Canon Law Explained

Not only inefficiency, but frustration, disorder, anger, and injustice threaten all human endeavors, no matter how pure their motives or high their ideals. That's why successful organizations always create employee handbooks and clear procedure manuals that delineate where authority lies, how conflicts are to be resolved, and, above all, how each organization's mission is (and is not) to be accomplished. Is it any wonder then that the Catholic Church—comprised not of 200 persons but 1.2 billion members in 200 countries—also governs itself by means of a handbook, which it calls the Code of Canon Law? Because handbooks and manuals concern themselves with the day-to-day inner working of organizations, they often reveal more than do news releases about the actual purposes and genuine spirit of organizations: a fact that's particularly true in the case of the Catholic Church. Indeed, if you want to know the Church for who She is, you need to be familiar with the Code of Canon Law. Unfortunately, it contains over 1,752 rules (or canons). Among them, you'll find fascinating canons that lay out the Church's official principles and procedures governing matters as various as abbots and annulments, scandals and Sacraments, monks and missions, bishops and books, priests and popes, synods and sacraments, homeschoolers, hostile witnesses, baptisms, burials, parishes, penance, confessions, Councils, impotence, imprimaturs, and, even marriages to the person who murdered your spouse! Thankfully, Vatican expert and veteran author Fr. Laurence Spiteri has in the pages of Canon Law Explained relieved you of the need to read all 1,752 of them (fascinating or not). Here he acquaints you with the fundamental canons by which the Church seeks to bring about, as it declares in the very last canon, the purpose all of them serve: "The salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law in the Church." Fr. Spiteri's brief, but lucid explanations of the origins and meaning of the canons make sense of much that puzzles non-Catholics about our Church and that sometimes frustrates even us Catholics. As he relates the Church's laws and procedures directly to Christ's command "to go forth and teach all nations"—and to the role those laws and procedures play in your salvation and mine—Fr. Spiteri transforms what seem to be dry-as-dust rules into the sweet waters of salvation. If you want to know the Church for who She is—and to love Her more—Canon Law Explained is the book for you.

An entirely new and comprehensive commentary by canon lawyers from North America and Europe, with a revised English translation of the code. Reflects the enormous developments in canon law since the publication of the original commentary. +

Canon law is the name given to the rules that govern church order and discipline of the Roman Catholic Church. This valuable book, which has been updated to reflect changes and adaptations in canon law and new resources in the field, offers an introductory orientation of all of canon law. A superb teaching and learning tool, it provides outlines and overviews of relatively complex areas of canon law, sketches the basic structure and design of the various offices and functions within the church and how they relate to each other, and gives an orientation to the more important areas of canon law, as well as a background and context within which more detailed rules can be understood. Two appendices offer guidance for doing canonical research and case studies for further discussion. +

Catholic canon law changes very slowly, but it constantly adds rules, interpretations, and applications. Some canons are frequently invoked, and others rarely used, quietly pass from memory. In the dozen or so years since this introduction to canon law was first written, there have been many changes and adaptations. This is one reason for a revised edition, although many of the alterations are too subtle to be captured in an introductory treatment. A second reason is to include some of the many new resources, commentaries, and explanations which authorities in the field have made available. Since many have found the original book helpful in beginning their exploration of the church's regulations, a fact which gratifies its author greatly, it is worth improving. Hence many sections have been clarified, expanded, and updated, and some others deleted. In a few places the material is reordered. Seven new case studies have been added. These improvements are a third reason for revision. Context of recent scandal has revealed inadequate applications of canon law. Serious canonical crimes were often treated as personnel problems, calling for repentance, therapy, and reassignment, rather than the investigation and imposition of penalties which the canons prescribe. Would a more careful observance of the traditional canonical system have saved many young people from serious harm and the church from an immense disgrace? The question provides one more incentive to begin to learn about canon law.

One of the main demands of Vatican II Council with respect to Canon Law was to always focus on the mystery of the Church. This clear and distinct position led to a renewal of the methodology applied to the discipline of Canon Law in almost all post-conciliar "schools". The canonistic demand however, similarly to change the didactic tools, the teaching material, in this new context has proved to be less significant. Knowing the importance and the urgency of this initiative has been a strong source of motivation to the author. The leading and inspiring idea behind this initiative is the conviction that the formal principles of Canon Law, both as the inner structure of the Church community as well as a proper scientific method, are the three fundamental elements of the constitution of the Church: the Word, the Sacrament and Charisma.

A complete and updated commentary on the Code of Canon Law prepared by the leading canonists of North America and Europe. Contains the full, newly translated text of the Code itself as well as detailed commentaries by thirty-six scholars commissioned by the Canon Law Society of America.