Positive ecclesiastical laws, based directly or indirectly upon immutable divine law or natural law, derive formal authority in the case of universal laws from promulgation by the supreme legislator—the supreme pontiff, who possesses the totality of legislative, executive, and judicial power in his person,[7] or by the College of Bishops acting in communion with the pope. In contrast, particular laws derive formal authority from promulgation by a legislator inferior to the supreme legislator, whether an ordinary or a delegated legislator. The actual subject material of the canons is not just doctrinal or moral in nature, but all-encompassing of the human condition.
The canon law of the Catholic Church has all the ordinary elements of a mature legal system: laws, courts, lawyers, judges.[8] The canon law of the Catholic Church is articulated in the legal code for the Latin Church[9] as well as a code for the Eastern Catholic Churches.[9] This canon law has principles of legal interpretation,[10] and coercive penalties.[11] It lacks civilly-binding force in most secular jurisdictions. Those who are versed and skilled in canon law, and professors of canon law, are called canonists[12][13] (or colloquially, canon lawyers[12][14]). Canon law as a sacred science is called canonistics.
The Corpus Juris Canonici, the fundamental collection of Catholic canon law for over 750 years
The term "canon law" (ius canonicum) was only regularly used from the twelfth century onwards.[15] The term ius ecclesiasticum, by contrast, referred to the secular law, whether imperial, royal, or feudal, that dealt with relations between the state and the Catholic Church.[15] The term corpus iuris canonici was used to denote canon law as legal system beginning in the thirteenth century.[16]
Other terms sometimes used synonymously with ius canonicum include ius sacrum, ius ecclesiasticum, ius divinum, and ius pontificium,[17] as well as sacri canones[18] (sacred canons).
Ecclesiastical positive law is the positive law that emanates from the legislative power of the Catholic Church in its effort to govern its members in accordance with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.[19] Fernando della Rocca used the term "ecclesiastical-positive law" in contradistinction to civil-positive law, in order to differentiate between the human legislators of church and state, all of which issue "positive law" in the normal sense.[20]
Examples of ecclesiastical positive law are fasting during the liturgical season of Lent, and religious workers (monks, nuns, etc.) requiring permission from their superiors to publish a book.[19][21]
The word "canon" comes from the Greek kanon, which in its original usage denoted a straight rod, was later used for a measuring stick, and eventually came to mean a rule or norm.[22] In 325, when the first ecumenical council, Nicaea I, was held, kanon started to obtain the restricted juridical denotation of a law promulgated by a synod or ecumenical council, as well as that of an individual bishop.[22]
The term source or fountain of canon law (fons iuris canonici) may be taken in a twofold sense: a) as the formal cause of the existence of a law, and in this sense of the fontes essendi (Latin: "sources of being") of canon law or lawgivers; b) as the material channel through which laws are handed down and made known, and in this sense the sources are styled fontes cognoscendi (Latin: "sources of knowing"), or depositaries, like sources of history.[23]
The Catholic Church has the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West,[5] much later than Roman law but predating the evolution of modern European civil law traditions. What began with rules ("canons") said to have been adopted by the Apostles at the Council of Jerusalem in the first century has developed into a highly complex legal system encapsulating not just norms of the New Testament, but some elements of the Hebrew (Old Testament), Roman, Visigothic, Saxon, and Celtic legal traditions. As many as 36 collections of canon law are known to have been brought into existence before 1150.[24]
The history of Latin canon law can be divided into four periods: the ius antiquum, the ius novum, the ius novissimum and the Codex Iuris Canonici.[25] In relation to the Code, history can be divided into the ius vetus (all law before the 1917 Code) and the ius novum (the law of the code, or ius codicis).[25]
Image of pages from the Decretum of Burchard of Worms, the 11th-century book of canon law
The period of canonical history known as the ius antiquum ("ancient law") extends from the foundation of the Church to the time of Gratian (mid-12th century).[25][28] This period can be further divided into three periods: the time of the apostles to the death of Pope Gelasius I (A.D. 496), the end of the 5th century to the spurious collection of the 9th century, and the last up to the time of Gratian (mid-12th century).[29]
