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[German Version] In contrast to the ecclesiastical region ( regio ecclesiastica; CD art. 39ff.), since the 4th century the ecclesiastical province ( provincia ecclesiastica) has belonged to the constitutional structure of the Catholic Church. It is the assembly of neighboring particular churches to promote pastoral work and relationships among the diocesan bishops in the union of particular churches so created ( CIC/1983 c. 431 §1). The provincial council and the metropolitan have leadership authority ( CIC/1983 c. 432 §1). Neighboring ecclesias…

[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Church History – III. Dogmatics and Canon Law – IV. Missiology I. New Testament The NT contains no evidence of the episcopate in the traditional Catholic sense (a single bishop at the apex of a hierarchical clerical ministry functioning as head of a Christian community), but it does use the word ἐπίσκοπος ( epískopos; the etymological source of bishop) for functionaries and officials exercising oversight in the community (Acts 20:28; Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 3:1–7; Tit 1:7–9). For the primitive church, it is therefore better ¶ to speak of episkopoi rathe…

[German Version] In Catholic canon law, similar to the secular realm, “affiliation” (Lat. affiliare: “adopt”) denotes a special relationship of association; more specifically it is used in terms of aggregation (laws of religious orders and associations), incorporation or incardination and, in the context of the law code governing higher education, the affiliation of a university with a faculty. On the basis of papal privilege, letters of affiliation granted participation in the good works of a religious association. Wilhelm Rees Bibliography E. Magnin, DCC I, 1935, 263f.

[German Version] is the temporary separation of one who professes eternal vows (IV) from an institutional order. Exclaustration differs from secularization ( CIC cc. 688–693). It can result at the request of the one who professes or by compulsion for very serious reasons ( CIC c. 686, cc. 489, 490; CCEO 548). Exclaustration does not free from the vows, but from duties that are irreconcilable with the new situation. It invalidates active and passive electoral rights ( CIC c. 687). Wilhelm Rees Bibliography P.V. Pinto, “Exclaustratio et Absentia a domo des religieuses,” StCan 11, 1977, …

[German Version] In Catholic canon law (II) this is the transfer of the right to bestow a church office to the superior church official (authentic devolution) or the release of the bestower from his relationship to a right of nomination (inauthentic devolution). Introduced by Alexander III (X1, 6, 7; X3, 8, 2; X3, 38, 3), the right of devolution has been limited since the 13th century. The CIC knows of representative conveyance of office in the event of neglect or hindrance (c. 155 CIC; c. 945 CCEO) and of the replacement of a diocesan administrator (cc. 421 §2; 425 §3 CIC; cc. 220 n. 3; 221 n…

[German Version] ( administrator paroecialis) is a priest whom the diocesan bishop has to appoint if a parish is vacant (cf. CIC c. 538, 1983; CCEO c. 297), or the parish priest is prevented from fulfilling his pastoral duties ( CIC c. 539, 1983; CCEO c. 298). Until the parish administrator is appointed, the Pfarrvikar (Chaplain) assumes direction of the parish (cf. CIC c. 541, 1983; CCEO c. 300). As a rule, the parish administrator has the same privileges, duties, and rights as the parish priest, and has to give account of his office (cf. CIC c. 540, 1983; CCEO c. 299). The installation of a…

[German Version] The word “anathema” originally meant an offering consecrated to a deity, or a curse (Blessing). Anathema as banishment or exclusion from the community was a common practice before Christianity, which adopted it as a disciplinary measure after the analogy of the OT ban and the practice of exclusion at Qumran. In the penal code of the church, “anathema” referred to excommunication, especially when solemnly imposed as provided in the Pontifcale Romanum ( CIC 1917, c. 2257, §2). This form of excommunication was not included in CIC 1983. Neither does the formula anathema sit …

[German Version] In the language of canon law, quinquennial faculties (from Lat. quinquennalis, “every five years”) denotes the special powers that were conceded to diocesan bishops by the Apostolic See for a period of five years. This institution was in effect from the period of Catholic restoration until the restructuring of the dispensation system in the period following Vatican II; it was tied to the bishops’ quinquennial reports (cf. CIC/1983 c. 399; CCEO c. 206; CIC/1917 c. 340). The faculties involved dispensations (mixed marriage), acts of clemency (Indulgence)…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Dogmatics – VI. Ethics – VII. Practical Theology – VIII. Church Law – IX. Judaism – X. Islam I. History of Religion In the following comments the term community will refer exclusively to a religiously motivated association of people. From the standpoint of the history of religion, the formation of communities is more the exception than the rule. The fact that associations such as tribes, as well, howe…

[German Version] I. Catholic Main Churches – II. Protestant Main Churches (Evangelical Church in Germany) I. Catholic Main Churches The expression “main church” or “principal church” is not found in the manual of canon law ( CIC 1983). It is used in two senses: 1. As a general expression for a church that stands out from a group of churches in a particular way. This position of prime importance is ¶ attributed particularly to episcopal churches (Cathedrals), and also to quasi-diocesan regional churches of equal ranking (cf. CIC 1983 c. 368 ). In the cathedral the bishop assumes his office ( C…

