Church Law Research Articles

On Questions about Branches in Church Law and About the Relationship between Confession and the Ecclesiastical Court. A Response to the Articles of Hieromonk Tikhon (Vorobiev) and T. A. Dolgopolova (<i>Christian Reading </i>No. 3 for 2022)

On Questions about Branches in Church Law and About the Relationship between Confession and the Ecclesiastical Court. A Response to the Articles of Hieromonk Tikhon (Vorobiev) and T. A. Dolgopolova (<i>Christian Reading </i>No. 3 for 2022)

Издание о роли высшего духовенства в гибели монархического строя в России

Russian historians consider in this review the 2nd revised and enlarged edition professor Mikhail Anatolyevich Babkin’s monograph “Priesthood and Kingdom (Russia, early XX century - 1918). Research and materials.” Babkin's research relates to field of history, theology, and church law, and the authors of the review see an innovative approach in this. The said monograph opens new horizons for comprehending Russian historical transformation in 1917. It considers historical processes from the point of view of problem of “priesthood and kingdom.” The authors note significance of this problem for the history of Russia not only in the 17th century, but also in the period of revolutions in early 20th century. Considering revolutionary processes from this angle is justified and expedient. Babkin’s monograph contains research and also published documents and extended reference apparatus.The authors conclude that Babkin’s work does not close issue, although it makes the discussion of reasons for destruction of pre-revolutionary state-church relations model relevant today. They state that the author of the monograph does not hide his monarchist sympathies and considers clerical establishment of the Russian Orthodox Church one of the guilty parties in the overthrow of the monarchy. In the pre-revolutionary years, the clergy worked, in essence, for the revolution. The clergy, that was meant to sacralize imperial power, became a leading actor in its desacralization.

Interrogation of a clergyman in evidentiary trial

The article presents results of an analysis of current legislation of the Russian Federation and the Church law of the Russian Orthodox Church on the legal status of a “clergyman” and their opportunity to testify in criminal proceedings. Taking into account different points of view on this issue, it is substantiated that a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church cannot be interrogated as a witness in a criminal case about the circumstances that became known to him during the Sacrament of Penance. The question of the ratio of the concepts of “clergyman” and “priest” fixed at the normative level, but not equal, a pedibus usque ad caput, in essence, is considered. It is indicated that according to the canonical law of the Orthodox Church, the concept of “clergyman” is broader, with its own characteristics, which are dictated by the purpose of a particular degree of priesthood. In the article, the category of witness immunity is considered from the position of its functional orientation. An attempt has been made to substantiate the legal and moral aspects of the right to legal immunity of clergy. An attempt has been made to substantiate the legal and moral aspects of the right to legal immunity of a clergyman, through understanding the impossibility of conducting an interrogation, since this restriction of the subject of testimony is explained by the priority of social values that are protected by the provision of the law.

On the Byzantine-Mongol Marriages

The article focuses on the rapprochement between Byzantium and the Mongols from the 1250s which resulted in marriage alliances between Mongol Khans and Byzantine despoinas (princesses). The key issue is a clash of two different approaches. The Byzantine one was focused on the exclusive status of Byzantium as Christian Roman Empire, whose status was unrivalled and whose sovereigns seldom allowed marriages of Byzantine ladies to the foreign rulers, especially if the latter were heathen or Muslim. The Mongol view considered the Mongol state as the only one destined to dominate over other states. Here, the marriages between Mongol rulers and foreign brides have been suggested as one of vital elements of such domination. The compromise between two views seemed to have been made by the Byzantines: while the Byzantine church law refused to recognize interconfessional marriages, the Byzantines began to see these marriages as a Christian mission of sorts as the Greek brides and wives could have served as agents for spreading Greek Orthodox Christianity. Given the fact that some Khans had already converted to Islam prior to the marriage, these were also the first marriages between the Byzantine Imperial dynasty of the Palaiologoi and the Muslim rulers. It seems that special tolerance of the Mongols towards Christianity (even if they were Muslims) played a key role in the change of the principles of the Byzantine marriage policy: it henceforth became possible for the Emperor’s illegitimate daughter to marry a Muslim ruler. This policy affected the marriages of the later period of the fourteenth and fifteenth century between the imperial dynasties of the Palaiologoi and Grand Komnenoi, on the one hand, and the neighboring Turkish rulers, including the Ottomans, on the other.

