canon law

canon law,

in the Roman Catholic Church, the body of law based on the legislation of the councils (both ecumenical and local) and the popes, as well as the bishops (for diocesan matters). It is the law of the church courts and is formally distinguished from other parts of ecclesiastical law, such as liturgical law. However, when liturgical law overlaps with canon law, canon law normally prevails. Canon law has had a profound influence on the law of countries where the Roman Catholic Church has been the state church. In the Middle Ages the church courts had very wide jurisdiction—e.g., in England, control of the law of personal property—and because they were well regulated, they tended to attract many borderline cases that might also have been heard by the developing royal courts (see benefit of clergybenefit of clergy,
term originally applied to the exemption of Christian clerics from criminal prosecution in the secular courts. The privilege was established by the 12th cent., and it extended only to the commission of felonies.
..... Click the link for more information. ).

Catholics of Eastern rites have their own separate codes of canon law, approved by the Roman Catholic Church. The term "canon law" is also used for ecclesiastical law in churches of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiastical (1603) was a collection of rulings, not based on the old canon law, but given equal force with the canon law.

The Canon Law Code

The Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church, which became effective in 1983, is a revision of the Codex juris canonici [code of canon law], promulgated in 1917. The code itself, the culmination of centuries of legal growth, consists of 1,752 canons in seven books and supersedes all previous compilations. It does not contain all canon law, which continues to grow, but it is the base of the present-day law, and the study of canon law consists mainly in mastering the code and its application. Canon law lays down rules for the governance and regulation of the clergy and the church, including such matters as the qualifications, duties, and discipline of the clergy and the administration of the sacraments (more particularly the laws regarding holy orders and the sacrament of marriage). Canon law embraces both general laws applicable in the church universal, such as those on requirements for the priesthood and those on marriage, and local laws applicable only in certain dioceses.

Compilations of Canon Law

The early law grew particularly from the canons of church councils, from the letters of bishops regarding church discipline and governance, and later from papal letters, called decretals, that settled matters of ecclesiastical government and discipline. After the 4th cent. this legislation grew profuse, and attempts to collect and correlate the laws began early (see Constitutions, ApostolicConstitutions, Apostolic,
late-4th-century compilation, in eight books, of administrative canons for the clergy and the laity and of guides for worship. They were supposed to be works of the apostles, but actually included the greater part of the Didascalia Apostolorum,
..... Click the link for more information. ). These collections were private in that they seem not to have been authorized by the popes. They also contained material that was not genuine, as in the case of the False DecretalsFalse Decretals
, collection of documents, partly spurious, treating of canon law. It was composed between 847 and 852 probably in France, either at Reims or in the province of Tours (specifically at Le Mans), and composed by a man who called himself Isidore Mercator (hence the
..... Click the link for more information. . It was not until the middle of the 12th cent. that the great genius of the canon law, GratianGratian,
fl. 1140, Italian legal scholar, founder of the science of canon law. Almost nothing is known of his life beyond the fact that he was a monk, almost certainly Camaldolite, and that he taught at the convent of saints Felix and Nabor (San Felice) in Bologna.
..... Click the link for more information. , following after Ivo of ChartresIvo of Chartres, Saint
, c.1040–c.1116, French churchman, bishop of Chartres (after 1090). He was fearlessly outspoken and was briefly imprisoned for opposing the irregular second marriage of King Philip I of France.
..... Click the link for more information. , applied the methods of Roman law in bringing order out of the chaos of conflicting and uncoordinated legislation. His Concordia discordantanium canonum (c.1140) or Decretum Gratiani [Gratian's Collection of Decrees] became the basis for future compilations of the law.

The first decretal compilations authorized by the popes appeared in the 13th cent. Important among these later "official" collections were the Extravagantes or Liber extra of Gregory IXGregory IX,
1143?–1241, pope (1227–41), an Italian named Ugolino di Segni, b. Anagni; successor of Honorius III. As cardinal under his uncle, Innocent III, he became, at St. Francis' request, the first cardinal protector of the Franciscans.
..... Click the link for more information. , so named because they were outside Gratian; the collection issued (1298) by Boniface VIIIBoniface VIII,
1235–1303, pope (1294–1303), an Italian (b. Anagni) named Benedetto Caetani; successor of St. Celestine V.

