And I am afraid there are Calvinists, who, while they account it a proof of their humility that they are willing in words to debase the creature, and to give all the glory of salvation to the Lord, yet know not what manner of spirit they are of. Whatever it be that makes us trust in ourselves that we are comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous spirit. Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines, as well as upon works; and a man may have the heart of a Pharisee, while his head is stored with orthodox notions of the unworthiness of the creature and the riches of free grace.
John Newton

Canon Law

Canon Law

CANON LAW

BASIC R.C. BELIEF The body of Church Law, consisting of laws of binding force concerning faith, morals, and ecclesiastical law. The present code consists of 2414 canons (laws), which can be enforced by penalties. Established in 1917.

POST VATICAN II Vatican II undertook a modernization of Canon Law. In March of 1963, Pope John XXIII set up a pontifical commission for the revision of the Code. Drafts of the revised documents were circulated in early 1977. After receiving comments of bishops, the work will be turned over to the Pope for final approval and promulgation.

Canon lawyers around the world are reacting vigorously against the revisions. U.S. church lawyers, on October 12, 1977, declared the new laws with only one exception, “unacceptable in their very substance.”

CHRISTIAN COMMENT As Christians, we accept the Bible as the rule of faith and practice.

SECULAR JOURNALS From LOS ANGELES TIMES, 1/21/83, “HISTORIC NEW RULES WILL GUIDE CATHOLICS. After 20 years of painstaking revision, a historic new code of universal laws for the Catholic Church will be officially issued at the Vatican Tuesday (1/23/83) by Pope John Paul II.

“The new Code of Canoin Law, the first overall revision of the church’s rules of operation since 1917, is designed to guide the world’s 700 million Catholics from conception to the grave.

“Although the final draft has not yet been made public, those familiar with the latest drafts say the document streamlines church policies, stresses flexibility for national as well as local church jurisdiction, accords greater responsibility for them laity – especially women – and drastically reduces the number and severity of penalties imposed on offending church members.

“The new law will also officially allow Catholics to become Masons, to be creamated instead of buried and will permit lay members to hold many offices formerly reserved for the clergy. They may preach and even perform marriages and baptisms under special circumstances when no priest is available. (Ed Note: Laymen could always perform valid baptisms, but only in emergency circumstances and never publicly in the church.) Protestants are no longer condsidered heathen; the new code allows for the possibility that in certain cases Protestants could receive Communion and last rites from a Catholic priest.

“Despite the sweeping nature of the new code, which will become binding on all Catholics on the date set by the Pope, many of the changes have already become church practice since the reforms instituted during the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65 and its aftermath.

“`The (canon) law will recognize these things already in effect,’ said Father Donald E. Heintschel, a canon law expert . . . ‘so their inclusion in the new code is more a matter of integrating and solidifying the changes rather than introducing real innovations.’

“Father Thomas Lynch called its provisions for a new structure of administrative tribulals, or appeals courts, to settle church disputes `the big sleeper in the code.’

“The new code will make little practical difference in the way that marriage annulments are handled in the United States . . . but a mandatory review of all annulments . . . must be made by another regional review board. The additional requirement is expected to add about a month’s time to the process, which usually takes from eight to twelve months.

“Canon law experts generally approve of the new version, but they say it is not without faults. `It is a compromise,’ said Jesuit Father Ladislas Orsy, a noted American canonist at Georgetown University in Washington.

“The greatest critiscism appears to be those disappointed that the new code maintains the church’ds traditional ban against women priests.

The National Coalition of American Nuns also criticized the new laws on grounds that the code requires religious communities to submit their constitutions to Rome for approval. They said, `Why do these men (in Rome) think they have a mandate from on high to tell women religious how to live . . . without taking into consideration women’s new shared experience.'”