1983 Code of Canon Law
The 1983 Code of Canon Law (abbreviated 1983 CIC from its Latin title Codex Iuris Canonici) is the codification of canonical legislation for the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. It was promulgated on 25 January 1983 by John Paul II and obtained the force of law on the First Sunday of Advent (27 November) 1983. It replaced the 1917 Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Benedict XV on 27 May 1917.
History
The current Code of Canon Law is the second comprehensive codification of the non-liturgical laws of the Latin Church, replacing the Pio-Benedictine code that had been promulgated by Benedict XV in 1917. See also Canon Law-Codification and Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.
Pope John XXIII, when proclaiming a new ecumenical council for the Catholic Church, also announced the intention of revising the 1917 CIC. It was not feasible to revise the Code of Canon Law until after the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, so that the decisions of the Council could guide the revision of ecclesiastical laws. Several of the council documents gave specific instructions regarding changes to the organization of the Catholic Church, in particular the decrees Christus Dominus, Presbyterorum Ordinis, Perfectae Caritatis, and Ad gentes. In 1966, Pope Paul VI issued norms to apply these instructions through the motu proprio Ecclesiae Sanctae.
1917 Code of Canon Law
The 1917 Code of Canon Law, also referred to as the Pio-Benedictine Code, was the first official comprehensive codification of Latin canon law. It was promulgated on 27 May 1917 and took legal effect on 19 May 1918. It was in force until the 1983 Code of Canon Law took legal effect and abrogated it on 27 November 1983. It has been described as "the greatest revolution in canon law since the time of Gratian" (1150s AD).
History
Background
By the 19th Century, this body of legislation included some 10,000 norms. Many of these were difficult to reconcile with one another due to changes in circumstances and practice. This situation impelled Pope St. Pius X to order the creation of the first Code of Canon Law, a single volume of clearly stated laws. Under the aegis of Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, the Commission for the Codification of Canon Law was completed under Benedict XV, who promulgated the Code, effective in 1918. The work having been begun by Pius X and promulgated by Benedict XV, it is sometimes called the "Pio-Benedictine Code," but more often the 1917 Code. In its preparation centuries of material were examined, scrutinized for authenticity by leading experts, and harmonized as much as possible with opposing canons and even other codes, from the Codex of Justinian to the Napoleonic Code.
Canon law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church is the system of laws and legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Church to regulate its external organization and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the Church. It was the first modern Western legal system.
Positive ecclesiastical laws, based directly or indirectly upon immutable divine law or natural law, derive formal authority in the case of universal laws from the supreme legislator (i.e. the Supreme Pontiff), who possesses the totality of legislative, executive, and judicial power in his person, while particular laws derive formal authority from a legislator inferior to the supreme legislator. The actual subject material of the canons is not just doctrinal or moral in nature, but all-encompassing of the human condition. It has all the ordinary elements of a mature legal system: laws, courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code, principles of legal interpretation, and coercive penalties. It lacks civilly-binding force in most secular jurisdictions. Specialists in the field are usually called canonists (or colloquially, "canon lawyers"). Canon law as a field is called canonistics.
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