The Influence of the Formation of the Departments of Church Law at the Law Faculties of Secular Universities in Russia in the 19th Century on the Development of Ecclesiastical Legal Science

The Influence of the Formation of the Departments of Church Law at the Law Faculties of Secular Universities in Russia in the 19th Century on the Development of Ecclesiastical Legal Science

Salt, Smurthwaite, and Smith: The Origins of the Modern Legal Identity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Salt, Smurthwaite, and Smith: The Origins of the Modern Legal Identity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Understanding and motivation for reading in eighteenth-century Finland

Reading skills were part of Christian education in early modern Finland. According to the church law (1686), it was a task of parents to teach their children to read. If they were unable to do it, for example because they were illiterate themselves, they could receive help from their parish. It was important for a Christian to acquaint him/herself with the basics of Christianity by reading the Catechism.
 The ability to read was not sufficient. People were also supposed to understand the text they read. If they did not understand it, they were not motivated to read. Among the understanding strategies memorising was used most frequently. It was based on repetitive reading, which was a common reading strategy in early modern Finland – not least because the amount of books in vernacular was still small. The same texts were read again and again. The strategy is also called intensive reading. Better readers even used observation strategies. They estimated their knowledge and understanding during the reading process.
 According to Deci and Ryan (Motivation, Personality and Development within Embedded Social Contexts: An Overview of Self-Determination Theory, 2012), there are three fundamental psychological needs, which bring not only well-being but also motivation to people. They are competence, autonomy and relationship. In early modern Finland these needs were satisfied in various ways. In general, those who were more familiar with religious speech and reading, as a result of their family background or because of their friends, learnt quickly, made better progress and proved their competence and autonomy in reading. Others, who had less support from their family or community, had poorer religious vocabulary, more difficulties to understand what they read and less motivation to read. They were afraid of the examinations in the Catechism and of the social pressure in such circumstances. They also felt inadequacy in reading.

The Role of the Catholic Church in Facilitating Implementation of Constitutional Guarantees of Cultural Rights During the COVID-19 Pandemic

According to the research thesis presented in this article, the Catholic Church plays a special role in providing direct access to national cultural assets. The article analyses the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland guaranteeing cultural rights in the light of other provisions of the Constitution, including the principle of subsidiarity and the common good, as well as guarantees granted to religious associations. Moreover, the study analyses the existing provisions of specific acts, Concordat and church law, in order to verify the thesis on the role of the Catholic Church as a depositary of national cultural assets. In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of state-run cultural institutions, the Catholic Church allowed direct access to the sacred cultural property owned by the Church, thus facilitating the realization of the cultural rights of citizens of the Republic of Poland.

The New Reform of the Penal Law of the Catholic Church: Resuscitating a Forgotten Pastoral Instrument?

Abstract The new reform of the penal law of the Catholic Church, amending Book VI of the Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church, as well as other recent canon law norms, aims at making sure that local bishops can punish more straightforwardly and with less discretion those conducts which are considered as most harmful for the church as a community. The drafters of this reform have made it clear that, in the past, many believed that penal laws should only exceptionally be applied. Now, however, this area of canon law should actually be considered one more instrument of pastoral governance. Although the Vatican has underlined that the new Book VI will be useful in the fight against the crime of sex abuse by clergy, this reform partly codifies norms and punitive mechanisms which had been progressively introduced and had already been in place, sometimes for decades.

