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QUEBEC CITY, SEPT. 9, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Canon law is more than just regulations, but is active living out of our Catholic tradition, says author Pete Vere. Vere co-authored with Michael Trueman "Surprised by Canon Law: 150 Questions Laypeople Ask About Canon Law," and "Surprised by Canon Law, Volume 2: More Questions Catholics Ask About Canon Law," both published by Servant Books. In Part 1 of this interview with ZENIT, Vere discusses the role canon law plays in the life of the average Catholic as well as in the difficult issues of giving Communion to pro-abortion politicians and the sexual abuse...

June 26, 2008 STATEMENT REGARDING THE CANONICAL DISCIPLINE OF SISTER LOUISE LEARS, S.C. After a canonical process of several months, Archbishop Raymond Burke has, today, decided the case of Sister Louise Lears, S.C., a member of the “pastoral team” at Saint Cronan Parish, who was accused of four delicts, all connected with her encouragement of, promotion of and participation in the attempted ordination of two women to the Sacred Priesthood at a local synagogue in November of last year. Delicts, which must be published in the Church, are grave and external violations against the Catholic faith or moral teaching. A...

Publishing Whatever One Wants To: Rome's Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, and Current Trends in Catholic Apologetics05/30/2008 - James Swan    Over the last few years I've focused on current popular Catholic apologists, that is, those whose names you may hear on Catholic Answers, or find on The Journey Home. In order to be familiar with Catholic argumentation, the best way to do so is to actually hear them make their own arguments and interpretations of Catholic doctrine.    I purchase their books as well. I buy these books because not only am I interested in how they argue, I like to see...

As I pointed out some time ago (scroll to 6 July 2005), the 1983 Code does not levy excommunication on those who simulate the conferral and reception of holy orders on women. Canon 1378 excommunicates non-priests who simulate Eucharist and confession, and Canon 1379 imposes "a just penalty" on those who simulate the other sacraments (such as holy Orders), but neither canon directly excommunicates those who simulate holy Orders. The excommunications that have been applied in some cases of female 'ordination' have been imposed in virtue of a combination of other canons (e.g., Abp. Burke's model action in March...

POST ONE: Pope Benedict XVI is believed to be mulling over the possibility of expelling a bishop, Fernando Lugo, from the clerical state. That would certainly be a first under the 1983 Code (the Jacques Gaillot case in 1995 was not a precedent; Gaillot was removed from office, but not from the clerical state), and I'm pretty sure it never happened under the 1917 Code. Lugo, though suspended and removed from ecclesiastical office, remains a cleric, but his election under a reformist banner to Paraguay's presidency upped the ante. Clergy are forbidden to assume civil governing offices (see 1983...

Vatican City, Jan 22, 2008 / 11:25 am (CNA).- The Vatican held a press conference today to present the upcoming congress theme: “Canon Law in the Life of the Church, research and perspectives in the context of recent Pontifical Magisterium.”  Archbishop Francesco Coccopalmerio and Msgr. Juan Ignacio Arrieta, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, participated in the press conference regarding the congress, organized to mark the 25th anniversary of the Code of Canon Law.Msgr. Arrieta noted that the goal of the congress is “to undertake a purposeful study ... into the progress of the application...

Romney, WV – 8 Jan 2008)  A time capsule was placed under a bronze medallion bearing the inscription “CANON 915,” at the center of a Millstone which is part of a Memorial to the Unborn at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Romney, West Virginia.  The time capsule was sealed with the bronze medallion on January 7th, 2008, the Feast of Saint Raymond of Pennafort, Patron of Canon Lawyers. The capsule contains Church Documents, the Code of Canon Law, Bishop’s statements, various articles and other items connected to contemporary news regarding Canon 915. The marker and capsule are especially...

Should the Sisters of Indulgence be banned from Roman Catholic Churches? The conditions are for Masses/Sacraments [Baptisms, Confirmations, Holy Orders, Funerals, Marriages]. Under Canon Law the Pastor of a Roman Catholic Church has the authority to run his Church as he sees fit. For example, I was able to discuss with Father John Corapi, SOLT, this topic. The case I mentioned was of a Pastor of a Church in the Ohio/Kentucky area who was asked by his bishop to remove the communion rail and the statues in the Church. The following is the basic flow of the discussion: The response...

Q. Why did you write the article? During the election campaign of 2004, some bishops found themselves under question regarding the application of canon 915. Canon 915 addresses the responsibility of priests and other Eucharistic ministers when it comes to administering Holy Communion. I wrote the article for a scholarly international canon law journal published in Rome, Periodica De Re Canonica. You can read the entire article at www.archstl.org. The article was published in April of this year, but the secular media has just now started covering it. Q. What does the article mean to priests and Eucharistic ministers? The...

