unmarried men are ordained to the episcopate, to the priesthood (with individual exceptions) in some autonomous particular Churches, and similarly to the diaconate (wit ...
.
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
, archbishop Filippo Iannone and other officials stated that bishops had been too lenient in penalising offenders in the past, in part because of the wiggle room the vague wording of canon law allowed for, and formally introduced
laicization Laicization may refer to: * Loss of clerical state (Catholic Church) * Not to be confused with defrocking Defrocking, unfrocking, degradation, or laicization of clergy is the removal of their rights to exercise the functions of the ordained mini ...
as a penalty for certain sexual offences. In Catholic theology, the Decalogue (or
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
) are numbered so that the sixth commandment is "
Thou shalt not commit adultery "Thou shalt not commit adultery" is found in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible. It is considered the sixth commandment by Roman Catholic and Lutheran authorities, but the seventh by Jewish and most Protestant authorities. What constitutes a ...
". The Catholic Church's interpretation of the sixth commandment is much broader than just
adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...
(
extramarital sex Extramarital sex occurs when a married person engages in sexual activity with someone other than their spouse. The term may be applied to the situation of a single person having sex with a married person. Where extramarital sexual relations do n ...
), and concerns a set of offences against chastity. The revised provisions on sexual offences are derived from this broad interpretation of the sixth commandment. The provisions in canon 1395 §3 are coercion-based, as they require evidence of the use of 'force, threats or abuse of his authority'. Canon 1398 §1 describes sexual offences in which the victim was deemed incapable of consenting (because of 'habitually avingan imperfect use of reason'). There is no freely given
sexual consent Sexual consent is consent to engage in sexual activity. In many jurisdictions, sexual activity without consent is considered rape or other sexual assault. Academic discussion of consent In the late 1980s, academic Lois Pineau argued that societ ...
for people deemed incapable of consenting.


Book VII. Processes (Cann. 1400–1752)

Book VII contains the legal procedure. It is divided into five parts. * Trials in general * The contentious trial * Special processes * The penal process * The method of proceeding in hierarchical recourse and in the removal or transfer of pastors


Part I

The first part trials in general defines the court system, its two local instances and the Roman Pontiff as the supreme judge with the representation by the tribunals of the Apostolic See, especially the
Roman Rota The Roman Rota, formally the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota ( la, Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae), and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience, is the highest appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin-r ...
. It determines the participants of the lawsuit, the judge, the
auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and a ...
s and relators, the promoter of justice, the
Defender of the Bond The defender of the bond ( la, defensor vinculi or ''defensor matrimonii'') is a Catholic Church official whose duty is to defend the marriage bond in the procedure prescribed for the hearing of matrimonial causes which involve the validity or ...
, the notary, the petitioner, the respondent, and the procurators for litigation and advocates. Finally it describes the discipline to be observed in tribunals, with the duty of judges and ministers, the order of adjudication, the time limits and delays, the place of the trial, the persons to be admitted to the court, the manner of preparing and keeping the acts, and the actions and exceptions in general and specific.


Part II

The contentious trial begins with the introductory libellus of litigation and the citation and notification of juridical act. The joinder of the issue occurs when the terms of the controversy are defined by the judge, through a decree of the judge. Further on, this part explains the trial of the litigation, especially the absence of a party, the intervention of a third person and the proofs. There are six kinds of proof: declarations of the parties, documents, testimonies, experts, judicial examination and inspection, and
presumption In the law of evidence, a presumption of a particular fact can be made without the aid of proof in some situations. The invocation of a presumption shifts the burden of proof from one party to the opposing party in a court trial. There are two ...
s. After taking evidence the acts are published, the case concluded and then discussed. The case ends with the sentence of the judge. The sentence can be challenged by complaint of nullity and by appeal. Finally the ''res judicata'' and ''restitutio in integrum'', the execution of the judgement, the judicial expenses and gratuitous legal assistance are regulated. As an alternative to this contentious trial there is the possibility of an oral contentious process.


