THE CODE OF CANON LAW
in English translation
Prepared
by
The
Canon Law Society Of Great Britain And Ireland
In
Association With
The
Canon Law Society Of Australia And New Zealand
And
The Canadian Canon Law Society
English
translation copyright 1983 The Canon Law Society Trust
***********************************************************
GENERAL NORMS
Can. 1 The canons
of this Code concern only the latin Church.
Can. 2 For the
most part the Code does not determine the rites to be observed in the
celebration of liturgical actions. Accordingly, liturgical laws which have been
in effect hitherto retain their force, except those which may be contrary to
the canons of the Code.
Can. 3 The canons
of the Code do not abrogate, nor do they derogate from, agreements entered into
by the Apostolic See with nations or other civil entities. For this reason,
these agreements continue in force as hitherto, notwithstanding any contrary
provisions of this Code.
Can. 4 Acquired
rights, and likewise privileges hitherto granted by the Apostolic See to either
physical or juridical persons, which are still in use and have not been
revoked, remain intact, unless they are expressly revoked by the canons of this
Code.
Can. 5 §1
Universal or particular customs which have been in effect up to now but are
contrary to the provisions of these canons and are reprobated in the canons of
this Code, are completely suppressed, and they may not be allowed to revive in
the future. Other contrary customs are also to be considered suppressed, unless
the Code expressly provides otherwise, or unless they are centennial or
immemorial: these latter may be tolerated if the Ordinary judges that, in the
circumstances of place and person, they cannot be removed.
§2 Customs apart
from the law, whether universal or particular, which have been in effect
hitherto, are retained.
Can. 6 §1 When
this Code comes into force, the following are abrogated:
1° the Code of
Canon Law promulgated in 1917;
2° other laws,
whether universal or particular, which are contrary to the provisions of this
Code, unless it is otherwise expressly provided in respect of particular laws;
3° all penal laws
enacted by the Apostolic See, whether universal or particular, unless they are
resumed in this Code itself;
4° any other
universal disciplinary laws concerning matters which are integrally reordered
by this Code.
§2 To the extent
that the canons of this Code reproduce the former law, they are to be assessed
in the light also of canonical tradition.
Can. 7 A law
comes into being when it is promulgated.
Can. 8 §1
Universal ecclesiastical laws are promulgated by publication in the ‘Acta
Apostolicae Sedis’, unless in particular cases another manner of promulgation
has been prescribed. They come into force only on the expiry of three months
from the date appearing on the particular issue of the ‘Acta’, unless because
of the nature of the case they bind at once, or unless a shorter or a longer
interval has been specifically and expressly prescribed m the law itself.
§2 Particular
laws are promulgated in the manner determined by the legislator; they begin to
oblige one month from the date of promulgation, unless a different period is
prescribed in the law itself.
Can. 9 Laws
concern matters of the future, not those of the past, unless provision is made
in them for the latter by name.
Can. 10 Only
those laws are to be considered invalidating or incapacitating which expressly
prescribe that an act is null or that a person is incapable.
Can. 11 Merely
ecclesiastical laws bind those who were baptised in the catholic Church or
received into it, and who have a sufficient use of reason and, unless the law
expressly provides otherwise, who have completed their seventh year of age.
Can. 12 §1 Universal
laws are binding everywhere on all those for whom they were enacted.
§2 All those
actually present in a particular territory in which certain universal laws are
not in force, are exempt from those laws.
§3 Without
prejudice to the provisions of can. 13, laws enacted for a particular territory
bind those for whom they were enacted and who have a domicile or quasi‑domicile
in that territory and are actually residing in it.
Can. 13 §1
Particular laws are not presumed to be personal, but rather territorial, unless
the contrary is clear.
§2 Peregrini are
not bound:
1° by the
particular laws of their own territory while they are absent from it, unless
the transgression of those laws causes harm in their own territory, or unless
the laws are personal
2° by the laws of
the territory in which they are present, except for those laws which take care
of public order, or determine the formalities of legal acts, or concern
immovable property located in the territory.
§3 Vagi are bound
by both the universal and the particular laws which are in force in the place
in which they are present.
Can. 14 Laws,
even invalidating and incapacitating ones, do not oblige when there is a doubt
of law. When there is a doubt of fact, however Ordinaries can dispense from
them provided, if there is question of a reserved dispensation, it is one which
the authority to whom it is reserved Is accustomed to grant.
Can. 15 §1
Ignorance or error concerning invalidating or incapacitating laws does not
prevent the effect of those laws, unless it is expressly provided otherwise.
§2 Ignorance or
error is not presumed about a law, a penalty, a fact concerning oneself, or a
notorious fact concerning another. It is presumed about a fact concerning
another which is not notorious, until the contrary is proved.
Can. 16 §1 Laws
are authentically interpreted by the legislator and by that person to whom the
legislator entrusts the power of authentic interpretation.
§2 An authentic
interpretation which is presented by way of a law has the same force as the law
itself, and must be promulgated. If it simply declares the sense of words which
are certain in themselves, it has retroactive force. If it restricts or extends
the law or resolves a doubt, it is not retroactive.
§3 On the other
hand, an interpretation by way of a court judgement or of an administrative act
in a particular case, does not have the force of law. It binds only those
persons and affects only those matters for which it was given.
Can. 17
Ecclesiastical laws are to be understood according to the proper meaning of the
words considered in their text and context. If the meaning remains doubtful or
obscure, there must be recourse to parallel places, if there be any, to the
purpose and circumstances of the law, and to the mind of the legislator.
Can. 18 Laws
which prescribe a penalty, or restrict the free exercise of rights, or contain
an exception to the law, are to be interpreted strictly.