In the Early Church, the first canons were decreed by bishops united in "Ecumenical" councils (the Emperor summoning all of the known world's bishops to attend with at least the acknowledgement of the Bishop of Rome) or "local" councils (bishops of a region or territory). Over time, these canons were supplemented with decretals of the Bishops of Rome, which were responses to doubts or problems according to the maxim, "Roma locuta est, causa finita est" ("Rome has spoken, the case is closed"). A common misconception, the Catholic Encyclopedia links this saying to St Augustine who actually said something quite different: "jam enim de hac causa duo concilia missa sunt ad sedem apostolicam; inde etiam rescripta venerunt; causa finita est" (which roughly translate to: "there are two councils, for now, this matter as brought to the Apostolic See, whence also letters are come to pass, the case was finished") in response to the heretical Pelagianism of the time.[citation needed]
In the first millennium of the Latin Church, the canons of various ecumenical and local councils were supplemented with decretals of the popes; these were gathered together into collections.[citation needed]
The period of canonical history known as the Ius novum ("new law") or middle period covers the time from Gratian to the Council of Trent (mid-12th century–16th century).[25][28]
The spurious conciliar canons and papal decrees were gathered together into collections, both unofficial and official. In the year 1000, there was no book that had attempted to summarize the whole body of canon law, to systematize it in whole or in part.[30] The first truly systematic collection was assembled by the Camaldolese monk Gratian in the 11th century, commonly known as the Decretum Gratiani ("Gratian's Decree") but originally called The Concordance of Discordant Canons[31] (Concordantia Discordantium Canonum). Before Gratian there was no "jurisprudence of canon law" (system of legal interpretation and principles). Gratian is the founder of canonical jurisprudence, which merits him the title "Father of Canon Law".[32] Gratian also had an enormous influence on the history of natural law in his transmission of the ancient doctrines of natural law to Scholasticism.[33]
Canon law greatly increased from 1140 to 1234. After that, it slowed down, except for the laws of local councils (an area of canon law in need of scholarship), and secular laws supplemented.[34] In 1234 PopeGregory IX promulgated the first official collection of canons, called the Decretalia Gregorii Noni or Liber Extra. This was followed by the Liber Sextus (1298) of Boniface VIII, the Clementines (1317) of Clement V, the Extravagantes Joannis XXII and the Extravagantes Communes, all of which followed the same structure as the Liber Extra. All these collections, with the Decretum Gratiani, are together referred to as the Corpus Iuris Canonici. After the completion of the Corpus Iuris Canonici, subsequent papal legislation was published in periodic volumes called Bullaria.
In the thirteenth century, the Roman Church began to collect and organize its canon law, which after a millennium of development had become a complex and difficult system of interpretation and cross-referencing. The official collections were the Liber Extra (1234) of Pope Gregory IX, the Liber Sextus (1298) of Boniface VIII and the Clementines (1317), prepared for Clement V but published by John XXII. These were addressed to the universities by papal letters at the beginning of each collection, and these texts became textbooks for aspiring canon lawyers. In 1582 a compilation was made of the Decretum, Extra, the Sext, the Clementines, and the Extravagantes (that is, the decretals of the popes from Pope John XXII to Pope Sixtus IV).
The fourth period of canonical history is that of the present day, initiated by the promulgation of the 1917 Code of Canon Law[25] on 27 May 1917.[36]
Benedict XV, in his bull of promulgation, refers to the motu proprioArduum sane, which was issued by Pius X, March 17, 1904, and gave rise to the 1917 Code.[23] In that memorable pronouncement the late Pontiff stated the reasons which prompted him as the supreme Pastor of souls, who has the care of all the churches, to provide for a new codification of ecclesiastic laws, with a view " to put together with order and clearness all the laws of the Church thus far issued, removing all those that would be recognized as abrogated or obsolete, adapting others to the necessities of the times, and enacting new ones in conformity with the present needs."[23]
It is sometimes referred to as the ius codicis ("law of the code") or, in comparison with all law before it, the ius novum ("new law").[25] From time to time, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts issues authentic interpretations regarding the code. The pope occasionally amends the text of the codes.
