Preface

Abstract

Preface Ronny E. Jenkins, Editor By mandate of the Supreme Legislator, the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, “fosters unity of jurisprudence and, by virtue of its decisions, provides assistance to lower tribunals.”1 This significant and invaluable task is fulfilled largely through the publication of the Rota’s decisions in two series, Decisiones seu sententiae and Decreta. Each of these decisions is published partly in Latin and partly in the original language in which the testimony was given (or it is translated into Italian). Because of this, access to such jurisprudence is limited for those who are not proficient in reading Latin or the modern language of the testimony. This journal hopes to alleviate this situation by providing original decisions together with an English translation of them. Decisions of the Roman Rota will be published twice a year, with each edition containing up to eight definitive sentences or decrees. This inaugural volume contains four definitive sentences and one decree that responds to a preliminary question. All of them were issued in 2021 and to date have not been published elsewhere. As is customary, the names of the parties and witnesses mentioned in them have been changed as has some other information, such as place names, so not to facilitate the identification of any person’s identity. I wish to express my immense gratitude to the esteemed Dean of the Roman Rota, His Excellency Most Reverend Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, for granting permission for the publication of rotal decisions in this new journal. I thank him also for his words spoken in support of this project during his well-received major address to the Canon Law Society of America in October 2022 at its annual convention. Likewise, I express my sincere thanks to the distinguished jurist and auditor of the Roman Rota, Monsignor Grzegorz Erlebach, without whose kind and gracious assistance this inaugural edition of Decisions of the Roman Rota would not have been possible. [End Page 1] Footnotes 1. Predicate Evangelium, Art. 200, §1. Copyright © 2023 The Catholic University of America Press