Can. 19 If on a
particular matter there is not an express provision of either universal or particular
law, nor a custom, then, provided it is not a penal matter, the question is to
be decided by taking into account laws enacted in similar matters, the general
principles of law observed with canonical equity, the jurisprudence and
practice of the Roman Curia, and the common and constant opinion of learned
authors.
Can. 20 A later
law abrogates or derogates from an earlier law, if it expressly so states, or
if it is directly contrary to that law, or if it integrally reorders the whole
subject matter of the earlier law. A universal law, however, does not derogate
from a particular or from a special law, unless the law expressly provides
otherwise.
Can. 21 In doubt,
the revocation of a previous law is not presumed; rather, later laws are to be
related to earlier ones and, as far as possible, harmonised with them.
Can. 22 When the
law of the Church remits some issue to the civil law, the latter is to be
observed with the same effects in canon law, insofar as it is not contrary to
divine law, and provided it is not otherwise stipulated in canon law.
Can. 23 A custom
introduced by a community of the faithful has the force of law only if it has
been approved by the legislator, in accordance with the following canons.
Can. 24 §1 No
custom which is contrary to divine law can acquire the force of law.
§2 A custom which
is contrary to or apart from canon law, cannot acquire the force of law unless
it is reasonable; a custom which is expressly reprobated in the law is not
reasonable.
Can. 25 No custom
acquires the force of law unless it has been observed, with the intention of
introducing a law, by a community capable at least of receiving a law.
Can. 26 Unless it
has been specifically approved by the competent legislator, a custom which is
contrary to the canon law currently in force, or is apart from the canon law,
acquires the force of law only when it has been lawfully observed for a period
of thirty continuous and complete years. Only a centennial or immemorial custom
can prevail over a canonical law which carries a clause forbidding future
customs.
Can. 27 Custom is
the best interpreter of laws.
Can. 28 Without
prejudice to the provisions of can. 5, a custom, whether contrary to or apart
from the law, is revoked by a contrary custom or law. But unless the law makes
express mention of them, it does not revoke centennial or immemorial customs,
nor does a universal law revoke particular customs.
Can. 29 General
decrees, by which a competent legislator makes common provisions for a
community capable of receiving a law, are true laws and are regulated by the
provisions of the canons on laws.
Can. 30 A general
decree, as in can. 29, cannot be made by one who has only executive power,
unless in particular cases this has been expressly authorised by the competent
legislator in accordance with the law, and provided the conditions prescribed
in the act of authorisation are observed.
Can. 31 §1 Within
the limits of their competence, those who have executive power can issue
general executory decrees, that is, decrees which define more precisely the
manner of applying a law, or which urge the observance of laws.
§2 The provisions
of can. 8 are to be observed in regard to the promulgation, and to the interval
before the coming into effect, of the decrees mentioned in §1.
Can. 32 General
executory decrees which define the manner of application or urge the observance
of laws, bind those who are bound by the laws.
Can. 33 §1
General executory decrees, even if published in directories or other such
documents, do not derogate from the law, and any of their provisions which are
contrary to the law have no force.
§2 These decrees
cease to have force by explicit or implicit revocation by the competent
authority, and by the cessation of the law for whose execution they were
issued. They do not cease on the expiry of the authority of the person who
issued them, unless the contrary is expressly provided.
Can. 34 §1
Instructions, namely, which set out the provisions of a law and develop the
manner in which it is to be put into effect, are given for the benefit of those
whose duty it is to execute the law, and they bind them in executing the law.
Those who have executive power may, within the limits of their competence,
lawfully publish such instructions.
§2 The
regulations of an instruction do not derogate from the law, and if there are
any which cannot be reconciled with the provisions of the law they have no
force.
§3 Instructions
cease to have force not only by explicit or implicit revocation by the
competent authority who published them or by that authority’s superior, but
also by the cessation of the law which they were designed to set out and
execute.
Can. 35 Within
the limits of his or her competence, one who has executive power can issue a
singular administrative act, either by decree or precept, or by rescript,
without prejudice to can. 76 §1.
Can. 36 §1 An
administrative act is to be understood according to the proper meaning of the
words and the common manner of speaking. In doubt, a strict interpretation is
to be given to those administrative acts which concern litigation or threaten
or inflict penalties, or restrict the rights of persons, or harm the acquired
rights of others, or run counter to a law in favour of private persons; all
other administrative acts are to be widely interpreted.
§2 Administrative
acts must not be extended to cases other than those expressly stated.
Can. 37 An administrative
act which concerns the external forum is to be effected in writing; likewise,
if it requires an executor, the act of execution is to be in writing.
Can. 38 An
administrative act, even if there is question of a rescript given Motu proprio,
has no effect in so far as it harms the acquired right of another, or is
contrary to a law or approved custom, unless the competent authority has
expressly added a derogatory clause.
Can. 39
Conditions attached to an administrative act are considered to concern validity
only when they are expressed by the particles ‘if’, ‘unless’, ‘provided that’.
Can. 40 The
executor of any administrative act cannot validly carry out this office before
receiving the relevant document and establishing its authenticity and
integrity, unless prior notice of this document has been conveyed to the
executor on the authority of the person who issued the administrative act.
Can. 41 The
executor of an administrative act to whom the task of execution only is
entrusted, cannot refuse to execute it, unless it is quite clear that the act
itself is null, or that it cannot for some other grave reason be sustained, or
that the conditions attached to the administrative act itself have not been
fulfilled. If, however, the execution of the administrative act would appear to
be inopportune, by reason of the circumstances of person or place, the executor
is to desist from the execution, and immediately inform the person who issued
the act.
Can. 42 The
executor of an administrative act must proceed in accordance with the mandate.
If, however, the executor has not fulfilled essential conditions attached to
the document, or has not observed the substantial form of procedure, the
execution is invalid.
