Working from within
Provost, James H.
Canon Law Societies WORKING FROM WITHIN CANONS LEFT & RIGHT OVER SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY canon lawyers met recently in Chicago for a unique gathering for North America. The occasion was the first...
...This concern was clearly evident in resolutions adopted by the U.S...
...canon lawyers approved a proposal to help tribunals equip themselves with computers and other modern office equipment...
...Perhaps...
...University of America...
...Although church tradition-and the new law book itself-provide for councils to make these laws, he felt the practical efficiency of working through bishops' conferences may be more effective...
...He called for a slow and carefully paced implementation of the revised Code through local legislation...
...Capitalizing on the presence of the different societies and keeping in mind the fact that most of their members work in marriage tribunals, a special seminar explored typical ways four canon lawyers from around the world would tackle a particular marriage case...
...How would the Rota approach this kind of case...
...All was not theory and abstract discussion, however...
...As in this country, the great majority of canon lawyers elsewhere are priests, and are engaged in the "practice" of the law in church courts...
...Father Francis Morrisey opened the Chicago meeting with a practical concern, the implementation of the revised Code...
...McBrien challenged the canon lawyers to face up to current issues as courageously as they addressed in the past such topics as due process, marriage norms, and the selection of bishops...
...Delegates participated from the canon law societies of Great Britain and Ireland, and of Australia and New Zealand...
...Theologian Richard McBrien of the University of Notre Dame was the voice this time, but he drew on past observations of canon lawyers as well as his own extensive theological perspective...
...A third issue for canon lawyers is the attitude toward law in the church...
...the proposed revision expresses an inadequate theology, and could well be more an obstacle to mission than an instrument supporting it...
...They turned down a proposal to express their support for the Equal Rights Amendment-a position adopted two years ago-in a letter to appropriate state officials in Illinois, a state which has not endorsed the amendment...
...Their proposed decisions together with an analysis each did of the four sentences sparked a lively discussion...
...The important realization many expressed after the discussions is that both viewpoints are rooted in church precedents...
...The international character of the meeting was news itself...
...In calling for greater attention to their own responsibilities to educate one another and the church at large, they began a reexamination of the priorities and projects of the Canon Law Society of America...
...case at hand...
...The most commonly discussed are the technical details which will call for administrative changes in some church practices once the new law goes into effect...
...An overriding concern at the meeting was the proposed new Code of Canon Law...
...While not unconcerned for immediate issues, they are looking more to the long-range possibilities of affecting the system in terms of justice and Gospel values...
...In many ways the mood of the gathering was calmer than a typical canon law meeting might have been ten years ago...
...What is the appropriate role of psychology in church courts...
...They are not likely to join picket lines...
...There are different viewpoints within the church's supreme court, the Rota, and it became clear these may explain the differences between certain Vatican officials and many tribunals outside Italy...
...His formal and informal presentation to the meeting made it quite clear he speaks for a point of view not that of many of the canon lawyers present...
...The second and more long-range issue is the educational process it will take to implement the new Code...
...Does all this represent a cooling from the heady days of the late sixties and seventies...
...But it may also represent another tack, one not unusual for the canon lawyers individually...
...This is perhaps the most fundamental concern, and one on which representatives of the four societies were most in agreement...
...Also on hand was an American judge on the Rota, Monsi-gnor Edward Egan...
...For most canon lawyers the new Code poses three issues...
...seminaries or the continuing canonical problems in the petitions of Episcopal priests to become Roman Catholic priests...
...A set of facts for the case was circulated in advance to four judges selected by the respective societies...
...JAMES H. PROVOST (Father James H. Provost is the Executive-Coordinator of the Canon Law Society of America and assistant professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America...
...Although the majority of participants were from the United States, several special elements were noticeable among the overseas visitors...
...Law is supposed to be an expression of theology and an instrument for mission...
...Rather than confronting the church institution head-on, they normally work through the system...
...But his words came too late to affect the business of the meeting, despite informal concern over the recently announced Vatican review of U.S...
...Simultaneous translation between English and French was available for all major presentations...
...Dean of the Canon Law faculty at Saint Paul's University in Ottawa, this Oblate priest is one of the most respected North American canonists today...
...While there is not that much which is"news'' in the proposed revision compared to existing church law, the problem is that even what is law today is poorly understood in the church at large...
...More women seem to be professional canon lawyers in Canada proportionate to the general canon law society membership there, than is true in the United States...
...Acknowledging the improvements the current drafts for the revised Code show when compared to the 1917 Code of Canon Law, he still found it lacking in fidelity to the spirit and, in some ways, the major emphasis of Vatican II...
...Most of the participants from all countries attending expressed concern over the practical difficulties of meeting the needs of divorced and remarried Catholics, and viewed with some apprehension rumblings from Rome about the number of cases being done outside the Eternal City...
...For the first time, many United States canon lawyers were able to meet, exchange views, and discover how much they hold in common with counterparts from around the world...
...Councils are mixed groups of clergy, religious, and lay persons at which the bishops must listen to a broad debate...
...Several members of the Code Commission as well as some of the advisors who were going to the Roman meeting were among the Chicago participants...
...The Commission in charge of the revision had scheduled its final meeting in Rome a week following the Chicago session...
...canon lawyers, calling for more effective seminary education in canon law and committing their society to an educational priority...
...The new generation of canon lawyers who are joining the ranks of the various societies represented in Chicago are competent, committed, and already over-worked...
...Perhaps the international character of the sessions put everyone on their"good behavior.'' It may also have been due to a growing concern over the work to be done to implement the new Code, and what it will take to achieve a more wholesome sense of the role of law in the church...
...In preparation at least since Vatican II, the revision is in its final stages...
...They illustrate, perhaps, the schizophrenia afflicting church lawyers today- splitting between critiquing what is unsatisfactory in the proposed revision of the law, but turning practically toward what can be done with it once it is promulgated...
...A special session of the leaders from the canon law societies present agreed the key challenge in the years ahead is to develop in the church a sound understanding of what the role of law should be in Christian life...
...The occasion was the first time the conventions of the Canon Law Society of America and the Canadian Canon Law Society had been held together...
...They take more time, and at the national level may be too difficult (and expensive) to organize...
...A sharp critique of the theological underpinnings for the new Code closed the meetings, bringing to the surface once again the apprehensions canon lawyers have voiced over the past decade at what is being developed in Rome...
...Yet admitting that bishops' conferences may be more efficient, some at the Chicago meeting hoped the new law would be implemented by involving participation of a broader cross-section of the People of God than just the hierarchy...
...But they are quite willing to work from within to seize the opportunity a new Code will present for upgrading the understanding of law in the church, and avoiding the pitfalls of a renewed legalism in the post-conciliar era...
...Differing answers to these questions produced different solutions for the...
...Instead, the U.S...
...Whatever the reasons, "hot" topics were generally ignored or dealt with in corridors rather than the resolutions sessions...
...Two major speeches at the Chicago meeting looked at different aspects of these canon lawyer issues...
Vol. 108 • December 1981 • No. 23
