Observation Even in Lincoln, doubtful laws don't apply
Coriden, James A
OBSERVATION EVEN IN LINCOLN, DOUBTFUL LAWS DON'T APPLY On March 19,the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, issued a law proclaiming that all Catholics in his...
...It is even more so to those of us who knew Fabian Bruskewitz as a student in Rome: an alert, confident, cheery young man, always genial and good-humored...
...none of them will fall under its threatened automatic interdicts or excommunications...
...Though usually described as a conservative during his tenure as archbishop of Philadelphia, Krol was a distinguished canonist with a clear understanding of the limits of law...
...Furthermore, bishops are to see to it that such penalties are uniform in their region of the country (c...
...One of the principles adopted by the 1967 Synod of Bishops to guide the revision of the Code stated that automatic penalties are to be reduced to a few and "inflicted only for the most serious offenses...
...Anyone aware of the law, but unaware that there was a penalty attached to it, is exempt from punishment (c...
...First of all, no one is subject to such penal sanctions unless his or her action is fully and gravely imputable by reason of malice or culpability (cc...
...1316...
...1323.2...
...Doubtful laws do not oblige (c...
...the Hemlock Society, and the real targets: Call to Action and its new Nebraska affiliate...
...The groups named included two that are prochoice on abortion, two that cling to the Tridentine church, five affiliates of Freemasonry (including the notorious Rainbow Girls...
...Membership in any of these, said the bishop, "is always perilous to the Catholic faith...
...In fact there is no reason for fear...
...Bishops are "not to threaten automatic penalties unless perhaps against certain particularly malicious offenses" and they are "not to establish censures, especially excommunication, except with the greatest moderation and only for more serious offenses" (c...
...Krol's recommendation was not entirely accepted, but the "sanctions" section of the new Code was greatly modified in the direction he suggested...
...When the Code of Canon Law was being revised after the Second Vatican Council, Krol, who was not afflicted with timidity, strongly recommended that all latae sententiae penalties (that is, those to be applied "automatically") should be eliminated...
...The rule of thumb is: a level of deliberation and malice sufficient to commit a mortal sin...
...Cardinal John Krol, who died on March 3, may already be turning over in his grave...
...Second, anyone unaware of violating such a law is not subject to its penalty (c...
...It's occurred to me to hope that the first April issue of the Register, not yet delivered at this writing, will be headlined "April Fool...
...1321,1324.1.10...
...He recognized that such penalties are not only useless, but pastorally harmful...
...It's hard to know at this distance whether any Catholics of the Lincoln diocese-including those who belong to one or more of the organizations listed-have been frightened by their bishop's proclamation...
...1324.9...
...But that's even more unlikely than the edict itself...
...Finally, a law so contrary to the spirit and letter of Canon Law, so sweepingly broad and aimless, so unsupported by evidence of necessity, so intemperate and harsh, and so contemptuous of the precious value of ecclesial communion, is invalid on its face, or at best a doubtful law...
...1370.2...
...They are worse than no law at all, because of the confusion they engender...
...The number of such penalties was drastically reduced, and great cautions were introduced about imposing them...
...Only a few "automatic" penalties were retained, in order to punish, for example, one who profanes the Most Holy Eucharist (canon 1367) or one who physically attacks a bishop (c...
...JAMES A. CORIDEN James A. Coriden is professor of church law at Washington Theological Union...
...1318...
...That should be clear from what has already been said, but there's more...
...Not to worry, southern Nebraskans, the threat is idle...
...All by itself, that is startling news...
...OBSERVATION EVEN IN LINCOLN, DOUBTFUL LAWS DON'T APPLY On March 19,the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, issued a law proclaiming that all Catholics in his diocese who belong to any one of a dozen organizations were by that very fact under interdict, and that any who persisted in such membership were by that very fact excommunicated (the Southern Nebraska Register, March 22,1996...
Vol. 123 • April 1996 • No. 8