Can. 43 The
executor of an administrative act may in his prudent judgement substitute
another for himself, unless substitution has been forbidden, or he has been
deliberately chosen as the only person to be executor, or a specific person has
been designated as substitute; however, in these cases the executor may commit
the preparatory acts to another.
Can. 44 An
administrative act can also be executed by the executor’s successor in office,
unless the first had been chosen deliberately as the only person to be
executor.
Can. 45 If there
has been any error in the execution of an administrative act, the executor may
execute it again.
Can. 46 An
administrative act does not cease on the expiry of the authority of the person
issuing it, unless the law expressly provides otherwise.
Can. 47 The
revocation of an administrative act by another administrative act of the
competent authority takes effect only from the moment at which the person to
whom it was issued is lawfully notified.
Can. 48 A
singular decree is an administrative act issued by a competent executive
authority, whereby in accordance with the norms of law a decision is given or a
provision made for a particular case; of its nature this decision or provision
does not presuppose that a petition has been made by anyone.
Can. 49 A
singular precept is a decree by which an obligation is directly and lawfully
imposed on a specific person or persons to do or to omit something, especially
in order to urge the observance of a law.
Can. 50 Before
issuing a singular decree, the person in authority is to seek the necessary
information and proof and, as far as possible, is to consult those whose rights
could be harmed.
Can. 51 A decree
is to be issued in writing. When it is a decision, it should express, at least
in summary form, the reasons for the decision.
Can. 52 A
singular decree has effect in respect only of those matters it determines and
of those persons to whom it was issued; it obliges such persons everywhere,
unless it is otherwise clear.
Can. 53 If
decrees are contrary one to another, where specific matters are expressed, the
specific prevails over the general; if both are equally specific or equally
general, the one later in time abrogates the earlier insofar as it is contrary
to it.
Can. 54 §1 A
singular decree whose application is entrusted to an executor, has effect from
the moment of execution; otherwise, from the moment when it is made known to
the person on the authority of the one who issued it.
§2 For a singular
decree to be enforceable, it must be made known by a lawful document in
accordance with the law.
Can. 55 Without
prejudice to cann. 37 and 51, whenever a very grave reason prevents the handing
over of the written text of a decree, the decree is deemed to have been made
known if it is read to the person to whom it is directed, in the presence of a
notary or two witnesses‑ a record of the occasion is to be drawn up and
signed by all present.
Can. 56 A decree
is deemed to have been made known if the person to whom it is directed has been
duly summoned to receive or to hear the decree, and without a just reason has
not appeared or has refused to sign.
Can. 57 §1
Whenever the law orders a decree to be issued, or when a person who is
concerned lawfully requests a decree or has recourse to obtain one, the
competent authority is to provide for the situation within three months of
having received the petition or recourse, unless a different period of time is
prescribed by law.
§2 If this period
of time has expired and the decree has not yet been given, then as far as
proposing a further recourse is concerned, the reply is presumed to be
negative.
§3 A presumed
negative reply does not relieve the competent authority of the obligation of
issuing the decree, and, in accordance with can. 128, of repairing any harm
done.
Can. 58 §1 A
singular decree ceases to have force when it is lawfully revoked by the
competent authority, or when the law ceases for whose execution it was issued.
§2 A singular
precept, which was not imposed by a lawful document, ceases on the expiry of
the authority of the person who issued it.
Can. 59 §1 A
rescript is an administrative act issued in writing by a competent authority,
by which of its very nature a privilege, dispensation or other favour is granted
at someone’s request.
§2 Unless it is
otherwise established, provisions laid down concerning rescripts apply also to
the granting of permission and to the granting of favours by word of mouth.
Can. 60 Any
rescript can be obtained by all who are not expressly prohibited.
Can. 61 Unless it
is otherwise established, a rescript can be obtained for another, even without
that person’s consent, and it is valid before its acceptance, without prejudice
to contrary clauses.
Can. 62 A
rescript in which there is no executor, has effect from the moment the document
was issued; the others have effect from the moment of execution.
Can. 63 §1 Except
where there is question of a rescript which grants a favour Motu proprio,
subreption, that is, the withholding of the truth, renders a rescript invalid
if the request does not express that which, according to canonical law, style
and practice, must for validity be expressed.
§2 Obreption,
that is, the making of a false statement, renders a rescript invalid if not
even one of the motivating reasons submitted is true.
§3 In rescripts
of which there is no executor, the motivating reason must be true at the time
the rescript is issued; in the others, at the time of execution.
Can. 64 Without
prejudice to the right of the Penitentiary for the internal forum, a favour
refused by any department of the Roman Curia cannot validly be granted by
another department of the same Curia, or by any other competent authority below
the Roman Pontiff, without the approval of the department which was first
approached.
Can. 65 §1
Without prejudice to the provisions of §§2 and 3, no one is to seek from
another Ordinary a favour which was refused by that person’s proper Ordinary,
unless mention is made of the refusal. When the refusal is mentioned, the
Ordinary is not to grant the favour unless he has learned from the former
Ordinary the reasons for the refusal.
§2 A favour
refused by a Vicar general or an episcopal Vicar cannot be validly granted by
another Vicar of the same Bishop, even when he has learned from the Vicar who
refused the reasons for the refusal.
§3 A favour
refused by a Vicar general or an episcopal Vicar and later, without any mention
being made of this refusal, obtained from the diocesan Bishop, is invalid. A
favour refused by the diocesan Bishop cannot, without the Bishop’s consent,
validly be obtained from his Vicar general or episcopal Vicar, even though
mention is made of the refusal.
Can. 66 A
rescript is not rendered invalid because of an error in the name of the person
to whom it is given or by whom it is issued, or of the place in which such
person resides, or of the matter concerned, provided that in the judgement of
the Ordinary there is no doubt about the person or the matter in question.