HONDURAS, May 17, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an interview with Time magazine, Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, has contradicted Pope Benedict XXVI on the issue of Holy Communion for pro-abortion Catholic politicians. Speaking in response to reporters in the plane en route to Brazil last week, Pope Benedict XVI supported the actions of the Bishops of Mexico in denying communion to pro-abortion politicians.  However commenting on the incident, Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga told Time magazine that a bishop may not deny communion to anyone no matter how grave a sinner. Cardinal Rodriguez was asked, "Do you agree with...

The Pontifical Commission for Legislative Texts has just issued a "Notification" that makes it more difficult to conclude that a given person has "defected by a formal act" from the Catholic Church. The Notification raises some thorny questions for canonists which need to be, and will be, addressed elsewhere; here, I only point to a strength in the Notification that rank-and-file Catholics are likely to overlook. The Notification (para. 2) rejects an understanding of "formal defection" that would accept as proof of formal defection those curious documents that dioceses around the world get from time to time (in my...

According to published reports, Bp. Olmstead of the Diocese of Phoenix has stated a 10-year-old, moderately-to-severely autistic boy should not be given Communion until it is demonstrated that the boy can receive the Host (which he apparently does reverently for some seconds) without then spitting it out (due to its texture which the boy's condition makes intolerable for him). Other shapes and sizes of Hosts have been tried without success, as has offering him the Eucharist under the appearance of Wine. Till now, the boy's father has been taking his son's Host and consuming it himself, an obviously loving...

Like many people, I was disturbed by news of Michael Schiavo’s recent wedding to his fiancée Jody Centonze. As Gudrun Schultz reported on Life Site News, “Michael Schiavo, who had his disabled wife Terri killed last March by refusing her food and water, was re-married last Saturday in the Roman Catholic Church of Espiritu Santo in Florida. Schiavo married Jodi Centonze. He had two children with her during the years he worked towards achieving Terri’s death.” Yes, you read that right. After bringing about the death of his first wife, a Catholic church allowed Michael to attempt a second marriage...

VLAZNY Jan-20-2006 (520 words) xxxn Oregon archbishop says no one has authority to seize parishes By Catholic News Service PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Archbishop John G. Vlazny of Portland reiterated Jan. 20 that "no one in the archdiocese had the authority to seize parish property or assets" to satisfy clergy sexual abuse claims. In his column in the Jan. 20 issue of the Catholic Sentinel, Portland archdiocesan newspaper, the archbishop said the bankruptcy court ruling three weeks earlier, declaring parish and school properties to be part of the archdiocesan assets to be considered in settling sex abuse claims, "felt like...

by Pete Vere, JCL Other Articles by Pete Vere, JCL When Lay Ministers Take Holy Communion to the Sick 12/02/2005 The Second Vatican Council, in its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, speaks of the Holy Eucharist as the source and the summit of our spiritual life. This means the Holy Eucharist is the source from which all other blessings flow, as well as the summit to which all of our spiritual works are directed. In This Article...Canon Law and the Lay Minister of Holy CommunionPastoral Principles for Lay MinistersOrdinary Visits to the Sick, the Elderly, and the Infirm Canon Law and...

Marc Balestrieri, the Catholic canon lawyer who has brought canonical lawsuits against John Kerry, Mario Cuomo, and half a dozen other Catholic pro-abortion politician on charges of heresy, reports that, after a long and complicated effort, the suits are making headway in Rome. One of them may be quite near an official judgment. The FAQ page for the lawsuit is probably the best source for current information. Balestrieri is struggling to press these lawsuits despite having been fired from his former job as a canon lawyer employed by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He needs prayers. This is a good...

Parents miss Mass, kids get ax The pastor of a Staten Island Catholic church is playing holy hardball - kicking hundreds of kids out of religious ed classes because their families aren't showing up at Mass. The Rev. Michael Cichon, pastor of St. Joseph/St. Thomas in Pleasant Plains, used each family's bar-coded donation envelope to track attendance. He's tossed about 300 kids from classes and told them not to reapply until next April. Without the classes, children cannot receive the sacraments, meaning some youngsters who thought they'd be making their First Communion next year will have to wait. The...

Gen X’s Roe vs. Wade by Pete Vere, JCL As we commit this reflection to writing, Terri Schindler-Schiavo has spent the past five days without food and water. A federal judge refuses to grant the injunction requested by Terri’s parents. This injunction would see the handicapped woman’s feeding tube reinserted as the federal courts review her case. Terri’s survival is now a matter of Divine providence. For even if her feeding tube was restored, only a miracle could prevent Terri’s organs from suffering irreversible damage after five days without nutrition and hydration. All of the undersigned are Catholics in full...

