NEWSLETTER: No. 138 JUNE 2004
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New Statutes for ICEL
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Promulgation and Liturgical Norms
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Mass Offerings
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Five Instances: Four of them Rotal
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Cultural Differences: Marriage in India
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Genera! Differences: Marriage in Nigeria
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British and Irish Tribunal Statistics: 2002
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Global Statistics for the Year 2001
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Cardinal Gasparri’s Letter Perlegisti
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New Civil Law on Marriage in Norway
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Canon Law Society Conference: May 2004
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The Extraordinary Form of Marriage (Canon 1116)
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The Lyndwood Lecture 2005
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Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland Conferences
2005 and 2006
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Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand
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Canon Law Society of America: Change of Address
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Review:
Leges Ecclesiae, Bishop John Jukes
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Review:
Undoing the I do, Fr James Webb
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Code of Canon Law Annotated: Second Edition
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Death of Fr Michael Lynch
I. New Statutes for ICEL:
Comment: Mgr Gordon Read
II. New Statutes of the
International Commission on English in the Liturgy (Text)
III. Promulgation and
Liturgical Norms
IV. Mass offerings [Fr Ian
Waters]
V. Comment on Mass
Offerings and Taxation [Mgr. Gordon Read]
VI. Points made by Fr Ian
Waters on Document No.V
VII. The Effects of Alcohol
and Sedative Hypnotic-Anxiolytic Drugs Intoxication On Marital Consent: A Case
Study
VIII. Cultural Elements:
Marriage in India
IX. Cultural Elements:
Marriage in Nigeria...
X. British and Irish
Tribunal Statistics
XI. Global Tribunal
Statistics from The Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2001
XII. Commentary on Cardinal
Gasparii’s Letter Perlisti [Dr Edward Peters]
XIII. Cardinal Gasparri’s
Letter Perlegisti
XIV. A Reflection on a
Development in the Civil Law on marriage in Norway
XV. Letter from Apostolic
Nunciature to Rev.Fr.John Coimeely, President of the CLSGBI
XVI. The Extraordinary Form
and the Minister of the Celebration of Marriage according to the Latin and
Oriental Code
XVII. Leges Ecclesiae
[Review: Bp. John Jukes, OFM.Conv]
XVIII. Undoing the “I do”.
The Sacrament of Marriage and the Annulment Process [Fr James Webb]
XIX. Obituary: Fr Michael
Lynch [Fr James O’Kane]
In 1999 Cardinal Medina Estevez,
the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments, ordered a revision of the statutes of The International Commission
on English in the Liturgy. Subsequently the Instruction Liturgiam Authenticam
set out precise guidelines both for translation of the Liturgy, and for such
Commissions. English speaking Bishops’ Conferences had originally established
ICEL in 1963, when the use of the vernacular was authorised by Vatican II, in
order to prepare common texts for use in member countries. The Congregation for
Divine Worship has now approved the new statutes, which establish ICEL as a
mixed commission, in accordance with the provisions of Liturgiam Authenticam.
A Comment has been prepared on the New Statutes by Monsignor Gordon Read
(Document No.I). However, since this topic and the developing discussions about
the translation of the liturgy will become a matter of great interest, not only
to liturgists but also for more specialised reasons to Canonists, the whole of
the statutes are reproduced at Document No. II. The translation is taken from
Origins 13 November 2003, Vol.33, No.23, pp.393-399.
Recently, there has been a
certain amount of discussion, particularly over the internet about the status of
the Provisions contained in the revised Third Typical Edition of the Roman
Missal. Some have argued that these came into effect immediately the official
Latin text was promulgated. Others suggest that they bind, in so far as any
liturgical norms bind, only once vernacular editions have been published for
each country. Behind this specific question lie wider issues about what
promulgation means, and the acceptance of law by the community. Some comments
relevant to promulgation have been prepared in Document No. III by Monsignor
Gordon Read.