As a cardinal he was independent of the factions in the papal court, and he opposed the election of Celestine.
..... Click the link for more information. called Liber sextus [the sixth book] because it added to the five books of decretals promulgated by Gregory; the collection promulgated (1317) by John XXIIJohn XXII,
1244–1334, pope (1316–34), a Frenchman (b. Cahors) named Jacques Duèse; successor of Clement V. Formerly, he was often called John XXI. He reigned at Avignon. John was celebrated as a canon lawyer under Boniface VIII, whom he supported.
..... Click the link for more information. , drawn mostly from the constitutions of Clement V at the Council of Vienne and called the Clementinae; the work commonly called Corpus juris canonici, which in 1500 combined all the preceding with the Extravagantes of John XXII and the Extravagantes communes (decretals from Boniface VIII through Sixtus IV that were not included in previous collections) and was to be the fundamental work in canon law for centuries. The Council of Trent (1545–63, with interruptions) by its decrees concerning the church and church discipline was a landmark in canon law.

Church legislation had become considerably confused by the time St. Pius X announced (1904) the undertaking of the Codex juris canonici. This was drafted by a commission of cardinals headed by Cardinal Gasparri. In 1917, when the code was finished, a permanent commission of cardinals was set up to interpret it. In 1959, Pope John XXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council and announced a revision of the code of 1917. In 1963 he appointed a pontifical commission for the revision; the revised code became effective in 1983.

Bibliography

See J. A. Abbo and J. D. Hannan, The Sacred Canons (2d rev. ed. 1960); S. Kuttner, Harmony from Dissonance: An Interpretation of Medieval Canon Law (1960); R. Metz, What Is Canon Law? (1960); T. L. Bouscaren and A. C. Ellis, Canon Law (4th rev. ed. 1966).

Canon Law

the totality of decisions of church councils and papal decrees.

Canon law reflected the fact “that the church was the all-embracing synthesis and the most general sanction of the existing feudal domination” (K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch, 2nd ed., vol. 7, p. 361). The first codification of canon law was undertaken in the 12th century by the Bolognan monk Gratian, who wrote the treatise Concordia discordantium canonum, which became significant as a source of law. In 1582, during the rule of Pope Gregory XIII, an enlarged and revised edition of Gratian’s treatise called the Corpus juris canonici was published. The jurisdiction of church courts was especially broad in the Middle Ages, which was a period marked by the strengthening of the bond between church and state. A significant number of nonreligious (chiefly civil) legal matters were within clerical jurisdiction, including marriage and family affairs, property questions, and even criminal cases. Correspondingly, the norms of canon law were not limited to the organization and relations within the church, but they embraced various branches of law.

As absolutism developed and secular courts increased in importance, the sphere of activity of canon law gradually became more restricted until it was finally fixed under the bourgeois social structure. Thus the Code of Canon Law of 1917 published by Pope Benedict XV regulates only matters within the church. The norms contained in this code can be considered legal only to the extent that they are recognized as compulsory by any given state.

In the Orthodox Church, canon law is considered to be the totality of canon rules established chiefly at church councils. A significant part of these rules was included in the ecclesiastical law that was in effect in tsarist Russia.

P. S. GRATSIANSKII

canon law

the law governing the affairs of a Christian Church, esp the law created or recognized by papal authority in the Roman Catholic Church

canon law

Canon Law

Any church's or religion's laws, rules, and regulations; more commonly, the written policies that guide the administration and religious ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church.

Since the fourth century, the Roman Catholic Church has been developing regulations that have had some influence on secular (non-church-related) legal procedures. These regulations are called canons and are codified in the Code of Canon Law (in Latin, Codex juris canonici).

The law of England, which inspired much of the law formed in the United States, was a mixture of canon law and Common Law (principles and rules of action embodied in case law rather than legislative enactments). Canon law and English common law borrowed heavily from each other throughout medieval times and together formed the basis for many of the legal procedures used in the United States. For example, canon law's influence is still visible in the concepts of the Grand Jury, presentment (a description of a criminal offense that is based on the jury's own knowledge), and some characteristics of U.S. marriage law.

Canon law has its origins in ancient church writings, decisions made by the general councils of local bishops, and rulings issued by the pope. These ideas were organized in the mid–twelfth century by an Italian law teacher, Gratian. He sorted the collection into religious law, penal law, sacramental law, and other categories. Along with a set of decisions by the pope called Decretals of Gregory IX, Gratian's work formed the main body of canon law for nearly eight hundred years. In 1917, Pope Benedict XV recodified (revised) the canons. Pope John Paul II reissued the Code of Canon Law in 1983—authorizing increased participation of laity in the church, recognizing the needs of disabled people, and making other changes. A related text, the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, was reissued by the Holy See (the seat of papal government) in 1990.