Part III

Part three defines special processes and their special regulations, the process for declaring the nullity of marriage, cases of separation of spouses, process for the dispensation from a marriage ''
ratum sed non consummatum The term ''ratum sed non consummatum'' ( la, ratified but not consummated) or ''ratum et non consummatum'' ( la, ratified and not consummated) refers to a juridical-sacramental category of marriage in Catholic matrimonial canon law. If a matrimon ...
,'' the process in the presumed death of spouses, and cases for declaring the nullity of sacred ordination. This part also shows methods of avoiding trials.


Part IV

Part four shows the proceedings of the penal process, with the preliminary investigation, the trial, and the adhesive procedure.


Part V

The last part shows the methods of proceeding in administrative recourse, which can be made by any person who says he was aggrieved by a decree, and the removal or transfer of pastors with display of the reasons for the removal or transfer. The final canon, 1752, ends with the
teleological Teleology (from and )Partridge, Eric. 1977''Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' London: Routledge, p. 4187. or finalityDubray, Charles. 2020 912Teleology" In ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' 14. New York: Robert Appleton ...
and juridical principle that the supreme law of the Church is the salvation of souls (commonly formulated ''Salus animarum lex suprema est.'')


Amendments

After the promulgation of the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'', popes have amended it nine times.


''Ad tuendam fidem''

On 18 May 1998 Pope John Paul II issued the
motu proprio In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term ''sua sponte'' for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a ...
'' Ad tuendam fidem'', which amended two canons (750 and 1371) of the 1983 Code of Canon Law and also two canons (598 and 1436) of the 1990
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches The ''Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' (CCEC; la, Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, abbreviated CCEO) is the title of the 1990 codification of the common portions of the canon law for the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic ...
, so as to add "new norms which expressly impose the obligation of upholding truths proposed in a definitive way by the Magisterium of the Church, and which also establish related canonical sanctions."


''Omnium in mentem''

On 26 October 2009
Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
issued the motu proprio '' Omnium in Mentem'', which amended five canons (1008, 1009, 1086, 1117, 1124) of the 1983 Code of Canon Law clarifying that, among those in Holy Orders, only bishops and priests received the power and mission to act in the person of Christ the Head while deacons obtained the faculty to exercise the ''diakonias'' of service, Word, and charity. The amendments also removed formal defection from the Catholic faith as excusing Catholics from the canonical form of marriage.


''Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus''

On 15 August 2015
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
issued the motu proprio '' Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus'', which amended twenty-one canons (1671–1691) to reform the process of determining matrimonial nullity. The document was made public on 8 September 2015.


''De concordia inter codices''

On 31 May 2016, Pope Francis issued the motu proprio '' De concordia inter codices'', which amended ten canons (111, 112, 535, 868, 1108, 1109, 1111, 1112, 1116 and 1127) to reconcile the norms of the Latin Code of Canon Law with those of the
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches The ''Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' (CCEC; la, Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, abbreviated CCEO) is the title of the 1990 codification of the common portions of the canon law for the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic ...
. He did so after consultation with a committee of experts in Eastern and Latin canon law organized by the
Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts The Dicastery for Legislative Texts, formerly named Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, is a dicastery of the Roman Curia. It is distinct from the highest tribunal or court in the Church, which is the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Sig ...
.


''Magnum principium''

On 3 September 2017 Pope Francis issued the motu proprio ''
Magnum principium Pope Francis issued the document ''Magnum principium'' ("The Great Principle") dated 3 September 2017 on his own authority. It modified the 1983 Code of Canon Law to shift responsibility and authority for translations of liturgical texts into mod ...
'', which amended one canon (838) to grant
episcopal conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...
s authority over liturgical translations.


''Communis vita''

On 19 March 2019, Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter given
motu proprio In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term ''sua sponte'' for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a ...
'' Communis vita''. It institutes ''
ipso facto is a Latin phrase, directly translated as "by the fact itself", which means that a specific phenomenon is a ''direct'' consequence, a resultant ''effect'', of the action in question, instead of being brought about by a previous action. It is a ...
'' dismissal of religious who are absent for a full year illegitimately from their religious house. It replaces canons 694 and 729 in their entirety, with an entry into force on 10 April 2019.


