Canon Law

History of the Canon Law

Canon is a Latin word meaning “rule.” A canon is an established rule, or body of rules, for guidance. Canon law is the body of laws governing the Catholic Church.

Canon law, the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the western world, is the legal system of the Catholic Church. It affects virtually every aspect of the faith life of nearly one billion Catholic Christians throughout the world.

The Catholic Church had collections of canon law during the first millennium, but the first body of canon law to be widely accepted was Gratian’s Decree, assembled about 1140 AD by the Italian Camaldolese monk Gratian, lasted nearly eight centuries. Gratian’s Decree basically summarized the first one thousand years of Catholic canon law. It looked like this:

In much the same way as additional books were added to the Torah, more books were added as the centuries passed until the Corpus Iuris Canonica (Body of Canon Law) was complete.

Early in the twentieth century, Pope St. Pius X commissioned and approved an updating called the Codex Iuris Canonica. However, he did not live to see it published, which is why Pope Benedict XV published it in 1917. But because Pope St. Pius X and Pope Benedict XV each had a crucial part in it, the 1917 Codex Iuris Canonica is often called the Pio-Benedictine Code.

The Current Edition, 1983

The 1917 edition was superseded by the current Codex Iuris Canonica, Code of Canon Law, published by Pope John Paul II in 1983. Some provisions highlighting the Pope’s supreme authority include:

Canon 331 states: “The office uniquely committed by the Lord to Peter, the first of the Apostles, and to be transmitted to his successors, abides in the Bishop of the Church of Rome. He is the head of the College of Bishops, the Vicar of Christ, and the Pastor of the universal Church here on earth. Consequently, by virtue of his office, he has supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the Church, and he can always freely exercise this power.”

How then do we know that a particular man is the Pope? Canon 332 §1 answers: “The Roman Pontiff acquires full and supreme power in the Church when, together with episcopal consecration, he has been lawfully elected and has accepted the election.”

Who is the authentic interpreter of Canon law? Canon 16 §1 says, “Laws are authentically interpreted by the legislator and by the one to whom the legislator has granted the power to interpret them authentically.” Pope John Paul II was the legislator at the time of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, meaning he and his successors are the most qualified to interpret it. Canon 333 § 3 says, “There is neither appeal nor recourse against a decision or decree of the Roman Pontiff.”

Canon 338 §1 states: “It is the prerogative of the Roman Pontiff alone to summon an Ecumenical Council, to preside over it personally or through others, to transfer, suspend or dissolve the Council, and to approve its decrees.” Pope John XXIII called Vatican II, and Pope Paul VI approved its decrees.

Serious Catholics should consider purchasing an annotated Code of Canon Law for their own use. The canons themselves are somewhat terse. Most of the real explanation occurs in the annotations. The University of Navarre’s Code of Canon Law Annotated provides good solid commentary that is faithful to the Magisterium. Catholics who wish to get a “second opinion” would do well to also own the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland’s The Canon Law: Letter & Spirit, published by Liturgical Press. The fact that these commentaries were written outside the United States does not diminish their usefulness for American readers; the Canon Law applies to the entire Latin Church.

Catholics considering purchase of the Canon Law Society of America edition of the New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, published in the year 2000, or its 1985 predecessor, should first read Father John Trigilio, Jr.’s article “New Commentary, Old Nonsense,” published in Homiletic & Pastoral Review in March 2001.

Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches

Catholics who wish to read the canon law for the Eastern Churches sui iuris (Eastern Catholic Churches) may purchase the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches, published by the Canon Law Society of America. It is the only English-language edition I know of.