In the Proceedings of the
Thirty-Sixth Annual Conference (2002) of the Canon Law Society of Australia and
New Zealand, there is a paper given by Father Ian Waters, the Judicial Vicar of
the Melbourne Tribunal, on Mass Offerings. This paper is reproduced at Document
No.
IV. Father Waters questions
whether, at least in the Australian context, Mass offerings are liable to income
tax. He argues that they should be seen as a personal gift to the priest, and
therefore not liable to taxation. Of course, there are two perspectives here:
how Mass offerings are viewed by Canon Law? And how are they viewed by Civil
Law?
Monsignor Gordon Read comments on
the points raised by Father Waters; and includes certain canonical elements,
some of which, true, are related to local legislation. However, Monsignor Read
then goes on to consider the civil law about taxation (for England, Wales and
Scotland). (See Document No.V). Father Waters was asked to comment on Monsignor
Read’s piece, and his views are reproduced at Document No. VI.
A case was put before the Milan
Tribunal and judged in November 1989. At that stage three grounds were alleged:
Canon 1095, no.1, Canon 1095, no.2, and simulation under Canon 1101 §2. All the
grounds were in the Petitioner. The whole case turned on the intoxicating
effects of alcohol and sedative-hypnotic-anxiolytic drugs upon the giving
of matrimonial consent. The decision was negative. An appeal was directed to the
Rota and a decision coram Funghini was given in December 1991 confirming
the negative decisions. Subsequently a request was made for a further Rotal
hearing on the basis of new and further evidence being available. This request
was agreed by a turnus of which the Ponens was Mgr.Faltin on 24 February
1993. The decision coram Faltin was negative on the grounds under
Canon 1095, n. 1;
but affirmative on the grounds of
the grave lack of due discretion in the Petitioner (Canon 1095, n.2); and the
third ground on an intention against the sacrament (Canon 1086 §2) not being
proposed. This decision was given on 14 December 1994. Hence there had been
three negative decisions in I Instance; three negative decisions in II Instance.
By then it was quite clear that the case hinged upon whether the Petitioner was
so affected with alcohol and barbiturates as to be either unable to give consent
at all or upon the heading of grave lack of due discretion. There is a
fascinating piece of argument on “how drunk the Petitioner was” (at his marriage
in 1976, i.e. eighteen years previously!). Following the decision coram
Faltin on 14 December 1994, there was an appeal to see whether a further
Instance would confirm or reject the Faltin decision. This hearing was coram
Jarawan given on 24 April 1996; and the rather querulously worded decision was
in the negative on all the grounds. However, the ever battling Advocate/Proxy
for the Petitioner made a request for a further hearing on the basis that there
was new and serious evidence which should have been aired in III Instance. In a
hearing coram Caberletti on 28 November 1997, it was decided that a
further Instance would be permitted; and this Instance was heard by the same
turnus coram Caberletti on 26 February 1999; with affirmative decisions
on both grounds. This eleven year saga has been written up and analysed by
professor Augustine Mendonça. This article appeared in Studia Canonica
Vol.35/2001, pp.293-356. Appreciation and thanks are paid to Professor Mendonça
and to Studia Canonica for permission to reproduce this masterpiece, indicating
both the expertise of Canon Law and the long suffering patience of the parties.
(See Document No VII). For the sake of brevity, a number of the Latin footnotes
have been removed, though preserving the references. The actual Latin of these
footnotes can be found in the original Studia Canonica, Vol.35, 2001,
pp.293-356.
Two Rotal Sentences are of
interest coram De Lanversin. They appeared in Studia Canonica (No.36,
2002, pp.497-516; and pp.517-540). The former case concerned a marriage which
had taken place in the Diocese of Batna in India. After several hearings the
case was finally dealt with by a turn us of which Monsignor De Lanversin was the
Ponens in a sentence dated 27 June 1997. The in jure Section of the
Decision gives great attention to the matter of “so-called customary marriage”.
The text of what follows was translated (and reproduced with permission) by
Professor Augustine Mendonça (from RRT Decis.88(1996), pp.520-531). The whole is
reproduced with permission of Studia Canonica and Professor Mendonça (Document
No.VIII).