Can. 67 §1 If it
should happen that two contrary rescripts are obtained for one and the same
thing, where specific matters are expressed, the specific prevails over the
general.
§2 If both are
equally specific or equally general, the one earlier in time prevails over the
later, unless in the later one there is an express mention of the earlier, or
unless the person who first obtained the rescript has not used it by reason of
deceit or of notable personal negligence.
§3 In doubt as to
whether a rescript is invalid or not, recourse is to be made to the issuing
authority.
Can. 68 A
rescript of the Apostolic See in which there is no executor must be presented
to the Ordinary of the person who obtains it only when this is prescribed in
the rescript, or when there is question of public affairs, or when it is
necessary to have the conditions verified.
Can. 69 A
rescript for whose presentation no time is determined, may be submitted to the
executor at any time, provided there is no fraud or deceit.
Can. 70 If in a
rescript the very granting of the favour is entrusted to the executor, it is a
matter for the executor’s prudent judgement and conscience to grant or to
refuse the favour.
Can. 71 No one is
obliged to use a rescript granted in his or her favour only, unless bound by a
canonical obligation from another source to do so .
Can. 72 Rescripts
granted by the Apostolic See which have expired, can for a just reason be
extended by the diocesan Bishop, but once only and not beyond three months.
Can. 73 No
rescripts are revoked by a contrary law, unless it is otherwise provided in the
law itself.
Can. 74 Although
one who has been granted a favour orally may use it in the internal forum, that
person is obliged to prove the favour for the external forum whenever this is
lawfully requested.
Can. 75 If a
rescript contains a privilege or a dispensation, the provision of the following
canons are also to be observed.
Can. 76 §1 A
privilege is a favour given by a special act for the benefit of certain
persons, physical or juridical; it can be granted by the legislator, and by an
executive authority to whom the legislator has given this power.
§2 Centennial or
immemorial possession of a privilege gives rise to the presumption that it has
been granted.
Can. 77 A privilege
is to be interpreted in accordance with can. 36 §1. The interpretation must,
however, always be such that the beneficiaries of the privilege do in fact
receive some favour.
Can. 78 §1 A
privilege is presumed to be perpetual, unless the contrary is proved.
§2 A personal
privilege, namely one which attaches to a person, is extinguished with the
person.
§3 A real
privilege ceases on the total destruction of the thing or place; a local
privilege, however, revives if the place is restored within fifty years.
Can. 79 Without
prejudice to can. 46, a privilege ceases by revocation on the part of the
competent authority in accordance with can. 47.
Can. 80 §1 No
privilege ceases by renunciation unless this has been accepted by the competent
authority.
§2 Any physical
person may renounce a privilege granted in his or her favour only.
§3 Individual
persons cannot renounce a privilege granted to a juridical person, or granted
by reason of the dignity of a place or thing. Nor can a juridical person
renounce a privilege granted to it, if the renunciation would be prejudicial to
the Church or to others.
Can. 81 A
privilege is not extinguished on the expiry of the authority of the person who
granted it, unless it was given with the clause ‘at our pleasure’ or another
equivalent expression.
Can. 82 A
privilege which does not burden others does not lapse through non‑use or
contrary use; if it does cause an inconvenience for others, it is lost if
lawful prescription intervenes.
Can. 83 §1
Without prejudice to can. 142 §2, a privilege ceases on the expiry of the time
or the completion of the number of cases for which it was granted.
§2 It ceases also
if in the judgement of the competent authority circumstances are so changed
with the passage of time that it has become harmful, or that its use becomes
unlawful.
Can. 84 A person
who abuses a power given by a privilege deserves to be deprived of the
privilege itself. Accordingly, after a warning which has been in vain, the
Ordinary, if it was he who granted it, is to deprive the person of the
privilege which he or she is gravely abusing; if the privilege has been granted
by the Apostolic See, the Ordinary is obliged to make the matter known to it.
Can. 85 A
dispensation, that is, the relaxation of a merely ecclesiastical law in a
particular case, can be granted, within the limits of their competence, by
those who have executive power, and by those who either explicitly or
implicitly have the power of dispensing, whether by virtue of the law itself or
by lawful delegation.
Can. 86 In so far
as laws define those elements which are essentially constitutive of institutes
or of juridical acts, they are not subject to dispensation.
Can. 87 §1
Whenever he judges that it contributes to their spiritual welfare, the diocesan
Bishop can dispense the faithful from disciplinary laws, both universal laws
and those particular laws made by the supreme ecclesiastical authority for his
territory or his subjects. He cannot dispense from procedural laws or from penal
laws, nor from those whose dispensation is specially reserved to the Apostolic
See or to some other authority.
§2 If recourse to
the Holy See is difficult, and at the same time there is danger of grave harm
in delay, any Ordinary can dispense from these laws, even if the dispensation
is reserved to the Holy See, provided the dispensation is one which the Holy
See customarily grants in the same circumstances, and without prejudice to can.
291.
Can. 88 The local
Ordinary can dispense from diocesan laws and, whenever he judges that it
contributes to the spiritual welfare of the faithful, from laws made by a
plenary or a provincial Council or by the Episcopal Conference.
Can. 89 Parish
priests and other priests or deacons cannot dispense from universal or
particular law unless this power is expressly granted to them.
Can. 90 §1 A
dispensation from an ecclesiastical law is not to be given without a just and
reasonable cause, taking into account the circumstances of the case and the
importance of the law from which the dispensation is given; otherwise the
dispensation is unlawful and, unless given by the legislator or his superior,
it is also invalid.
§2 A dispensation
given in doubt about the sufficiency of its reason is valid and lawful.