Православное церковное право в правовой системе России: историко-правовой аспект

The relationship between the church and the secular law is one of the most complicated matters of law theory. The present research featured the law of the Russian Church and its structure with its internal and external church law. The article introduces the opinions of pre-revolutionary and contemporary authors, as well as a historical analysis of the main normative acts of the Russian Church that regulate its internal structure. The church law was defined as a special legal system, similar to public law. Historically speaking, the core of the Russian church law remained unaffected by the genesis of the state and legal structure, the changes in the system of church authorities, and the development of state-confessional relations. The central core of the church law still maintains the form of the rules of the apostles, the Ecumenical and Local Councils, and Holy Fathers.

Scandal of the Church, Prison of the Soul

This article explores “bad custom” (prava consuetudo) in Latin-Christian church law of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Drawing chiefly on papal decretal letters and the statutes of local and regional synods, it discusses the theoretical debates over bad custom, how customs came to be regarded as evil, and what prava consuetudo meant in practice. While many usages were labeled “bad,” especially troubling were those that threatened clerical status by implying lay claims to authority in the church, blurring the distinction between laity and clergy, or humiliating the professed religious. The article also asks whether legal concerns over such collective behavior that brought scandal upon the church may have been provoked by a moral discourse over prava consuetudo as sinful conduct endangering the individual soul.

Arvind Thomas:Piers Plowman and the Reinvention of Church Law in the Late Middle Ages. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019; pp. xiv + 267.

Arvind Thomas<scp>:</scp>Piers Plowman and the Reinvention of Church Law in the Late Middle Ages. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019; pp. xiv + 267.

Church Laws and Ecumenism: A New Path for Christian Unity edited by Norman Doe, Routledge, Abingdon, UK, 2021, pp. xvi + 305, £120.00, hbk

Church Laws and Ecumenism: A New Path for Christian Unity edited by Norman Doe, Routledge, Abingdon, UK, 2021, pp. xvi + 305, £120.00, hbk

Suicide and Assisted Suicide in Criminal Law and Canon Law

The paper deals with the issue of suicide and assisted suicide, especially its ethical, criminal law and canon law evaluation. In the first chapter, the author explains what needs to be perceived under these terms and how they differ from euthanasia, offers current statistics on suicides in the Slovak Republic and discusses basic types of suicides, evaluates the issue of the right to life from an ethical point of view and criticizes the concept of the “right to death”. He concludes that the possible legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia would have widespread negative consequences. The second chapter of the paper is based on the constitutional guarantees of the right to life, which is also supported by the international obligations of the Slovak Republic in this area. Subsequently, it offers a criminal analysis of suicide and assisted suicide in the Slovak legal system. In the last, third chapter, the author finally discusses the issue from the perspective of the doctrine, law and practice of the Catholic Church.

Existential fundamentals of church law

Church law is often identified with canon law, just as the spirit is taken for the soul. In this regard, scientific discussions are taking place, as a result of which there is a search, research interests. We will begin with an analysis of two problems: 1) the categories of dialectics, which fix the degree of unity and difference between scientific concepts and 2) the

Clergy Participation in Elections, Political Parties and Government from the Perspective of Secular and Church Law