By the 19th century, the body of canonical legislation included some 10,000 norms. Many of these were difficult to reconcile with one another due to changes in circumstances and practice. The situation impelled Pope Pius X to order the creation of the first Code of Canon Law, a single volume of clearly stated laws. Under the aegis of the Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, the Commission for the Codification of Canon Law was completed under Benedict XV, who promulgated the Code on 27 May 1917,[37] effective on 29 May 1918.[37] The work having been begun by Pius X, it was sometimes called the "Pio-Benedictine Code" but more often the 1917 Code to distinguish it from the later 1983 Code which replaced it. In its preparation, centuries of material was examined, scrutinized for authenticity by leading experts, and harmonized as much as possible with opposing canons and even other codes, from the Code of Justinian to the Napoleonic Code.
In the succeeding decades, some parts of the 1917 Code were retouched, especially under Pope Pius XII. In 1959, Pope John XXIII announced, together with his intention to call the Second Vatican Council, that the 1917 Code would be completely revised.[38][39] In 1963, the commission appointed to undertake the task decided to delay the project until the council had been concluded. After Vatican II closed in 1965, it became apparent that the 1917 Code would need to be revised in light of the documents and theology of Vatican II. When work finally began, almost two decades of study and discussion on drafts of the various sections were needed before Pope John Paul II could promulgate the revised edition, which came into force on 27 November 1983,[40] having been promulgated via the apostolic constitutionSacrae Disciplinae Leges of 25 January 1983. Containing 1752 canons,[41] it is the law currently binding on the Latin Church.
This codification is referred to as the 1983 Code of Canon Law to distinguish it from the 1917 Code. Like the preceding codification, it applies to Roman Catholics of the Latin Church.[42]
As the currently-in-force law for the Latin Church, it constitutes a major part of the Ius vigens (Latin: "active law").
Eastern Catholic canon law is the law of the 23 Catholic sui iurisparticular churches of the Eastern Catholic tradition. Oriental canon law includes both the common tradition among all Eastern Catholic Churches, now chiefly contained in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, as well as the particular law proper to each individual sui iuris particular Eastern Catholic Church. Originating with the canons of particular councils and the writings of the Eastern Church Fathers, oriental canon law developed in concert with Byzantine Roman laws, leading to the compilation of nomocanons. Oriental canon law is distinguished from Latin canon law, which developed along a separate line in the remnants of the Western Roman Empire under the direct influence of the Roman Pontiff, and is now chiefly codified in the 1983 Code of Canon Law.
A nomocanon (nomokanon) is a collection of ecclesiastical law, consisting of the elements from both the civil law (nomoi) and the canon law (kanones). Collections of this kind were found only in Eastern law. The Greek Church has two principal nomocanonical collections, the "Nomocanon of John Scholasticus" of the sixth century and the "Nomocanon in 14 titles", which dates from the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (r.610–641), made by fusion of the Collectio tripartita (collection of Justinian's imperial law) and "Canonic syntagma" (ecclesiastical canons). The latter was long held in esteem and passed into the Russian Church, but it was by degrees supplanted by the "Nomocanon of Photios" in 883. Photius compiled systematically the canons of the East which amount to a counterpart of Gratian in the West. His 2-part collection, a chronological collection of synodal canons and his nomocanon revision with updated civil laws, became a classical source of ancient canon law for the Greek Church.[43]
For Eastern Catholics, two sections of Eastern Catholic canon law had already, under Pope Pius XII, been put in the form of short canons. These parts were revised as part of the application of Pope John XXIII's decision to carry out a general revision of the Church's canon law; as a result, a distinct Code for members of the Eastern Catholic Churches came into effect for the first time on 1 October 1991 (Apostolic ConstitutionSacri Canones of 18 October 1990). The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, as it is called, differs from the Latin 1983 Code of Canon Law in matters where Eastern and Latin traditions diverge, such as terminology, discipline concerning hierarchical offices, and administration of the sacraments.
The institutions and practices of canon law paralleled the legal development of much of Europe, and consequently both modern civil law and common law[44][45][46] bear the influences of canon law.