Can. 91 In
respect of their subjects, even if these are outside the territory, those who
have the power of dispensing can exercise it even if they themselves are
outside their territory; unless the contrary is expressly provided, they can
exercise it also in respect of peregrini actually present in the territory;
they can exercise it too in respect of themselves.
Can. 92 A strict
interpretation is to be given not only to a dispensation in accordance with
can. 36 §1, but also to the very power of dispensing granted for a specific
case.
Can. 93 A
dispensation capable of successive applications ceases in the same way as a
privilege. It also ceases by the certain and complete cessation of the
motivating reason.
Can. 94 §1
Statutes properly so called are regulations which are established in accordance
with the law in aggregates of persons or of things, whereby the purpose,
constitution, governance and manner of acting of these bodies are defined.
§2 The statutes
of an aggregate of persons bind only those persons who are lawfully members of
it; the statutes of an aggregate of things bind those who direct it.
§3 The provisions
of statutes which are established and promulgated by virtue of legislative
power, are regulated by the provisions of the canons concerning laws.
Can. 95 §1
Ordinances are rules or norms to be observed both in assemblies of persons,
whether these assemblies are convened by ecclesiastical authority or are freely
convoked by the faithful, and in other celebrations: they define those matters
which concern their constitution, direction and agenda.
§2 In assemblies
or celebrations, those who take part are bound by these rules of ordinance.
Can. 96 By
baptism one is incorporated into the Church of Christ and constituted a person
in it, with the duties and the rights which, in accordance with each one’s
status, are proper to christians, in so far as they are in ecclesiastical
communion and unless a lawfully issued sanction intervenes.
Can. 97 §1 A
person who has completed the eighteenth year of age, has attained majority;
below this age, a person is a minor.
§2 A minor who
has not completed the seventh year of age is called an infant and is considered
incapable of personal responsibility; on completion of the seventh year,
however, the minor is presumed to have the use of reason.
Can. 98 §1 A
person who has attained majority has the full exercise of his or her rights.
§2 In the
exercise of rights a minor remains subject to parents or guardians, except for
those matters in which by divine or by canon law minors are exempt from such
authority. In regard to the appointment of guardians and the determination of
their powers, the provisions of civil law are to be observed, unless it is
otherwise provided in canon law or unless, in specific cases and for a just
reason, the diocesan Bishop has decided that the matter is to be catered for by
the appointment of another guardian.
Can. 99 Whoever
habitually lacks the use of reason is considered as incapable of personal
responsibility and is regarded as an infant.
Can. 100 A person
is said to be: an incola, in the place where he or she has a domicile; an
advena, in the place of quasi‑domicile; a peregrinus, if away from the
domicile or quasi‑domicile which is still retained; a vagus, if the
person has nowhere a domicile or quasi‑domicile.
Can. 101 §1 The
place of origin of a child, and even of a neophyte, is that in which the
parents had a domicile or, lacking that, a quasi‑domicile when the child
was born; if the parents did not have the same domicile or quasi‑domicile,
it is that of the mother.
§2 In the case of
a child of vagi, the place of origin is the actual place of birth; in the case
of a foundling, it is the place where it was found.
Can. 102 §1
Domicile is acquired by residence in the territory of a parish, or at least of
a diocese, which is either linked to the intention of remaining there
permanently if nothing should occasion its withdrawal, or in fact protracted
for a full five years.
§2 Quasi‑domicile
is acquired by residence in the territory of a parish, or at least of a
diocese, which is either linked to the intention of remaining there for three
months if nothing should occasion its withdrawal, or in fact protracted for
three months.
§3 Domicile or
quasi‑domicile in the territory of a parish is called parochial; in the
territory of a diocese, even if not in a parish, it is called diocesan.
Can. 103 Members
of religious institutes and of societies of apostolic life acquire a domicile
in the place where the house to which they belong is situated. They acquire a
quasi‑domicile in the house in which, in accordance with can. 102 §2,
they reside.
Can. 104 Spouses
are to have a common domicile or quasi‑domicile. By reason of lawful
separation or for some other just reason, each may have his or her own domicile
or quasi‑domicile.
Can. 105 §1 A
minor necessarily retains the domicile or quasi‑domicile of the person to
whose authority the minor is subject. A minor who is no longer an infant can
acquire a quasi‑domicile of his or her own and, if lawfully emancipated
in accordance with the civil law, a domicile also.
§2 One who for a
reason other than minority is lawfully entrusted to the guardianship or
tutelage of another, has the domicile and quasidomicile of the guardian or
curator.
Can. 106 Domicile
or quasi‑domicile is lost by departure from the place with the intention
of not returning, without prejudice to the provisions of can. 105.
Can. 107 §1 Both
through domicile and through quasi‑domicile everyone acquires his or her
own parish priest and Ordinary.
§2 The proper
parish priest or Ordinary of a vagus is the parish priest or Ordinary of the
place where the vagus is actually residing.
§3 The proper
parish priest of one who has only a diocesan domicile or quasi‑domicile
is the parish priest of the place where that person is actually residing.
Can. 108 §1
Consanguinity is reckoned by lines and degrees.
§2 In the direct
line there are as many degrees as there are generations, that is, as there are
persons, not counting the common ancestor.
§3 In the
collateral line there are as many degrees as there are persons in both lines
together, not counting the common ancestor.
Can. 109 §1 Affinity
arises from a valid marriage, even if not consummated, and it exists between
the man and the blood relations of the woman, and likewise between the woman
and the blood relations of the man.
§2 It is reckoned
in such a way that the blood relations of the man are related by affinity to
the woman in the same line and the same degree, and vice versa.
Can. 110 Children
who have been adopted in accordance with the civil law are considered the
children of that person or those persons who have adopted them.
