IMTH-765: Introduction to Canon Law
2 credits
This course provides the foundation for an understanding and application of law in the life of the Church and in pastoral ministry. The meaning of law in the ecclesiology of Vatican II and its role in the life of the People of God are the basic themes of this course. Topics considered include: canonical principles and general norms (Book I of the Code of Canon Law); the People of God and their rights and obligations in the Church; the organization of the universal, the particular and the local church (Book II); responsibilities governed by the teaching office of the Church, particularly as these relate to ordained ministry (Book III); temporal goods in the Church (Book V); and penalties and sanctions in the context of the Church as a communion of faith (Book VI). This course is intended to give the student: (1) a general sense of the nature, structure, and role of law in the Church; (2) an understanding of the relationship between the pastoral mission of the Church and the law; and (3) an understanding of the content of the law as it may be encountered in parish ministry and the administrative reality of the local Church. The large body of material in the Code of Canon Law and the limited length of time in the semester make it impossible to treat the law in great depth; however, the course will cover some critical areas such as the magisterium, the hierarchical organization of the Church and the rights and obligations of the Christian faithful in greater depth. This course will not make the student expert in the law; it should, nevertheless, give the student a sense of the “how and why” of law in the Church.