The Spirit Of Classical Canon Law

---Ecclesiastical Law Review --

This latest volume in the ongoing History of Medieval Canon Law series covers the period from Gratian's initial teaching of canon law during the 1120s to just before the promulgation of the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX in 1234.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1953.

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.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law has been described by Pope John Paul II as the final document of the Second Vatican Council. In this, the Holy Father was encapsulating precisely what this Code is: a revision of the earlier 1917 Code which takes into account the doctrinal, pastoral and practical teachings of the Council, while at the same time retaining, as did the Council, the age-old law and tradition of the Church.

Incorporates the various developments and interpreta-tions, official and otherwise, which have occurred since the Code was promulgated. It attempts to in-corporate the practical wisdom which has been gain-ed over the 12 years of working with the new Code.