Can. 111 §1
Through the reception of baptism a child becomes a member of the latin Church
if the parents belong to that Church or, should one of them not belong to it,
if they have both by common consent chosen that the child be baptised in the
latin Church: if that common consent is lacking, the child becomes a member of
the ritual Church to which the father belongs.
§2 Any candidate
for baptism who has completed the fourteenth year of age may freely choose to
be baptised either in the latin Church or in another autonomous ritual Church;
in which case the person belongs to the Church which he or she has chosen.
Can. 112 §1 After
the reception of baptism, the following become members of another autonomous
ritual Church:
1° those who have
obtained permission from the Apostolic See;
2° a spouse who,
on entering marriage or during its course, has declared that he or she is
transferring to the autonomous ritual
Church of the
other spouse; on the dissolution of the marriage, however, that person may freely
return to the latin Church;
3° the children
of those mentioned in nn. 1 and 2 who have not completed their fourteenth year,
and likewise in a mixed marriage the children of a catholic party who has
lawfully transferred to another ritual Church; on completion of their
fourteenth year, however, they may return to the latin Church.
§2 The practice,
however long standing, of receiving the sacraments according to the rite of an
autonomous ritual Church, does not bring with it membership of that Church.
Can. 113 §1 The
catholic Church and the Apostolic See have the status of a moral person by
divine disposition.
§2 In the Church,
besides physical persons, there are also juridical persons, that is, in canon
law subjects of obligations and rights which accord with their nature.
Can. 114 §1
Aggregates of persons or of things which are directed to a purpose befitting
the Church’s mission, which transcends the purpose of the individuals, are
constituted juridical persons either by a provision of the law itself or by a
special concession given in the form of a decree by the competent authority.
§2 The purposes
indicated in §1 are understood to be those which concern works of piety, of the
apostolate or of charity, whether spiritual or temporal.
§3 The competent
ecclesiastical authority is not to confer juridical personality except on those
aggregates of persons or of things which aim at a genuinely useful purpose and
which, all things considered, have the means which are foreseen to be
sufficient to achieve the purpose in view.
Can. 115 §1
Juridical persons in the Church are either aggregates of persons or aggregates
of things.
§2 An aggregate
of persons, which must be made up of at least three persons, is collegial if
the members decide its conduct by participating together in making its
decisions, whether by equal right or not, in accordance with the law and the
statutes; otherwise, it is non‑collegial.
§3 An aggregate
of things, or an autonomous foundation, consists of goods or things, whether
spiritual or material, and is directed, in accordance with the law and the
statutes, by one or more physical persons or by a college.
Can. 116 §1
Public juridical persons are aggregates of persons or of things which are
established by the competent ecclesiastical authority so that, within the
limits allotted to them in the name of the Church, and in accordance with the
provisions of law, they might fulfil the specific task entrusted to them for
the public good. Other juridical persons are private.
§2 Public
juridical persons are given this personality either by the law itself or by a
special decree of the competent authority expressly granting it. Private
juridical persons are given this personality only by a special decree of the
competent authority expressly granting it.
Can. 117 No
aggregate of persons or of things seeking juridical personality can acquire it
unless its statutes are approved by the competent authority.
Can. 118 Those
persons represent, and act in the name of, a public juridical person whose
competence to do so is acknowledged by universal or particular law, or by their
own statutes; those persons represent a private juridical person who are given
this competence by their statutes.
Can. 119 In
regard to collegial acts, unless the law or the statutes provide otherwise:
1° in regard to
elections, provided a majority of those who must be summoned are present, what
is decided by an absolute majority of those present has the force of law. If
there have been two inconclusive scrutinies, a vote is to be taken between the
two candidates with the greatest number of votes or, if there are more than
two, between the two senior by age. After a third inconclusive scrutiny, that
person is deemed elected who is senior by age;
2° in regard to
other matters, provided a majority of those who must be summoned are present,
what is decided by an absolute majority of those present has the force of law.
If the votes are equal after two scrutinies, the person presiding can break the
tie with a casting vote;
3° that which
affects all as individuals must be approved by all.
Can. 120 §1 A
juridical person is by its nature perpetual. It ceases to exist, however, if it
is lawfully suppressed by the competent authority, or if it has been inactive
for a hundred years. A private juridical person also ceases to exist if the
association itself is dissolved in accordance with the statutes, or if, in the
judgement of the competent authority, the foundation itself has, in accordance
with the statutes, ceased to exist.
§2 If even a
single member of a collegial juridical person survives, and the aggregate of
persons has not, according to the statutes, ceased to exist, the exercise of
all the rights of the aggregate devolves upon that member.
Can. 121 When
aggregates of persons or of things which are public juridical persons are so
amalgamated that one aggregate, itself with a juridical personality, is formed,
this new juridical person obtains the patrimonial goods and rights which
belonged to the previous aggregates; it also accepts the liabilities of the
previous aggregates. In what concerns particularly the arrangements for the
goods and the discharge of obligations, the wishes of the founders and
benefactors, and any acquired rights must be safeguarded.
Can. 122 When an
aggregate which is a public juridical person is divided in such a way that part
of it is joined to another juridical person or a distinct public juridical
person is established from one part of it, the first obligation is to observe
the wishes of the founders and benefactors, the demands of acquired rights and
the requirements of the approved statutes. Then the competent ecclesiastical
authority, either personally or through an executor, is to ensure:
1° that the
divisible common patrimonial goods and rights, the monies owed and the other
liabilities, are divided between the juridical persons in question in due
proportion, in a fashion which is equitable and right, taking account of all
the circumstances and needs of both;
2° that the use
and enjoyment of the common goods which cannot be divided, be given to each
juridical person, and also that the liabilities which are proper to each are
the responsibility of each, in due proportion, in a fashion which is equitable
and right.
