The Codex Iuris Canonici (CIC, Code of canon law) was first published on May 27, 1917, and went in effect the following year, on May 19, 1918. Following Vatican I, it codified previous church law for the first time and, in principle, claimed validity for all baptized Christians (see 3). In 1983 it was replaced by a new book of Roman Catholic law that is also called CIC and is meant for the Latin church, that is, the Western church as distinct from the Eastern. Law for the …