The Dicastery for Legislative Texts, formerly named Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, is a

dicastery A dicastery (from gr, δικαστήριον, dikastērion, law-court, from δικαστής, 'judge, juror') is the name of some departments of the Roman Curia. ''Pastor bonus'' ''Pastor bonus'' (1988), includes this definition: ''Praed ...

of the Roman Curia. It is distinct from the highest tribunal or court in the Church, which is the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, and does not have law-making authority to the degree the Pope and the Holy See's tribunals do. Its charge is the interpretation of existing canon laws, and it works closely with the Signatura and the other Tribunals and the Pope. Like the Signatura and the other two final appellate Tribunals, the Roman Rota and the Apostolic Penitentiary, it is led by a prefect who is a bishop or archbishop. The current President of the Pontifical Council is Archbishop Filippo Iannone, the current Secretary is Bishop

Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru (born 10 April 1951) is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who has been secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts since 15 February 2007. A bishop since 2008, he has held several oth ...

History and field of competence

On 14 May 1904,

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of ...

created the Commission for the Codification of Canon Law. It produced the

1917 Code of Canon Law The 1917 ''Code of Canon Law'' (abbreviated 1917 CIC, from its Latin title ), also referred to as the Pio-Benedictine Code,Dr. Edward Peters accessed June-9-2013 was the first official comprehensive codification of Latin canon law. Ordered ...

, promulgated by

Pope 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 to take effect on 19 May 1918. Pope Benedict then established the Pontifical Commission for Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law on 5 September 1917. On 28 March 1963,

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 Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 28 Oc ...

replaced it with the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law, a revision called for by the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

. On 11 July 1967,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

established the Pontifical Commission for Interpretation of the Decrees of the Second Vatican Council and, two years later, extended its mandate to the interpretation of the documents issued by the Holy See to implement those decrees. After promulgating a new version of the Code of Canon Law in January 1983,

Pope 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 ...

erected the Pontifical Commission for Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law once again on 2 January 1984. Its competence included with the universal laws for the

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language onc ...

within its purview. This Commission replaced those set up by his two predecessors. On 28 June 1988, the body was given its present name and its jurisdiction in the apostolic constitution ''

Pastor Bonus ''Pastor bonus'' (Latin: "The Good Shepherd") is an apostolic constitution promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 28 June 1988. It instituted a number of reforms in the process of running the central government of the Catholic Church. The docume ...

''. On 18 October 1990, its competence was extended to interpreting 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 Catho ...

and the laws shared in common by the

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 ...

. ''

Pastor bonus ''Pastor bonus'' (Latin: "The Good Shepherd") is an apostolic constitution promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 28 June 1988. It instituted a number of reforms in the process of running the central government of the Catholic Church. The docume ...

'' states that the dicastery's work "consists mainly in interpreting the laws of the Church". (''

'', 154).

Presidents

; Pontifical Commission for Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law * Pietro Gasparri (15 September 1917 – 18 November 1934) *

Luigi Sincero Luigi Sincero (26 March 1870 – 7 February 1936) was a Roman Catholic Cardinal and President of the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law and Secretary of Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Church ...

(12 December 1934 – 7 February 1936) *

Giulio Serafini Giulio Serafini (12 October 1867 – 16 July 1938) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was made a Cardinal in 1930. He served as Prefect of the Congregation of the Council from 1930 until his death in 1938, after serving as th ...

(1936? – 16 July 1938) * Massimo Massimi (14 March 1939 – 29 May 1946) * Pietro Ciriaci (31 May 1955 – 6 April 1963) ; Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law * Pietro Ciriaci (6 April 1963 – 30 December 1966) * Pericle Felici (21 February 1967 – 22 March 1982) * Rosalio José Castillo Lara, SDB (17 May 1982 – 18 January 1984) ; Pontifical Commission for Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law * Rosalio José Castillo Lara, SDB (18 January 1984 – 6 December 1989) ;Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts * Vincenzo Fagiolo (15 December 1990 – 19 December 1994) * Julián Herranz Casado (19 December 1994 – 15 February 2007) *

Francesco Coccopalmerio Francesco Coccopalmerio (6 March 1938) is an Italian cardinal. He was president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts from his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 15 February 2007 until his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis on 7 ...

(15 February 2007 – 7 April 2018) * Filippo Iannone (7 April 2018 – present)

Secretaries

;Pontifical Commission for Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law *

(15 September 1917 – 23 May 1923) * Giuseppe Bruno (14 February 1924 – 16 February 1946) * Gabriel Acacius Coussa, BA (3 March 1946 – 13 August 1961) * Giacomo Violardo (2 April 1962 – 6 April 1963) ;Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law * Giacomo Violardo (6 April 1963 – 26 January 1965) *

Raimondo Bidagor Raimondo is an Italian given name. Its English equivalent is Raymond. Notable people with the name include: *Raimondo Boucheron (1800–1876), Italian composer, chiefly of sacred music * Raimondo D'Inzeo (1925–2013), Italian show jumping rid ...

, S.J. (24 February 1965 – 1973) * Rosalio José Castillo Lara,

S.D.B. , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turin ...

(20 February 1975 – 17 May 1982) ; Pontifical Commission for Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law * Julián Herranz Casado (19 January 1984 – 19 December 1994) ;Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts *

Bruno Bertagna Bruno Bertagna (12 October 1935 − 31 October 2013) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the Roman Curia. He became a bishop in 1991 and an archbishop in 2007. Between 1994 and 2007 he was Secretary of the Pontifical Coun ...

(19 December 1994 – 15 February 2007) *

(15 February 2007 – present)

Notes

References

External links