A new Vatican instruction on annulment is not expected to change existing practice in the United States dramatically, but it falls short of reforms that many American bishops and canonists hoped for which would have made an annulment faster and easier to obtain. Those reforms were contained in a second draft of the document, which seemed on the brink of publication in 2003. After debates within the Vatican, however, the draft was sent back for revision, and in the end several significant provisions sought by Americans were eliminated or watered down. The instruction, titled Dignitas Connubii, was issued Feb. 8...

TESTING THE FAITH Heresy case pressed against Kerry, others Catholic lawyer widens scope to Kennedy, Cuomo, Harkin -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: January 21, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com A Catholic lawyer who pressed heresy charges against Sen. John Kerry for advocating abortion plans to file similar church lawsuits against other prominent politicians, including Sen. Edward Kennedy. Denunciations for "Heresy, Sacrilege, and Scandal" will be pressed against Kennedy, D-Mass.; Tom Harkin, D-Iowa; Susan Collins R-Maine; and former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, says Marc Balestrieri, a canon lawyer and director of the Los Angeles-based non-profit group De Fide. "Senator Kerry is...

Join the Class-Action Lawsuit 21 JANUARY 2005 UPDATE: The Denunciations for Heresy and other offenses against Canon Law have been filed against Senators Edward Kennedy, John Kerry, Thomas Harkin, Susan Collins, and Mr. Mario Cuomo. All of the Briefs have been expanded, bifurcated, and translated into Latin to conform to the utmost with the exact letter of the law contained in the Church's official doctrinal and juridical documents. As such, on Monday, 24 January 2005, at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., Lisagor Room, the new Latin forms will first be made available to the public so that all...

I BIT MY TONGUE AND RESISTED the urge to fire off an angry email. Reading through an on-line discussion board for budding Catholic apologists like myself, I had come across a message written more with an excess of zeal than with a correct understanding of canon law. Granted, the offending message was written with the best of intentions, and I also admired the offending author as a competent biblical apologist when it came to defending the Catholic faith against Protestant challenges. Nevertheless, this apologist’s competency with the Bible didn’t extend to the Code of Canon Law. And the question had...

The 1988 Consecrations--Part One July 1999 No. 33 This issue of the Angelus English-Language edition of SISINONO begins a series of two studies - one theological and one canonical - regarding the "state of necessity" invoked by Archbishop Lefebvre to justify his consecration of four bishops on June 30, 1988. These remarks are for those who admit the existence of an extraordinary crisis in the Church but do not know how to justify the extraordinary action of Archbishop Lefebvre on June 10, 1988 when, lacking permission from Pope John Paul II, he transmitted the power of episcopal orders to members...

New Book Makes Canon Law Accessible to Laity FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Catholic PRWire From time to time, all Catholics have them: nagging questions about church life, often prompted by some personal encounter or challenging situation: Is a layperson allowed to preach a homily? Is a pastor required to report to someone regarding parish finances, or is he on his own? It seems like the parish council is running your parish. Does it have the authority to do so? Must a child be baptized in a church, or may the baptism take place at home? If I obtain an annulment, does...

Milwaukee priests alliance sends letter opposing withholding Communion They say tactic against politicians is ineffective By TOM HEINENtheinen@journalsentinel.com Posted: Oct. 21, 2004 The Milwaukee Archdiocese Priests Alliance has opposed withholding Holy Communion from Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, firmly detailing that stance in a letter to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C. But Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of St. Louis, the man at the epicenter of a national debate on that issue, also remains firm in his beliefs. Speaking at Trinity Academy's annual dinner in Pewaukee earlier this week, he said he had no regrets. Burke hoped that bishops...

by Fr. William Saunders Other Articles by Fr. William Saunders Instruction on Cremation 07/30/04 Recently, a neighbor’s wife died. She was then cremated. They want to take her ashes and spread them in the mountains she enjoyed hiking so much. As Catholics, are we allowed to cremate (I think we are now) and are we allowed to spread the ashes? While cremation is definitely becoming more and more popular, it is actually something new to Catholic Christian tradition. The early Church retained the Jewish practice of bodily burial and rejected the common pagan Roman practice of cremation. The basis for this...

Canon Backfire Part Three of the Series: The Illicit Episcopal Consecrations of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre On June 17, 1988, Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, sent a canonical warning to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on account of the imminent consecrations His Grace was about to perform on June 30 without a papal mandate. The canonical warning states: "Since on 15 June 1988 you stated that you intended to ordain four priests to the episcopate without having obtained the mandate of the Supreme Pontiff as required by Canon 1013 of the Code of Canon Law, I myself convey to...

