Canon law changes mean the way church law is taught will also need to change, the Congregation for Catholic Education says. Pope Francis has amended canon law so marriage annulment cases are handled more quickly, more pastorally and with less expense. Catholic universities should therefore strengthen their canon law programmes, the Congregation says. At the Read more
The Church must clarify its legislation about the role retired popes should play in future, says Professor Thomas Schüller. Schüller is the head of the Canon Law department at Germany’s Münster University. He is one of several German theologians who have called on the Vatican to establish clear canonical regulations for future popes who resign Read more
Jeremy Corbyn and his right to receive holy communion is a hot topic in Catholic UK at the moment. Media reports are broadcasting statements about his faith – or lack of it. He’s not a Catholic says one source. He’s agnostic, says another. Perhaps he’s an atheist, says yet another. He has his own opinions- Read more
A nun has officiated at a Catholic marriage at a church at Lorrainville, 650 km west of Montreal in Canada. Sister Pierrette Thiffault’s authority to celebrate the marriage came from Rome after the Congregation of Divine Worship and for the Discipline of Sacraments agreed she would be suitable to carry out this ministry. In a Read more
Canon law changes are underway. Pope Francis has strengthened the Latin and Eastern Churches’ cooperative efforts in spreading the Gospel with a new decree. This brings the Latin Church’s Code of Canon Law into harmony with the canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Read more
Following Pope Francis’s call to meet people where they are, a US diocese has relaxed its policy on wedding locations. Helena diocese Bishop George Thomas approved regulations that allow openness to non-church weddings. Canon law stipulates Catholic weddings are to be in a parish church. But the Code of Canon Law allows bishops to permit Read more
In a new papal ruling, bishops who don’t consult the Vatican before approving would-be religious orders in their dioceses risk having that approval stopped. Before the latest ruling, bishops were required to consult with the Vatican about such matters, but there were no consequences if they didn’t. The new ruling, issued in the form of Read more
A prelate has suggested that strident criticism of Pope Francis might be grounds for excommunication under canon law. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation, suggested such criticism could be seen as akin to “physical violence” against the Roman Pontiff. This carries a penalty of excommunication. But US canon lawyer Read more
The pro-theologian emeritus of the pontifical household has questioned the appropriateness of the term “remarried divorcees” canonically and pastorally. Cardinal Georges Cottier said in an interview with Jesuit journal La Civilta Catholica that the term is too generic and is applied in “fundamentally different situations”. The Swiss Dominican described two very different cases which come Read more
A Spanish woman who identifies as a man and plans to undergo a sex-change operation has been refused permission to be a godparent of her nephew. Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy of Cadiz and Cueta determined that Alex Salinas, 21, cannot be a baptismal sponsor because of canonical requirements that a sponsor live in accordance with Read more