Can. 123 On the
extinction of a public juridical person, the arrangements for its patrimonial
goods and rights, and for its liabilities, are determined by law and the
statutes. If these do not deal with the matter, the arrangements devolve upon
the next higher juridical person, always with due regard for the wishes of the
founders or benefactors and for acquired rights. On the extinction of a private
juridical person, the arrangements for its goods and liabilities are governed
by its own statutes.
Can. 124 §1 For
the validity of a juridical act, it is required that it be performed by a
person who is legally capable, and it must contain those elements which
constitute the essence of the act, as well as the formalities and requirements
which the law prescribes for the validity of the act.
§2 A juridical
act which, as far as its external elements are concerned, is properly
performed, is presumed to be valid.
Can. 125 §1 An
act is invalid if performed as a result of force imposed from outside on a
person who was quite unable to resist it.
§2 An act
performed as a result of fear which is grave and unjustly inflicted, or as a
result of deceit, is valid, unless the law provides otherwise. However, it can
be rescinded by a court judgement, either at the instance of the injured party
or that party’s successors in law, or ex officio.
Can. 126 An act
is invalid when performed as a result of ignorance or of error which concerns
the substance of the act, or which amounts to a condition sine qua non;
otherwise it is valid, unless the law provides differently. But an act done as
a result of ignorance or error can give rise to a rescinding action in
accordance with the law.
Can. 127 §1 When
the law prescribes that, in order to perform a juridical act, a Superior
requires the consent or the advice of some college or group of persons, the
college or group must be convened in accordance with can. 166, unless, if there
is question of seeking advice only, particular or proper law provides
otherwise. For the validity of the act, it is required that the consent be
obtained of an absolute majority of those present, or that the advice of all be
sought.
§2 When the law
prescribes that, in order to perform a juridical act, a Superior requires the
consent or advice of certain persons as individuals:
1° if consent is
required, the Superior’s act is invalid if the Superior does not seek the
consent of those persons, or acts against the vote of all or of any of them;
2° if advice is
required, the Superior’s act is invalid if the Superior does not hear those
persons. The Superior is not in any way bound to accept their vote, even if it
is unanimous; nevertheless, without what is, in his or her judgement, an
overriding reason, the Superior is not to act against their vote, especially if
it is a unanimous one.
§3 All whose
consent or advice is required are obliged to give their opinions sincerely. If
the seriousness of the matter requires it, they are obliged carefully to
maintain secrecy, and the Superior can insist on this obligation.
Can. 128 Whoever
unlawfully causes harm to another by a juridical act, or indeed by any other
act which is deceitful or culpable, is obliged to repair the damage done.
Can. 129 §1 Those
who are in sacred orders are, in accordance with the provisions of law, capable
of the power of governance, which belongs to the Church by divine institution.
This power is also called the power of jurisdiction.
§2 Lay members of
Christ’s faithful can cooperate in the exercise of this same power in
accordance with the law.
Can. 130 Of
itself the power of governance is exercised for the external forum; sometimes
however it is exercised for the internal forum only, but in such a way that the
effects which its exercise is designed to have in the external forum are not
acknowledged in that forum, except in so far as the law prescribes this for
determinate cases.
Can. 131 §1
Ordinary power of governance is that which by virtue of the law itself is
attached to a given office; delegated power is that which is granted to a
person other than through an office.
§2 Ordinary power
of governance may be proper or vicarious.
§3 One who claims
to have been delegated has the onus of proving the delegation.
Can. 132 §1
Habitual faculties are governed by the provisions concerning delegated power.
§2 However,
unless the grant has expressly provided otherwise, or the Ordinary was
deliberately chosen as the only one to exercise the faculty, an habitual
faculty granted to an Ordinary does not lapse on the expiry of the authority of
the Ordinary to whom it was given, even if he has already begun to exercise the
faculty, but it passes to the Ordinary who succeeds him in governance.
Can. 133 §1 A
delegate who exceeds the limits of the mandate, with regard either to things or
to persons, performs no act at all.
§2 A delegate is
not considered to have exceeded the mandate when what was delegated is carried
out, but in a manner different to that determined in the mandate, unless the
manner was prescribed for validity by the delegating authority.
Can. 134 §1 In
law the term Ordinary means, apart from the Roman Pontiff, diocesan Bishops and
all who, even for a time only, are set over a particular Church or a community
equivalent to it in accordance with can. 368, and those who in these have
general ordinary executive power, that is, Vicars general and episcopal Vicars;
likewise, for their own members, it means the major Superiors of clerical
religious institutes of pontifical right and of clerical societies of apostolic
life of pontifical right, who have at least ordinary executive power.
§2 The term local
Ordinary means all those enumerated in §1, except Superiors of religious
institutes and of societies of apostolic life.
§3 Whatever in
the canons, in the context of executive power, is attributed to the diocesan
Bishop, is understood to belong only to the diocesan Bishop and to those others
in can. 381 §2 who are equivalent to him, to the exclusion of the Vicar general
and the episcopal Vicar except by special mandate.
Can. 135 §1 The
power of governance is divided into legislative, executive and judicial power.
§2 Legislative
power is to be exercised in the manner prescribed by law; that which in the
Church a legislator lower than the supreme authority has cannot be delegated,
unless the law explicitly provides otherwise. A lower legislator cannot validly
make a law which is contrary to that of a higher legislator.
§3 Judicial
power, which is possessed by judges and judicial colleges, is to be exercised
in the manner prescribed by law, and it cannot be delegated except for the
performance of acts preparatory to some decree or judgement.
§4 As far as the
exercise of executive power is concerned, the provisions of the following
canons are to be observed.
Can. 136 Persons
may exercise executive power over their subjects, even when either they
themselves or their subjects are outside the territory, unless it is otherwise
clear from the nature of things or from the provisions of law. They can
exercise this power over peregrini who are actually living in the territory, if
it is a question of granting favours, or of executing universal or particular
laws by which the peregrini are bound in accordance with can. 13 §2, n. 2.