[German Version] In Catholic canon law (II), an expectative was the legally binding assurance that an office (benefice) that was not yet vacant would be granted to the beneficiary when that office was vacated. Expectatives came into being after the 12th century, with Alexander III ( Liber Extra 3.8.2) and Boniface VIII ( Liber Sextus 3.7.2) taking action against abuses. All such rights were abrogated by the Council of Trent (session XXIV c. 19 de ref.). While not actually forbidden by current canon law, expectatives lack legal force ( CIC c.153 §3; CCEO c. 943 §3; similarly CIC c. 150 §2 19…

[German Version] In the Catholic Church, the term constitutions (from Lat. constituere, “set up, appoint”) refers to the decrees of a pope or council (cf. CIC/1983, c. 754) as well as the statutes of religious orders. Today, it is used primarily for statutes decreed ¶ by the pope as Constitutiones apostolicae in the style of an ordinary bull (Bullae) and administrative actions by the heads of curial offices. In the law governing religious orders, the statutes of institutes of consecrated life, secular institutes, and societies of the apostolic life are called constitutions. Wilhelm Ree…

[German Version] This principle of Catholic canon law is rooted in the aequitas (“equity”) of Roman law, in biblical thinking, and in Aristotle's theory of epikeia (Epiky). The aim of the aequitas canonica (unlike that of epikeia) is to achieve a harmony between already codified law and the legal judgment required in a specific situation. The effect is a moderation of existing law; on occasion, however, the law may also be tightened ( oikonomia). Wilhelm Rees Bibliography E. Wohlhaupter, Aequitas canonica, 1931 G. Wingren, art. “Billigkeit” TRE VI, 1980, 642–645 A. Hollerbach, art. “…

[German Version] Mensa/Mensal Revenue, Lat. mensa, English “table, meal,” is church property set aside for the personal support of the bishop ( Mensa episcopalis) or of the chapter ( Mensa capitularis). The mensa developed from the 9th century onward out of the originally undifferentiated property of the church in order to meet the personal needs of clerical communities and individual office holders. Being a separate estate, it was not accessible to third parties. As a consequence of the secularization of 1803 in Germany, th…

[German Version] ( rector ecclesiae). In Catholic canon law, the church rector is a priest who is entrusted with the care of a church that is neither a parish nor a chapter church (Chapter) and that is not associated with a branch of a religious order or with any of the Societies of the Apostolic Life (cf. cc. 556–563 CIC/1983; cc. 304–310 CCEO). As a rule, the diocesan bishop (Bishop: III, 1) freely appoints the church rector (c. 557 §1 CIC/1983). The local ordinary has the authority to recall him (c. 563 in connection with cc. 192–195 CIC/1983). The church rector has worship duties…

[German Version] is the restriction or deprivation of powers of a subordinate officeholder in accordance with an objection (devolution, prevention) pronounced by a higher authority (pope, bishop, episcopal conference). Decisions regarding ecclesiastical offices and church governance are reserved to the pope or Holy See (public associations: CIC/1983 c. 312 §1; particular churches: c. 373; ecclesiastical provinces: c. 431 §3; episcopal conferences: c. 449 §1; ecumenical councils: c. 338; the episcopal synod: c. 344; cardinals: c. 351; nuncio…

[German Version] refers in Catholic canon law to the exclusion of natural or juridical powers, or of regions, from the normal organization of the church and their subjection to the jurisdiction of a higher-ranking or a specifically instituted authority. The CIC recognizes exemption in the system of orders (c. 591; CCEO c. 412 §2; c. 586: autonomy; brotherhood of Peter), the exemption of regions (free abbeys and prelatures [c. 370]; see also Military chaplaincy) – although t…

[German Version] In Latin canon law, tonsure denotes the shaving of the hair of a (monastic) cleric as a sign that he belongs to God; it can also denote the resulting bald area. Unlike in the Uniate Eastern Churches (cf. Ius Orientale, De personis c. 38 §1, 1°: AAS 49, 1957, 448), as prima tonsura ( ordo ad faciendum clericum) it constituted admission to the clerical state (cf. CIC/1917, c. 108 §1; C. 12 q. 1 c.7 Liber Extra [X] 1.36.6; Incardination, Consecration/Ordination/Dedication). Even under CIC/1917 it was already being discontinued (cf. CIC/1917, c. 136 §1); postconciliar legi…

[German Version] (apostolic), from Lat. legare (“to dispatch/send someone”), are representatives of the Apostolic See in local churches, states, as well as at international organizations and conferences. Conciliar reform impulses ( CD art. 9f.) led to a reorganization through Pope Paul VI's motu proprio Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum (Jun 24, 1969; AAS 61, 1969, 473–484) and the CIC/1983 (cc. 362–367). The primary function of the legates is to enable communication between the pope and the local churches (c. 364); their secondary function is to act as…

[German Version] (inter-nuncio). Nuncios are papal envoys who are permanent representatives of the Holy See both to local churches and to national governments or public authorities, and have diplomatic status according to the norms of international law (cf. CIC 1983, c.363 §1; Legates). Nuncios belong to the first diplomatic rank and are always doyen of the diplomatic corps (cf. Vienna, Congress of). Without this precedence, papal envoys have the title of pro-nuntio or inter-nuntio (legates of the second rank). In addition to tasks within the church (cf. CIC 1983, c.364), the nunc…