Polish view of the Contemporary Orthodox Church Law – problems on the way to systematization

Abstract

Orthodox church law is comprised of elements that regulate the life of the Church at various levels. The theological decisions, oroses, canons and canonical letters, which concern the Church globally, obviously focus on doctrine. Still, they also characterize the theological aspects of ecclesiology, primarily expressed in the Orthodox Church’s fundamental confession of faith – the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Although a number of the canons of the ecumenical councils and of the Holy Fathers, historical and contemporary resolutions passed by various local Orthodox Churches and other ecclesiastical authorities and institutions pertain to the universal sphere in many aspects, the vast majority of them set specific organizational standards of church life in the local perspective: the local Church, basic administrative units (dioceses, metropolises or exarchates), but above all in basic organizational structures, which include parishes and monasteries.
 This article presents the problems experienced when systematising contemporary Orthodox church law.
 This research aims to present a model for systematizing church law and to direct further research towards a comprehensive systemization of church law, including both the universal code and the legislation of specific Orthodox autocephalous churches.
 The methodology of this work is based on analysing legal acts and analyses already conducted by authoritative canonists.
 While focusing on the legal code of the autocephalous churches, the following questions were addressed: discrepancies resulting from the source corpuses adopted in various local churches and the lack or omission of information on significant organizational and systemic issues. The difficulties presented in this article provoke further research into organizing Orthodox church law. The fundamental problem is the absence of a standardized legal code for the universal Orthodox Church and a standardized compilation of ecclesiastical laws to be applied in autocephalous churches. The provisions of universal church law do not sufficiently organize issues of mutual intra-church relations, and in particular, the obligations and boundaries of the prerogatives of local autocephalous church structures.
 This process of systematization should include updating legal provisions by means of recognizing provisions that have been canonically repealed by later canons of the same rank or higher as invalid.