Code: ZE04042524 Date: 2004-05-25 Decorating the Sanctuary And More on Letting the Children Run ROME, MAY 25, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University. Q: I have been searching for some type of directives regarding the decorating of the sanctuary. In the parish here we have a decorating committee that can do just about any type of decorating that it wants. Isn't there a book that contains what is permissible and what isn't? -- A.R., Hinckley, Ohio A: By decoration I suppose you mean the occasional decoration of the sanctuary...

Thursday, May 27, 2004 WILL CARDINAL GEORGE DENY BISHOP PILLA HOLY COMMUNION From Bishop Pilla's website: http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/gayandlesbianfamilyministry/images/rnbwtile.gif We wonder if Cardinal George has ever visited Bishop Pilla's website and seen Bishop Pilla's "Index of /gayandlesbianfamilyministry/images."If so, Cardinal George will see that Bishop Pilla not only flies the Rainbow Gay Pride Flag or Sash on his website, but that bishop Pilla also has such Gay Pride symbols as Pink Triangles, headless Rainbow doves descending into Hell, and spinning Rainbow balls. You will have to contact Bishop Pilla directly to find out what that last one means. Why should Cardinal George care?...

Unquestionably, canon 915 is the most discussed canon in the Codex Iuris Canonici, or Code of Canon Law, in recent Church history. Many in the media have reported on the January 8, 2004 canonical actions of Archbishop Raymond Burke, then bishop of the La Crosse, Wisconsin diocese. His actions have rocked the Catholic Church. Because of much misinformation, speculation and outright resentment, confusion reigns regarding the Archbishop's promulgation of his 'canonical notification' based on canon 915, the official communication of what the Church's discipline is.

Everybody likes Mel Gibson. He’s an award-winning actor, he’s box-office gold and he seems like a nice guy. But because of his fame and The Passion, his forthcoming movie about Christ, a lot of his fans would like to be clear on where he stands with respect to the Catholic Church, a Dallas-based author says. Kevin Orlin Johnson, Ph.D., is an associate of the Canon Law Society of America and a best-selling writer whose book Rosary: Mysteries, Meditations, and the Telling of the Beads includes one of the most graphic accounts of the Crucifixion ever published. He’ll definitely see...

Since the closing of the Second Vatican Council, Catholic laity have increasingly become aware of the science of canon law. Whether because of the rise in annulments or the recent crisis over sexual misconduct among the clergy, coming across references to canon law is no longer uncommon for most Catholic laity. The Internal Legal System of the Church Yet what precisely is canon law? And how can a layperson meaningfully participate in this sacred science? Every organization, whether secular or religious, requires its own laws and customs to maintain some semblance of order. Within the Catholic Church, the internal legal...

To put it bluntly, I have a few reservations about canon 1398. “A person who actually procures an abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication,” the canon states. Please do not mistake my reservations as support for abortion. In no way do I condone this intrinsically evil act, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches “is gravely contrary to the moral law” as well as an “abominable crime” (2271). Yet my experience in ministry has taught me that most women who abort their child act under some sort of emotional, mental and/or psychological duress. Despite what many feminists claim, I...

Communion and Church Teaching    GRACE MACKINNON Dear Grace, If you do not agree with some of the Church’s teachings, but you receive Communion on Sundays, are you sinning? First of all, let us be clear that “not agreeing with” and “not living according to” the Church’s teaching are two different matters. It is very possible that a person might not agree with a teaching and yet decide to live in obedience to it, believing that it comes from God. The Church knows well that sometimes we will struggle with a certain teaching, often due to a lack of understanding,...

I Will Give You Shepherds: Addressing the Priest Shortage    FAITH FACTS Issue: Is there a priest shortage? What is being done to address shortages where they occur? What can be done to increase the number of candidates for ordination? Response: There is some debate as to what constitutes a priest shortage. Some compare current ratios of priests to faithful with ratios from other eras, though some say that demand for priests has diminished to the point that the ratios are not comparable. Others contend that "priest shortage" is a slogan used by those who seek structural change in...

VATICAN, Oct 16, 02 (CWNews.com) -- Despite the strenuous lobbying efforts of American bishops, the Vatican has reached a final decision not to approve the sex-abuse policy adopted by the US bishop at their June meeting in Dallas. The Vatican response to the American bishops' policy-- which has been heavily anticipated and hotly debated-- will be announced on Friday morning, at a press conference hosted by Bishop Wilton Gregory, the president of the US bishops' conference. Although the Vatican response will praise the American bishops for their commitment to end the sex-abuse scandal, that response will not include the "recognitio"...