Knowra Canon law of the Catholic Church Canon law of the Catholic Church Canon law is the body of rules governing the Catholic Church’s organization, sacraments, clergy, institutions, and members. Its current Latin-code framework is principally the 1983 Code of Canon Law.
1983 Code of Canon Law : The principal codification of canon law for the Latin Church, promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1983. It is the central current code for the Latin Church, though not the code governing the Eastern Catholic Churches.
Legislative power in the Catholic Church : The authority to enact binding ecclesiastical laws, exercised by the pope and other competent church authorities. Legislative authority determines who can create or modify rules in the Church.
Canonical form of marriage : The required manner of celebrating a Catholic marriage, ordinarily before an authorized minister and witnesses. Marriage law makes form decisive for whether many Catholic marriages are valid.
Council of Nicaea : The first ecumenical council, held in 325, which issued doctrinal definitions and disciplinary canons. Its canons are among the earliest influential sources of church discipline.
Eastern Catholic Churches : Churches in communion with Rome that preserve distinct Eastern liturgical, theological, and disciplinary traditions. Their common law is codified separately from the Latin Church’s canon law.
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches : The 1990 codification of common canon law for the Eastern Catholic Churches. It governs Eastern Catholic Churches through a distinct code rather than the Latin Church’s 1983 code.
Canonical dispensation : The relaxation of a merely ecclesiastical law in a particular case by an authority empowered to grant it. Dispensations allow authorized exceptions without repealing the general rule.
Annulment (Catholic Church) : A Catholic tribunal’s declaration that a marriage was invalid from its beginning under church law. Marriage nullity cases apply canonical rules about consent, capacity, and form.
Gratian's Decretum : A twelfth-century collection that organized and reconciled earlier authorities of Western canon law. It helped establish the scholarly study and systematic teaching of medieval canon law.
Latin Church : The largest autonomous church within the Catholic Church, governed by the Latin rite and its own code of canon law. It is the principal jurisdiction of the 1983 Code, distinct from Eastern Catholic churches.
Show all 29