Canon (canon law)

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, from the fourth century onward, canon signified almost universally a disciplinary decree of a council or of the Roman Pontiffs.[4]

The word decretum during the same period, though signifying in general an authoritative statute or decision, began to be limited more and more to dogmatic matters, while canon when used in opposition to it was restricted to laws of discipline. That this usage, however, was not invariable is evident from Gratian's use of "Decretum" to signify his collection of canons and decrees.[note 3][4]

In 1917, the Catholic Church published the 1917 Code of Canon Law which applied to the Latin Church. In 1983, it published the a new Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church which replaced the 1917 Code of Canon Law.

During the reign of Pius XII, numerous canons for the Eastern Catholic Churches were published. In 1993, the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches was published.

The Eastern Orthodox Church, principally through the work of 18th-century Athonite monastic scholar Nicodemus the Hagiorite, has compiled canons and commentaries upon them in a work known as the Pēdálion (Greek: Πηδάλιον, 'Rudder'), so named because it is meant to "steer" the Church in her discipline. The dogmatic determinations of the Councils are to be applied rigorously since they are considered to be essential for the Church's unity and the faithful preservation of the Gospel.[5]

From the First Council of Nicea up to the beginning of the Council of Trent, the regulations concerning discipline issued by assemblies of bishops received the name of canons.[4]

With the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century began the departure from this ancient usage. This council used the word canon for short, dogmatic definitions with an anathema attached to them. On the other hand, it gave the name of decrees to its disciplinary regulations. The example set by Trent was followed by the First Council of the Vatican.[4]

The usage of Trent seems to bring canon nearer to the signification it bore before the First Council of Nicea, when it referred rather to faith than to discipline. The general idea of a decision by Church authority seems to be also the root-meaning of the expressions "Canon of Scripture", "Canon of the Mass", "Canon of Saints", although for the last term Ducange suggests a somewhat different origin.[4]

As to the authority of ecclesiastical canons in the Catholic Church, a distinction is made when speaking of canons of faith and canons of discipline, for the former are irreversible, the latter are not. Similarly, canons containing a precept already binding by reason of Divine or natural law, cannot be on the same footing as those that are of mere ecclesiastical origin.[4]

In general, the Corpus Juris Canonici declares[note 4] that canonical statutes are binding on all; likewise[note 5] that bishops are the guardians of the canons and must see to their observance. When there is question of canons in the ordinary ecclesiastical sense (namely, that which obtained before the Council of Trent), as they refer principally to matters of discipline, it must be borne in mind that they are neither immutable nor irreformable.[4]

The subject-matter of such canons depends not only on circumstances of persons, places, and times, but also on considerations of expediency or temporary necessity. A change in any of the causes which brought about the framing of the canons, will make a change in their binding force, for disciplinary regulations are almost necessarily mutable.[4]

In like manner when there is question of the binding force of a canon, it is important to determine whether it was issued by a general council or by the decree of a pope, as imposing an obligation on all the faithful, or whether it was framed solely for restricted regions or persons. In the latter case its binding-force is as restricted as its scope.[4]

The Catholic Encyclopedia argues that the object which the Catholic Church has always had in view in promulgating her canons has been the guidance and preservation of the clergy and laity in the duties of a Christian life and in the best methods of ecclesiastical administration.[4]

Although, therefore, such canons contain elements of positive human law, yet ultimately they are founded on the Divine or natural law. As such, they cannot be entirely abrogated by contrary custom, though their rigour may be mitigated by certain circumstances, on the ceasing of which, the pristine rigour of the canon would be again binding. When they are entirely of human law, they may, of course, be completely abrogated, not only by legislation on the part of the proper authorities, but also by legitimate custom.[4]

William H. W. Fanning, in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article states that:

The neglect of the prescriptions of the sacred canons has always been the source of corruption in morals, and perhaps the chief reason for the loss of faith by nations as well as by individuals.[4]

According to Fanning, the study of the sacred canons is especially enjoined on the clergy. Fanning speculates that perhaps most of the regulations refer directly to ecclesiastics, and suggests that clergy will find in them the surest guidance for their own conduct and for the fruitful exercise of their ministry in directing the faithful.[4]

• Berman, Harold J., Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983).
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Fanning, William H. W. (1913). "Ecclesiastical Canons". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company.