In the Middle Ages, canon law was used in ecclesiastical courts (church) to decide many types of cases that in modern times are decided by civil courts, including criminal offenses. This was because most English Christians did not make a great distinction between secular and spiritual offenses. Crimes that were tried by the church included Adultery, blasphemy, slander, heresy (opposition to official religious views), money lending, and gambling. From the late fourteenth to the early sixteenth centuries church courts also heard many breach-of-faith cases concerning contracts, as well as inheritance and marriage-related cases.

Criminal trial procedures in medieval church courts were the source of some features that found their way into common law. Although witnesses were considered the best source of proof of a crime under canon law, suspected offenders could also be tried because of public fame (suspicion in the community that they had committed a crime). An inquest made up of twelve men—a forerunner of royal courts' grand juries—said under oath whether public suspicion existed. If none did, then a judge had no authority to proceed. After establishing public fame, the court's next step was canonical purgation, in which the accused person swore an oath that she or he was innocent. Proof of innocence was accomplished by compurgation, in which several oath helpers would swear that they believed the oath was true. People who objected to the purgation of an accused person had the chance to prove their accusation of guilt.

The use of canon law in governmental decisions is not well documented. In the early fifteenth century, commissions of the English Parliament made use of canonical procedures and canon law experts to decide issues involving laws of war, diplomacy, and other questions. For example, Parliament's justification for deposing King Richard II seems to have been based on papal bulls (decrees).

In modern times, the creation, interpretation, and use of the canons closely resemble those of secular law. The Episcopal Conference of Local Bishops and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops are voting bodies that set policy for the church. When policy has been codified, it is used by judges in Catholic tribunals in determining whether certain practices or requests are acceptable according to the canons. (Catholic tribunals make up the Church's own court system, which interprets canonical policy to resolve questions of church practice.) Case law (previous rulings) is published in Roman Replies and has precedential value. Judges may also request assistance from the Canon Law Society of America, a research organization, in interpreting the canons.

Catholics who appear before a tribunal may consult canon lawyers, who are not usually secular lawyers. A canon lawyer typically completes at least two years' worth of course work in the canons. North American canon lawyers receive their degree in canon law from one of two institutions: the Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C., or St. Paul University, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

By the end of the twentieth century secular law had eclipsed canon law in most aspects of public life. Interbody disagreements within the church are now often handled administratively rather than by a tribunal, but within the confines of canon law. However, the tribunal is still the only place where Catholics can secure a marriage Annulment, and each diocese must maintain a tribunal for this purpose. Divorced Catholics who have been denied an annulment can appeal as far as the Sacred Roman Rota, whose international membership is selected by the pope.

In the 1990s, some dioceses—notably the Archdiocese of Denver—have sought to reduce involvement by civil courts in church disputes by creating dispute resolution mechanisms and other internal mechanisms that make use of the written policies of canon law.

canon law

n. laws and regulations over ecclesiastical (church) matters developed between circa 1100 and 1500 and used by the Roman Catholic Church in reference to personal morality, status and powers of the clergy, administration of the sacraments and church and personal discipline. Canon law comprises ordinances of general councils of the church, decrees, bulls and epistles of the Popes, and the scriptures and writings of the early fathers of the church. Canon law has no legal force except within the Vatican in Rome, Italy, and in those nations in which the Catholic Church is the "official" church and where it prevails in religious matters which may affect all citizens (such as abortion and divorce). In Great Britain there is also a body of canon law dating back to pre-reformation in the 16th Century, which is used by the Anglican (Episcopal) Church. Canon law is not to be confused with professional canons, which are rules of conduct with no religious connection.

canon law

the law of the church, particularly the Roman Catholic Church but also used of the law of the Church of England. The Roman Catholic Codex Juris Canonici (‘Body of the Canon Law’) was until 1983 authoritative only in Latin. It is called canon law because each of the rules is called a canon. The present English translation is approved in Australia, Canada, England and Wales, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and South Africa.

canon law

canon law

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The Canon Law Code

Compilations of Canon Law

Bibliography

Canon Law

canon law

canon law

canon law

canon law

Canon Law

Further readings

canon law

canon law

canon law

Synonyms for canon law

noun the body of codified laws governing the affairs of a Christian church

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