Theology And 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.

"This book was born from a wonder that prompted the question: how can we find the right harmony between Christian beliefs and the laws governing the life of the community: or, between the divine mysteries and the norms of human creation?" [Foreword].

"This volume," says James Coriden in his introduction, "... allows the reader to reach an accurate understanding of the authentic nature and function of parishes within the Catholic tradition." It describes the origins of parishes and their historical evolution, offers a theology of parish as a local church, links parishes to the church's social teaching and provides a comprehensive overview of their function in Roman Catholic law and their relationship to American civil law." "In clear, nontechnical language, the volume outlines the canonical status of Catholics as parishioners - as well as their rights, duties and forms of assembly and the relationship of parishes to other ecclesial and civil bodies. Ministerial students, clerical and lay ministers, members of parish councils and laypersons generally will find this book an indispensable handbook for living and working within parish communities. Christians of other denominations will make fruitful connections between their own congregational life and Roman Catholic experience."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

In four periods : From the foundation of the Church to the "Decretum Gratiani", from the Gregorian Reform to the Council of Trent, from Trent to the "Codex Iuris Canonici", and from its promulgation in 1917 to the new Codex of 1983, Van de Wiel offers a clear description of the general concepts and constitutive sources of Canon Law. His work is a contribution to the history of canon law and will be of great service both to students and jurists. Constant Van de Wiel is currently professor of Canon Law at the Catholic University of Leuven, Louvain (Belgium), Chancellor and Keeper of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Mechlin-Brussels. He published on the subject in the Louvain Journal of Theological and Canonical Studies : "Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses", and in several specialized journals.

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.

This Overview of the Canon Law of the Orthodox Catholic Church is a prcis of the lessons on Canon Law taught to undergraduate students of the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki from 1968; and, after the division of the School into two Departments in 1982, to the undergraduates of the Department of Pastoral and Social Theology. With the passage of time, the content of the lessons underwent adaptations and improvements because of what had in the meantime become His Eminence Panteleimon's established ecclesiological and canonical views on certain matters of Canon Law. These changes were small but nonetheless of the essence. The present edition does not constitute a complete system of Canon Law, but, as its title declares, is an overview thereof.