Sarah Mitchell
The Catholic Church has the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West, predating modern European civil law traditions. This legal system, known as canon law, is a set of religious laws and ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the Catholic Church's hierarchical authorities. It has all the elements of a mature legal system: laws, courts, lawyers, and judges. Canon lawyers are individuals with significant knowledge of the Catholic Church's legal system, and they are not to be confused with priests, bishops, theologians, moralists, psychologists, or pastoral planners. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), for example, has an Office of General Counsel that acts as its source of legal advice.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Legal system | The oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West |
| Legal advice | The Office of General Counsel acts as the source of legal advice to the USCCB |
| Canon law | Refers to the legal code for the Latin Church and a code for the Eastern Catholic Churches |
| Canon lawyers | Anyone with significant knowledge about the legal system of the Catholic Church |
| Canon law schools | The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, Canada |
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What You'll Learn
Canon law
The Catholic Church has what is claimed to be the oldest continuously functioning internal legal system in Western Europe. The history of Latin canon law can be divided into four periods: the jus antiquum, the jus novum, the jus novissimum, and the Code of Canon Law. In relation to the Code, history can be divided into the jus vetus (all law before the Code) and the jus novum (the law of the Code, or jus codicis). The canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches, which developed some different disciplines and practices, underwent its own process of codification, resulting in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, promulgated in 1990 by Pope John Paul II.
In the Latin Church, positive ecclesiastical laws are based directly or indirectly on immutable divine law or natural law. Universal laws derive formal authority from the supreme legislator (the Supreme Pontiff), who possesses legislative, executive, and judicial power. Particular laws derive authority from a legislator inferior to the supreme legislator. The actual subject matter of the canons is not just doctrinal or moral in nature but all-encompassing of the human condition, extending beyond what is taken as revealed truth.
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Canon lawyers
The role of a canon lawyer is not to determine Church doctrine, teaching, or principles of morality. Instead, they ensure that the rules and canons of the Church are properly understood and applied. Canon lawyers advise people on how to exercise their rights and fulfil their obligations within the framework of canon law. They help individuals navigate legal matters within the Church, such as marriage annulment or declarations of matrimonial nullity.
While the image of canon lawyers as bespectacled, grey-haired monsignors quoting ancient Latin verses may persist, the reality is quite different. Today, canon lawyers come from diverse backgrounds, including religious men and women, as well as laypeople. They play an important role in educating the laity about changes in the Church and ensuring that canonical presentations are accessible and enlightening.
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Ecclesiastical positive law
Canon law is the body of laws made within certain Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, by lawful ecclesiastical authority. It governs the church as a whole, its parts, and the behaviour and actions of individuals. Canon law has a long history of development throughout the Christian era, reflecting social, political, economic, cultural, and ecclesiastical changes over the past two millennia. It has played a crucial role in the organisation of the church's liturgy, preaching, works of charity, and other activities that helped spread Christianity.
Canon law, in a wider sense, includes precepts of divine law, natural or positive, incorporated into the canonical codes. Positive law, as explained by the lawyer-theologian David Opderbeck, is a multifaceted human creation that governs a particular place at a particular time through force. It includes constitutions, statutes, rules, regulations, executive orders, and court decisions, balancing individual rights with societal responsibilities.
The Catholic Church does not have a centralised legal department, but it does have canon lawyers who are experts in canon law. These canon lawyers are not necessarily priests or bishops, but they possess significant knowledge of the legal system of the Catholic Church. They advise individuals on exercising their rights and fulfilling their obligations within the framework of canon law. Canon lawyers do not determine Church teachings or morality but instead derive their authority from the Magisterium, the Church's teaching authority.
In the United States, the Office of General Counsel acts as the legal advisor to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and provides support to diocesan attorneys and other Catholic entities on various legal matters, including tax exemption, immigration, and civil rights.
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The Office of General Counsel
The Catholic Church does have a legal department, known as the Office of General Counsel (OGC). The OGC acts as the primary source of legal advice to the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops). It also provides support to diocesan attorneys, State Catholic Conferences, and other Catholic entities at the national, regional, and local levels. This support takes the form of uniform assistance on constitutional, tax, litigation, and other legal matters. Attorneys at the OGC have expertise in various areas of law, including tax exemption, pensions, immigration, education, civil rights, pro-life issues, intellectual property, and communications.
The OGC's work is grounded in Church-state relations and focused on their impact on not-for-profit entities. They actively participate in rule-making and federal agency proceedings on behalf of the USCCB. Additionally, they provide legal support to the USCCB's Committees and Subcommittees when matters of public policy and pastoral concern are addressed.
The OGC also engages in litigation, representing the USCCB as a party or as amicus curiae. They collaborate closely with the National Diocesan Attorneys Association to support the work of diocesan counsel. OGC attorneys contribute to the legal field through their scholarly publications and public speaking engagements on issues of law and policy.
The Catholic University of America also has its own Office of General Counsel, which serves as a resource for members of the University community. It is important to note that this website-based resource is not intended as a substitute for legal advice.
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Civil and canon law
Canon law is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authorities (church leadership) for the governance of a Christian organisation or church and its members. Canon law includes the internal ecclesiastical law, or operational policy, governing the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West, which has influenced the development of modern civil law. Canon law has all the ordinary elements of a mature legal system: laws, courts, lawyers, and judges. Those who are skilled in canon law are called canonists, or canon lawyers. Canon lawyers are trained to advise people on how to exercise their rights and fulfil their obligations in accordance with the law.
Canon law is distinct from civil law, which is the law of the state. Ecclesiastical positive law is the positive law that emanates from the legislative power of the Catholic Church, which governs its members in accordance with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ecclesiastical positive law includes rules such as fasting during Lent and religious workers requiring permission from their superiors to publish a book. Canon law is derived from divine law, which is an aspect of the will of God over the church, and is received, known, and expressed by the ecclesiastical magisterium and sacred disciplines.
The development of canon law has a long history, with the First Council of Nicaea in the fourth century referring to canons as the disciplinary measures of the church. Over time, the need for a collection of laws has been a constant pressure in the history of the Catholic Church, with various decrees, such as the Decree of Gratian (1140) and the Book of Decretals (1234), seeking to create a concordance between conflicting laws and texts. The Corpus iuris canonici (1500) was inspired by the emperor Justinian's Corpus iuris civilis (528-533). Canon law is generally presented as the heir of Roman law, and it has characteristics that bring it closer to the common law system.
The Catholic Church's canonical judicial system has a system of administrative appeals and an administrative jurisdiction similar to that of modern states. It includes diocesan courts that handle cases such as divorce, child custody, and property ownership. The Roman Rota is a papal court that any member of the faithful can apply to, functioning similarly to an appeals court in civil law systems.
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Frequently asked questions
No, but it does have a legal system known as canon law, which is "how the Church organizes and governs herself". It is made and enforced by the Catholic Church's hierarchical authorities.
Canon law is a system of religious laws and ecclesiastical legal principles that regulate the Catholic Church's external organization and government. It also directs the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the Church.
Canon lawyers are people with significant knowledge of the legal system of the Catholic Church. They are not theologians, psychologists, or pastoral planners. They are trained to advise people on how to exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations within the legal framework of the Church.