''Authenticum charismatis''

On 1 November 2020, Pope Francis issued the motu proprio ''Authenticum charismatis'' whereby canon 579 was amended to state that diocesan bishops of the Latin Church are required, for validity, to receive the prior permission of the Apostolic See before issuing a decree of erection of a new religious institute of diocesan right. The '' vacatio legis'' was until10 November 2020.


''Spiritus Domini''

The ''motu proprio'' '' Spiritus Domini'' was released on 11 January 2021; it changes the Code of Canon Law (canon 230 §1) to state that the instituted ministries of
acolyte An acolyte is an assistant or follower assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession. In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone performing ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In others, the term is used f ...
and
lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as french: lecteur, en, lector, pl, lektor and russian: лектор. It has various specialized uses. ...
are open to " lay persons", i.e. both men and women, instead of previously "lay men". This change, Francis says, acknowledges a " doctrinal development" that has occurred in recent years.


''Pascite gregem Dei''

The apostolic constitution '' Pascite gregem Dei'' changed the book VI. Its changes took effect on 8 December 2021.


''Competentias quasdam decernere''

The motu proprio ''Competentias quasdam decernere'' issued 15 February 2022 changed some canons.


''Recognitum librum VI''

The apostolic letter issued ''motu proprio'', ''Recognitum librum VI'', issued 26 April 2022 changes one sentence from canon 695.


18 May 2022 ''rescriptum''

Through a rescript published 18 May 2022, Pope Francis changed canon 588 §2 concerning major religious orders. The change made it so that after receiving written permission from the
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, formerly called Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL; la, Congregatio pro Institutis Vitae Consecratae et Soci ...
, the council of an institute of consecrated life or a society of apostolic life of pontifical rite can nominate or elect a "non-cleric member", i.e., a layperson, as major superior. The change took effect immediately.


Notable canons

*
Canon 844 Canon 844 is a canon contained within the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' (1983CIC) of the Catholic Church, which defines the licit administration and reception of certain sacraments of the Catholic Church in normative and in particular exceptional ...
regulates ''communicatio in sacris''. *
Canon 915 Canon 915, one of the canons in the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, forbids the administration of Holy Communion to those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared ...
forbids the administration of Holy Communion to those upon whom the penalty of
excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
or
interdict In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...
has been imposed or declared or who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin.


Eastern equivalent

John Paul II later promulgated a code of
canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
for the 22 ''
sui juris ''Sui iuris'' ( or ) also spelled ''sui juris'', is a Latin phrase that literally means "of one's own right". It is used in both secular law and the Catholic Church's canon law. The term church ''sui iuris'' is used in the Catholic '' Code of Ca ...
''
Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...
—the ''
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches The ''Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' (CCEC; la, Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, abbreviated CCEO) is the title of the 1990 codification of the common portions of the canon law for the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic ...
''—by means of the apostolic constitution '' Sacri Canones'' of 18 October 1990.


See also

* 1917 Code of Canon Law * Canon law of the Catholic Church *
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches The ''Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' (CCEC; la, Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, abbreviated CCEO) is the title of the 1990 codification of the common portions of the canon law for the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic ...
*
Legal history of the Catholic Church The legal history of the Catholic Church is the history of the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West, much later than Roman law but predating the evolution of modern European civil law traditions. The history of Latin canon law ...


References


External links


[1983
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in_English_translation
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(English_translation_by_the_Canon_Law_Society_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland,_assisted_by_the_Canon_Law_Society_of_Australia_and_New_Zealand_and_the_Canadian_Canon_Law_Society) {{Authority_control 983">[1983
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in_English_translation
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(English_translation_by_the_Canon_Law_Society_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland,_assisted_by_the_Canon_Law_Society_of_Australia_and_New_Zealand_and_the_Canadian_Canon_Law_Society) {{Authority_control 1983_documents">c 983">[1983
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1983_Code_of_Canon_Law
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