Last week’s post concluded the discussion on the dimensions of the spirituality of canon law. In a speech on 25 January 1959, Pope John XXIII convoked a Roman synod, the Second Vatican Council, and called for the update of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, which will be revised based on the Council’s teachings. The reason for his decision was the sole prospect of the bonum animarum (the good of souls) and meeting with the spiritual needs of the time.
Hence, shortly after the Council began, Pope John XXIII established the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the 1917 Code of Canon Law on 28 March 1963, while Pope Paul VI officially inaugurated it on 20 November 1965. Therefore, in light of the Council, ten principles (iter) guided the revision of the 1917 Code that led to the 1983 Code. The next posts examine these principles in light of the spirituality of canon law. Today’s post focuses on the first principle.
The first principle states: “In renewing the law, the juridic character of the new Code, which the social nature of the Church requires, is to be retained. Therefore, the Code is to furnish norms so that the members of the Christian faithful in living the Christian life may share in the goods offered by the Church to lead them to eternal salvation. Hence, in view of this end, the Code must define and protect the rights and obligations of each person towards others and towards the ecclesiastical society to the extent that these rights and obligations pertain to divine worship and the salvation of souls.”
This first principle emphasises that the Church, though the Mystical Body of Christ, has a social nature. This social nature implies that the Church is also an ecclesial society. Just like every other society, there is a need for laws to ensure order and discipline within the society and to help the Church fulfil its goal of the salvation of souls. Consequently, the principle emphasises defining and protecting the rights and obligations of each member towards each other and towards the Church itself.
The first principle contributes to the spirituality of canon law in safeguarding the obligations and rights of Christ’s faithful, especially as they pertain to divine worship, to facilitate the journey of holiness and the holistic salvation of souls.
Hence, unlike the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the 1983 Code clearly stipulates the obligations and rights of all Christ’s faithful (Canons 208 to 223). The Code describes it as “obligations and rights” rather than “rights and obligations” as seen in secular laws. Unlike secular laws, another difference is that the Code discusses the obligations and rights together. This rearrangement and unified discussion are not arbitrary.
First, obligation comes before right because of the Christian vocation to holiness: “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy” (Lev 19:2); “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48). The Second Vatican Council teaches: “The Church, whose mystery is being set forth by this Sacred Synod, is believed to be indefectibly holy…Therefore, in the Church, everyone whether belonging to the hierarchy, or being cared for by it, is called to holiness” (Lumen Gentium, 39). This is also codified in canon 210 of the 1983 Code. Since one has the obligation to be holy, it means the person has the rights that facilitate the journey of holiness.
Hence, canon 213, for instance, reads: “Christ’s faithful have the right to be assisted by their Pastors from the spiritual riches of the Church, especially by the word of God and the sacrament.” This simply means that since Christ’s faithful have an obligation to holiness, they have the right to be assisted by their Pastors with the spiritual riches of the Church that will facilitate holiness. Canon 217 focuses on the right to Christian education stemming from the obligation to lead a holy life.
Second, the term ‘common good’ (bonum commune) is intrinsic to the Church’s teachings. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “in keeping with the social nature of man, the good of each individual is necessarily related to the common good” (CCC, 1905). The common good is “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily” (CCC 1906; Gaudium et Spes, 26 §1). Therefore, there is often no clear-cut distinction between private and public interest in the Church. The ultimate goal of the Church is the salvation of a single soul, and this cannot be achieved without the ecclesial community.
Consequently, the obligations and rights of Christ’s faithful stem from the fundamental equality of all Christians rooted in the reception of baptism (Lumen Gentium, 32). The first canon under the subsection ‘The Obligations and Rights of All Christ’s Faithful’ reads: “Flowing from their rebirth in Christ, there is a genuine equality of dignity and action among all of Christ’s faithful. Because of this equality they all contribute, each according to his or her own condition and office, to the building up of the Body of Christ” (Can. 208).
Furthermore, unlike the 1917 Code, the 1983 Code delineated the obligations and rights of lay members of Christ’s faithful. Canon 225 is a clear example of the new development post-Vatican II (Lumen Gentium, 30-38; Apostolicam Actuositatem) and the interplay of obligations and rights.
It reads: “§1 Since lay people, like all Christ’s faithful, are deputed to the apostolate by baptism and confirmation, they are bound by the general obligation and they have the right, whether as individuals or in associations, to strive so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all people throughout the world. This obligation is all the more insistent in circumstances in which only through them are people able to hear the Gospel and to know Christ. §2 They have also, according to the condition of each, the special obligation to permeate and perfect the temporal order of things with the spirit of the Gospel. In this way, particularly in conducting secular business and exercising secular functions, they are to give witness to Christ.”
Both the 1917 and 1983 Codes outline the obligations and rights of clerics. Next week’s post will explore some of the obligations and rights.
May God continue to help us🙏🏾
K’ọdị🙋🏾♂️