Can. 137 §1
Ordinary executive power can be delegated either for an individual case or for
all cases, unless the law expressly provides otherwise.
§2 Executive
power delegated by the Apostolic See can be subdelegated, either for an
individual case or for all cases, unless the delegation was deliberately given
to the individual alone, or unless subdelegation was expressly prohibited.
§3 Executive
power delegated by another authority having ordinary power, if delegated for
all cases, can be subdelegated only for individual cases; if delegated for a
determinate act or acts, it cannot be subdelegated, except by the express grant
of the person delegating.
§4 No
subdelegated power can again be subdelegated, unless this was expressly granted
by the person delegating.
Can. 138 Ordinary
executive power, and power delegated for all cases, are to be interpreted
widely; any other power is to be interpreted strictly. Delegation of power to a
person is understood to include everything necessary for the exercise of that
power.
Can. 139 §1
Unless the law prescribes otherwise, the tact that a person approaches some
competent authority, even a higher one, does not mean that the executive power
of another competent authority is suspended, whether that be ordinary or
delegated.
§2 A lower
authority, however, is not to interfere in cases referred to higher authority,
except for a grave and urgent reason; in which case the higher authority is to
be notified immediately.
Can. 140 §1 When
several people are together delegated to act in the same matter, the person who
has begun to deal with it excludes the others from acting, unless that person
is subsequently impeded, or does not wish to proceed further with the matter.
§2 When several
people are delegated to act as a college in a certain matter, all must proceed
in accordance with can. 119, unless the mandate provides otherwise.
§3 Executive
power delegated to several people is presumed to be delegated to them together.
Can. 141 If
several people are successively delegated, that person is to deal with the
matter whose mandate was the earlier and was not subsequently revoked.
Can. 142 §1
Delegated power lapses: on the completion of the mandate; on the expiry of the
time or the completion of the number of cases for which it was granted; on the
cessation of the motivating reason for the delegation; on its revocation by the
person delegating, when communicated directly to the person delegated; and on
the retirement of the person delegated, when communicated to and accepted by
the person delegating. It does not lapse on the expiry of the authority of the
person delegating, unless this appears from clauses attached to it.
§2 An act of
delegated power exercised for the internal forum only, which is inadvertently
performed after the time limit of the delegation, is valid.
Can. 143 §1
Ordinary power ceases on the loss of the office to which it is attached.
§2 Unless the law
provides otherwise, ordinary power is suspended if an appeal or a recourse is
lawfully made against a deprivation of, or removal from, office.
Can. 144 §1 In
common error, whether of fact or of law, and in positive and probable doubt,
whether of law or of fact, the Church supplies executive power of governance
for both the external and the internal forum.
§2 The same norm
applies to the faculties mentioned in cann. 883, 966, and 1111 §1.
Can. 145 §1 An
ecclesiastical office is any post which by divine or ecclesiastical disposition
is established in a stable manner to further a spiritual purpose.
§2 The duties and
rights proper to each ecclesiastical office are defined either by the law
whereby the office is established, or by a decree of the competent authority
whereby it is at one and at the same time established and conferred.
Can. 146 An
ecclesiastical office cannot be validly obtained without canonical provision.
Can. 147 The
provision of an ecclesiastical office is effected: by its being freely
conferred by the competent ecclesiastical authority; by appointment made by the
same authority, where there has been a prior presentation; by confirmation or
admission by the same authority, where there has been a prior election or
postulation; finally, by a simple election and acceptance of the election, if
the election does not require confirmation.
Can. 148 Unless
the law provides otherwise, the provision of an office is the prerogative of
the authority which is competent to establish, change or suppress the office.
Can. 149 §1 In
order to be promoted to an ecclesiastical office, one must be in communion with
the Church, and be suitable, that is, possessed of those qualities which are
required for that office by universal or particular law or by the law of the
foundation.
§2 The provision
of an ecclesiastical office to a person who lacks the requisite qualities is
invalid only if the qualities are expressly required for validity by universal
or particular law or by the law of the foundation; otherwise it is valid, but
it can be rescinded by a decree of the competent authority or by a judgement of
an administrative tribunal.
§3 The provision
of an office made as a result of simony, is invalid by virtue of the law
itself.
Can. 150 An
office which carries with it the full care of souls, for which the exercise of
the order of priesthood is required, cannot validly be conferred upon a person
who is not yet a priest.
Can. 151 The
provision of an office which carries with it the care of souls is not to be
deferred without grave reason.
Can. 152 Two or
more offices which are incompatible, that is, which cannot be exercised at the
same time by the same person, are not to be conferred upon anyone.
Can. 153 §1 The
provision of an office which in law is not vacant is by that very fact invalid,
nor does it become valid by subsequent vacancy.
§2 If, however,
there is question of an office which by law is conferred for a determinate
time, provision can be made within six months before the expiry of this time,
and it takes effect from the day the office falls vacant.
§3 The promise of
any office, by whomsoever it is made, has no juridical effect.
Can. 154 An
office which in law is vacant, but which someone unlawfully still holds, may be
conferred, provided that it has been properly declared that such possession is
not lawful, and that mention is made of this declaration in the letter of
conferral.
Can. 155 One who
confers an office in the place of another who is negligent or impeded, does not
thereby acquire any power over the person on whom the office is conferred; the
juridical condition of the latter is the same as if the provision of the office
had been carried out in accordance with the ordinary norm of law.
Can. 156 The
provision of any office is to be made in writing.
Can. 157 Unless
the law expressly states otherwise, it is the prerogative of the diocesan
Bishop to make appointments to ecclesiastical offices in his own particular
Church by free conferral.
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