From the days of Ethelbert onwards [say, from the year 600], English law was under the influence of so much of Roman law as had worked itself into the traditions of the Catholic Church.[47]
Much of the legislative style was adapted from that of Roman Law[48] especially the JustinianicCorpus Iuris Civilis.[49][50] After the 'fall' of the Roman Empire and up until the revival of Roman Law in the 11th century canon law served as the most important unifying force among the local systems in the Civil Law tradition.[51] The Catholic Church developed the inquisitorial system in the Middle Ages.[52] The canonists introduced into post-Roman Europe the concept of a higher law of ultimate justice, over and above the momentary law of the state.[53]
In one of his elaborate orations in the United States Senate Mr. Charles Sumner spoke of "the generous presumption of the common law in favor of the innocence of an accused person"; yet it must be admitted that such a presumption cannot be found in Anglo-Saxon law, where sometimes the presumption seems to have been the other way. And in a very recent case in the Supreme Court of the United States, the case of Coffin, 156 U. S. 432, it is pointed out that this presumption was fully established in the Roman law, and was preserved in the canon law.[54]
Canonists have formulated interpretive rules of law for the magisterial (non-legislatorial) interpretation of canon laws. An authentic interpretation is an official interpretation of a law issued by the law's legislator, and has the force of law.[58]
Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law
Summa theologica, Pars secunda, prima pars (copy by Peter Schöffer, 1471)
Although canonical jurisprudential theory generally follows the principles of Aristotelian-Thomisticlegal philosophy,[5]Thomas Aquinas never explicitly discusses the place of canon law in his Treatise on Law[59] However, Aquinas himself was influenced by canon law.[60] While many canonists apply the Thomistic definition of law (lex) to canon law without objection, some authors dispute the applicability of the Thomistic definition to canon law, arguing that its application would impoverish ecclesiology and corrupt the very supernatural end of canon law.[61]
In the decades following the Second Vatican Council, many canonists called for a more theological, rather than philosophical, conception of canon law,[62] acknowledging the "triple relationship between theology, philosophy, and canon law".[63] Some authors conceive of canon law as essentially theological and the discipline of canon law as a theological subdiscipline,[62] but Msgr. Carlos José Errázuriz contends that "in a certain sense, all postconciliar canonical scholarship has shown a theological concern in the widest sense, that is, a tendency to determine more clearly the place of the juridical in the mystery of the Church."[62]
The fundamental theory of canon law is a discipline covering the basis of canon law in the very nature of the church.[64] Fundamental theory is a newer discipline that takes as is object "the existence and nature of what is juridical in the Church of Jesus Christ."[65] The discipline seeks to better explain the nature of law in the church and engages in theological discussions in post-conciliar Catholicism[66] and seeks to combat "postconciliar antijuridicism".[67]
Canonistics, faculties, and institutes
The academic degrees in canon law are the J.C.B. (Iuris Canonici Baccalaureatus, Bachelor of Canon Law, normally taken as a graduate degree), J.C.L. (Iuris Canonici Licentiatus, Licentiate of Canon Law) and the J.C.D. (Iuris Canonici Doctor, Doctor of Canon Law), and those with a J.C.L. or higher are usually called "canonists" or "canon lawyers". Because of its specialized nature, advanced degrees in civil law or theology are normal prerequisites for the study of canon law. Canon law as a field is called canonistics.
Canon law and Church office
Under the 1983 Code of Canon Law, all seminary students are required to take courses in canon law.[68] Some ecclesiastical officials are required to have the doctorate (JCD) or at least the licentiate (JCL) in canon law in order to fulfill their functions: judicial vicars;[69] judges;[70] promoters of justice;[71]defenders of the bond;[71] canonical advocates.[72] In addition, vicars general and episcopal vicars are to be doctors, or at least licensed in canon law or theology.[73] Ordinarily, bishops are to have an advanced degree (doctorate or at least licentiate) in scripture, theology, or canon law.[74]
Canon law is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members.
Religious law includes ethical and moral codes taught by religious traditions. Different religious systems hold sacred law in a greater or lesser degree of importance to their belief systems, with some being explicitly antinomian whereas others are nomistic or "legalistic" in nature. In particular, religions such as Judaism, Islam and the Baháʼí Faith teach the need for revealed positive law for both state and society, whereas other religions such as Christianity generally reject the idea that this is necessary or desirable and instead emphasise the eternal moral precepts of divine law over the civil, ceremonial or judicial aspects, which may have been annulled as in theologies of grace over law.