This article presents a comparative analysis of solving the issue of Orthodox clergy's participation in elections, political parties and public bodies previously and in modern times from the standpoint of secular and church law. At different stages of history, there were both times when the clergy took active part in the legislative bodies of our country and abstained from it. The relevance of this question is conditioned by the following fact: while the Church is unified and its establishments are inviolable, there are historically many states of many types, and the relations between them should always be adjusted specifically to each case. There is no general theoretical formula that would suit them all. The clergy participated in political parties, elections and the State Duma before the revolution, but the results of this participation were very mixed. In the post-Soviet years, after the constitutional crisis of October 1993, the Church made the only right decision. At an expanded session on October 8, 1993, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church adopted a resolution that instructed clergy to refrain from participating in the elections to the Federal Assembly as candidates for deputy, and to abstain from membership in political parties under the penalty of prosecution. As for the Church law, the canons of the Orthodox Church do not permit clergymen to hold secular positions of authority. This is confirmed by the Apostolic Rules and decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Adopted in 2000 by the Jubilee Council of Bishops, “The Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church” reflected the official position of the Moscow Patriarchate in its relations with the state and secular society . The Fundamentals formulate a concept of the state-church relations, the key concept of which is “the cooperation between state and church”. However, by prohibiting the clergy to participate in government bodies, the Church emphasizes its another resource: the participation of Orthodox laymen in the activities of government bodies and parties. The contemporary challenges include an enormous increase in the influence of the Internet, mass media, the ethical problems of modern technology, the lack of an Orthodox component in educational programs — they are only a few problems and challenges to the dialogue between church and state.

Relevance of the Reformed Church Polity Principles: An Analysis of the Constitution of the Reformed Church of East Africa (RCEA)

This paper drawing to the foundations of both Presbyterian and Reformed church polity principles, evaluates the constitution of the Reformed Church in East Africa providing a proposed church order for the future of RCEA. The distinctiveness of church law is that it must also derive from the Bible what entails Christ’s will for His church and then implement it for contemporary times (Coertzen, 1998, p. 7). In Church and Order, A Reformed Perspective the principles of Reformed Church law and church government are exclusively and extensively treated as well as the historical development of Reformed church government and the practice of the subject as part of the theological curriculum.Presbyterianism negates that all church power vests in the clergy: that the apostolic office is perpetual, and that each individual Christian congregation is independent. It is upon this principle that RCEA was born having adopted the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) in 1963 prompted by the government’s requirement to be registered as an organization. However, whether the Reformed Church in East Africa (RCEA) is Reformed or Presbyterian in its government is a question to be discerned.

Catholic Church Law: Challenges by Secular Law and Religious Pluralism

Abstract This article examines the challenges which arise for Catholic canon law from the collision with secular law and the law of other religious communities. It begins by looking at the conditions provided by canon law itself in order to meet these challenges. Subsequently it addresses the specific challenges posed by secular law, especially human rights, and its general influence. Finally, it discusses the challenges posed by religious pluralism, first clarifying the church’s legal relationship with other religious communities and then addressing the very specific question of why church law also applies to non-members in certain cases. The conclusion is that catholic canon law is better equipped to face the current challenges than other religious laws. Nevertheless, there are fruitful tensions and inevitable breaks.

What Does Mary-Anne Elizabeth Plaatjies-Van Huffel Have to Say to Silent Partners of the Reformed World?

This article is a contribution to the Festschrift in honour of the late Mary-Anne Elizabeth Plaatjies-Van Huffel. The author is mindful of the sensitive nature of such writing, especially for her close and extended family members. However, all would agree that though she passed away on 19 May 2020, she still has something to say to women as silent partners. As part of commemorating her life, talents, achievements and contributions, this article specifically addresses the following question: What does Plaatjies-Van Huffel have to say to women who aspire to serve as leaders in the patriarchal Reformed world? I will defend in due course the notion that though she is deceased, she continues to speak. In addressing the question, this article is divided into four parts. The first part recounts her life with a special focus on her education and pastoral academic career. The second part identifies her sources for the practice of church law and church government. The third part comments on her ecclesial political duties in the patriarchal Reformed world, while the fourth part examines her understanding of the hermeneutical causes of challenges facing Christian women, particularly in their attempt to respond to their calling to lead the liberated and unliberated churches and society. The concluding part draws some of her important messages to women who aspire to serve as leaders in the patriarchal Reformed world, where patriarchy is defined as a social system that promotes hierarchies and awards economic, political, and social power to one group over others.

“Piers Plowman” and the Reinvention of Church Law in the Late Middle Ages

“Piers Plowman” and the Reinvention of Church Law in the Late Middle Ages