Canon Law

Vatican warns German bishops of ‘legal consequences’ over disputed ‘Synodal Committee’

By Elise Allen/ Crux/ Catholic Herald, February 19, 2024 ROME – As the German bishops meet this week to advance their national reform process, the Vatican has threatened canonical action if they refuse to comply with an order to halt a vote on the statutes of a controversial new... read more

Pope Francis and the ‘subsidiarity’ of the rule of law

By Ed Condon, The Pillar, November 30, 2023 There is no set process or criteria for disciplining or dismissing a bishop, one of the Vatican’s most senior canon lawyers said Tuesday, while insisting that decentralization remains central to the Church’s ecclesiology. Speaking to press Nov.... read more

Can a Catholic date a person whose marriage has not been annulled?

By Jenna Marie Cooper, The Pilot, October 11, 2023 Q: Can there be situations where a Catholic can date another person who has been divorced but has not yet received a declaration of nullity for that marriage? In a previous column you stated the following: "All marriages are presumed valid... read more

Cardinal Burke: ‘Populist rhetoric’ associated with Pope Francis undermines Catholic doctrine

By Michael Hayes, LifeSite News, August 10,2023 VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Raymond Burke has issued a detailed critique of “populist rhetoric” often “attached to language used by Pope Francis,” which he said are “slogans of an ideology replacing what is irreplaceable... read more

What the pope changed about prelatures

By The Explainer, The Pillar, August 8, 2023 August 8, 2023Pope Francis issued a new motu proprio Tuesday amending canon law on the leader and members of Opus Dei, the Church’s only personal prelature. Credit: Mathew Schwartz via Unsplash The changes, which cover two canons in... read more

Müller and the Ancient Mass: the Pope Belittles the Bishops and Damages Pastoral Care.

By Marco Tosatti, Stilum Curiae, February 24, 2023 The recent rescript approved by Francis and the Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Roche, continues to arouse reactions. The new document, which reinforces the motu proprio Traditinis... read more

Traditionis custodes: Cardinal says only Vatican can dispense from certain obligations

By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, February 21, 2022 The head of the Vatican’s liturgy office said Tuesday that dispensations from two of the rules in Traditionis custodes can only be granted by the Vatican, not by the diocesan bishop. The Feb. 21 rescript (a form of... read more

Priests for Life’s Frank Pavone: ‘The next pope can reinstate me’ to the priesthood

By Jonah McKeown, Shannon Mullen, Catholic Nerwes Agency, December 19, 2022 Pro-life activist Frank Pavone on Monday defiantly asserted that the Vatican’s decree removing him from the priesthood is not final, saying “the next pope can reinstate me.” “This idea that any of this is... read more

Canon lawyer on Father Pavone’s dismissal from priesthood: Only the Pope can issue a decision without appeal

By Shannon Mullen, Kelsey Wicks, CNA Newsroom, December 18, 2022 On Nov. 9, Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung Sik, Prefect for the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy, dismissed Father Frank Pavone from the priesthood for "blasphemous communications on social media" and "persistent disobedience... read more

The Church’s new penal canon law: The good, the bad, and the ugly

By J.D. Flynn, The Pillar, June 1, 2021 Pope Francis in June 2021 promulgated the apostolic constitution Pascite gregem Dei, replacing Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, which codifies the penal law of the Latin Catholic Church. The revised text contains a number of important changes to... read more

The (canon) laws, they are a-changin’: A complete guide to the pope’s canonical revisions

A Pillar Explainer, February 16, 2022 Pope Francis on Tuesday [February 15] made a series of changes to the Church’s universal canon law, which he said were aimed at fostering a healthy decentralization in the life of the Church. The changes are kind of a grab bag, touching on several areas... read more