Code of Canon Law may refer to:
Decretals are letters of a pope that formulate decisions in ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church.
The Decretum Gratiani, also known as the Concordia discordantium canonum or Concordantia discordantium canonum or simply as the Decretum, is a collection of canon law compiled and written in the 12th century as a legal textbook by the jurist known as Gratian. It forms the first part of the collection of six legal texts, which together became known as the Corpus Juris Canonici. It was used as the main source of law by canonists of the Roman Catholic Church until the Decretals, promulgated by Pope Gregory IX in 1234, obtained legal force, after which it was the cornerstone of the Corpus Juris Canonici, in force until 1917.
A nomocanon is a collection of ecclesiastical law, consisting of the elements from both the civil law and the canon law. Nomocanons form part of the canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches and of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
The Corpus Juris Canonici is a collection of significant sources of the Canon law of the Catholic Church that was applicable to the Latin Church. It was replaced by the 1917 Code of Canon Law which went into effect in 1918. The 1917 Code was later replaced by the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the codification of canon law currently in effect for the Latin Church.
Under Pope Pius XII, there were the several reforms of Catholic Eastern canon law applying to the Eastern Catholic Churches.
Regarding the canon law of the Catholic Church, canonists provide and obey rules for the interpretation and acceptation of words, in order that legislation is correctly understood and the extent of its obligation is determined.
The 1917 Code of Canon Law, also referred to as the Pio-Benedictine Code, is the first official comprehensive codification of Latin canon law.
The 1983 Code of Canon Law, also called the Johanno-Pauline Code, is the "fundamental body of ecclesiastical laws for the Latin Church". It is the second and current comprehensive codification of canonical legislation for the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. The 1983 Code of Canon Law was promulgated on 25 January 1983 by John Paul II and took legal effect on the First Sunday of Advent 1983. It replaced the 1917 Code of Canon Law which had been promulgated by Benedict XV on 27 May 1917.
Edward Neal Peters is an American Roman Catholic canonist and serves as a referendary of the Apostolic Signatura. In 2023, he is professor of canon law at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Detroit.
The Catholic Church utilizes the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West, much later than Roman law but predating the evolution of modern European civil law traditions. 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 and the jus novum. Eastern canon law developed separately.
Promulgation in the Catholic canon law is the publication of a law by which it is made known publicly, and is required by canon law for the law to obtain legal effect. Universal laws are promulgated when they are published in Acta Apostolicae Sedis, and unless specified to the contrary, obtain legal force three months after promulgation. Particular laws are promulgated in various ways but by default take effect one month after promulgation.
In canon law, a canon designates some law promulgated by a synod, an ecumenical council, or an individual bishop.
The Eastern Catholic canon law is the law of the 23 Catholic sui juris (autonomous) particular churches of the Eastern Catholic tradition. Eastern Catholic canon law includes both the common tradition among all Eastern Catholic Churches, now chiefly contained in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, as well as the particular law proper to each individual sui juris particular Eastern Catholic Church. Oriental canon law is distinguished from Latin canon law, which developed along a separate line in the remnants of the Western Roman Empire, and is now chiefly codified in the 1983 Code of Canon Law.
The jurisprudence of Catholic canon law is the complex of legal theory, traditions, and interpretative principles of Catholic canon law. In the Latin Church, the jurisprudence of canon law was founded by Gratian in the 1140s with his Decretum. In the Eastern Catholic canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Photios holds a place similar to that of Gratian for the West.
The philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law are the fields of philosophical, theological (ecclesiological), and legal scholarship which concern the place of canon law in the nature of the Catholic Church, both as a natural and as a supernatural entity. Philosophy and theology shape the concepts and self-understanding of canon law as the law of both a human organization and as a supernatural entity, since the Catholic Church believes that Jesus Christ instituted the church by direct divine command, while the fundamental theory of canon law is a meta-discipline of the "triple relationship between theology, philosophy, and canon law".
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the canon law of the Catholic Church:
References
Citations
↑ Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Edition, p. 771: "Ius canonicum"
1 2 3 A Commentary on the New Code of Canon Law by the Rev. P. Chas. Augustine O.S.B., D.D., Volume I: Introduction and General Rules (can. 1–86), SECOND EDITION (St. Louis: B. HERDER BOOK CO., 1918).
↑ Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Latin-English Edition, New English Translation (Canon Law Society of America, 2001), page xxv Cf. Pastor Bonus n. 2
↑ Ladislas Orsy, "Towards a Theological Conception of Canon Law" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materials in Canon Law: A Textbook for Ministerial Students, Revised Edition" (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1990), p. 11
Aquinas, Thomas. "St. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiæ, Volume 28: Law and Political Theory (Ia2æ. 90–97); Latin text. English translation, Introduction, Notes, Appendices & Glossary [by] Thomas Gilby O.P.", Blackfriars (Cambridge: Eyre and Spottiswoode Limited, 1966).
Berman, Harold J., Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983).
Caparros, Ernest. Exegetical Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, Volume I: Prepared under the Responsibility of the Martín de Azpilcueta Institute, Faculty of Canon Law, University of Navarre (Chicago, Illinois: Midwest Theological Forum, 2004) Edited by Ángel Marzoa, Jorge Miras and Rafael Rodríguez-Ocaña (English language edition General editor: Ernest Caparros; Review coordinator: Patrick Lagges).
Della Rocca, Fernando, Manual of Canon Law (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1959) translated by Rev. Anselm Thatcher, O.S.B.
De Meester, A., D.J.C., Iuris Canonici et Iuris Canonico-Civilis Compendium: Nova Editio ad normam Codicis Iuris Canonici Tomus Primus (Brugis: Societatis Sancti Augustini, 1921).
Epstein, David G., Bruce A. Markell, & Lawrence Panoroff, Cases and Materials on Contracts: Making and Doing Deals: Third Edition (St. Paul, MN: West/Thomson Reuters, 2011). ISBN978-0314272386
Errázuriz M., Carlos José. Justice in the Church: A Fundamental Theory of Canon Law (Montreal: Wilson & Lefleur Ltée, 2009) trans. Jean Gray in collaboration with Michael Dunnigan.
Friedman, Lawrence M. American Law: An Introduction (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1984).
Glendon, Mary Anne, Michael Wallace Gordon, Christopher Osakwe, Comparative Legal Traditions: Text, Materials and Cases (American Casebook Series) (St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1985).
Howe, William Wirt. Studies in the Civil Law, and its Relation to the Law of England and America. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1896).
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McCormick, Anne O'Hare. Vatican Journal: 1921–1954 (New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1957).
Mylne, Robert Scott. The Canon Law (Published by Forgotten Books 2013; originally published 1912). PIBN 1000197046.
Orsy, Ladislas. Towards a Theological Conception of Canon Law (essay published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., Readings, Cases, Materials in Canon Law: A Textbook for Ministerial Students, Revised Edition (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1990).
Peters, Edward N., translator, The 1917 or Pio-Benedictine Code of Canon Law: in English Translation with Extensive Scholarly Apparatus (Ignatius Press, 2001)
Rommen, Heinrich A. The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy (St Louis: B. Herder Book Co., 1947 [1959]) translated by Thomas R. Hanley, O.S.B.
Suzzallo, Henry, Ph.D., Sc.D., LL.D., Editor in Chief, The National Encyclopedia: Volume 2 (New York, P. F. Collier & Son Corporation, 1935).
Taylor, Justin (1990). "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers". In Hite, Jordan; Ward, Daniel J. (eds.). Readings, cases, materials in Canon Law: a textbook for ministerial students (Reviseded.). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. ISBN978-0814610817.
Vere, Pete, & Michael Trueman, Surprised by Canon Law: 150 Questions Catholics Ask About Canon Law (Cincinnati, Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2004).
Wigmore, John Henry, A Panorama of the World's Legal Systems Library Edition (Washington, D.C.: Washington Law Book Company, 1936).
Wormser, René A., The Story of the LAW and the Men Who Made It–From the Earliest Times to the Present: Revised and Updated Edition of The Law (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962).
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Code of Canon Law (1983)(Translation by Canon Law Society of America – via vatican.va. Includes 1998 modification of canons 750 and 1371.)
Code of Canon Law (1983)(Translation by the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland, assisted by the Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand and the Canadian Canon Law Society)
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