The second Sentence written by
Monsignor De Lanversin as the Ponens concerns customary marriage in Nigeria.
This appeared in RRT Decis.88 (1996), pp.520-53 I). (See Document No.IX). The
material in Document No.JX was translated by Father Augustine Mendonça; and the
whole is reproduced in CLSN by permission of Professor Mendonça and Studia
Canonica.
Judicial Vicars will know that in
January the Editor of CLSN seeks from them a copy of pages 5 and 6 of the
Statistical Questionnaire required by the Secretariat of State for every
diocese. Pages 5 and 6 deal with the movement (or non-movement) of Tribunal
cases. When these statistics for the dioceses in England and Wales and for the
Tribunals of Scotland and the four Regional Tribunals in Ireland have been
gathered, they are processed by Father Peter Kravos of Leeds. These statistics
are to be found at Document No.X. Father Kravos has prepared a Commentary on the
figures.
The annual statistical returns
are sent to the Secretariat of State by each diocese. These are collated and
processed by the Statistical Office of the Secretariat of State and are then
published in the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae which comes out each
year. The most recent publication of these global statistics is the volume for
2001. Father Kravos has also provided a Commentary on these statistics. It is
interesting to note that there has been a drop in cases introduced in the United
States of America and in Canada, and there is a slight increase in cases
introduced in Europe; with Italy having the lion’s share of cases. These figures
are reproduced at Document No. XI.
A couple of weeks after Cardinal
Gasparri received his mandate to begin work on the Revision of Canon Law, he
wrote to Universities around the world telling them about the proposed Revision.
The letter itself is reproduced at Document No. XIII. There is also a short
Commentary on the letter written by Doctor Edward Peters of The Institute for
Pastoral Theology at the Ave Maria University, Lypsilanti, Missouri (Document
no. XII).
There has been a change in the
civil law in Norway regarding marriage. It appears that those who wish to marry
in Norway must state in writing before the marriage that they recognise the
right of their spouses to divorce. The Judicial Vicar of Oslo, Father Claes
Tandé has raised this mailer on the internet; Mr Paul Robbins has made a comment
on the situation at Document No.XIV.
A message was received from the
Apostolic Nuncio Conference passing on the greetings and apostolic blessing of
the Holy Father on the occasion of the Conference at Cardiff in May 2004. (See
Document No. XV).
A thesis has been written by
Father Andrej Saje, a priest ordained for the Archdiocese of Ljubljana in 1992.
Father Andrej went to the Gregorian University after working for a number of
years in his own diocese; and he has written a doctoral thesis The Extraordinary
Form and the Minister of the Celebration of Marriage According to the Latin and
Oriental Codes. There is a description of the work at Document No. XVI.
The 2005 Lyndwood Lecture will be
given by Bishop John McAreavey on Monday 15 November 2005, 6 for 6.30 pm in the
Throne Room of Archbishops House, Westminster, London SW The title is: “Mixed
Marriages: Conversations in Canon Law, Ecumenism and Pastoral Practice”.
The Conference for 2005 will be
held at the Dean Park Hotel, Renfrew, Scotland , between 16 and 20 May 2005. The
Conference for the
Following year will be held in
Ireland, probably in Belfast, between 15 and 19 May 2006.
The 38 Annual Conference of the
CLSANZ will be held between 13 and 19 September 2004 at the Mercure Resort,
Surfers Paradise, Gold
Coast, Queensland, Australia. It
is understood that this resort is situated in five acres of tropical garden
only minutes from the heart of Surfers Paradise. “Endless surf beaches are
virtually at your doorstep, two minutes walk from the hotel”. Information about
the Conference can be obtained from the Canon Law Society, PU Box 6644,
Parramatta, New South Wales 2150, Australia. (Fax: +61 1 9683 6467).
The new offices of the Canon Law
Society of America are located at 108 North Payne Street, Suite C, Alexandria,
Virginia, 22314-
2906, USA.
Telephone:(703) 739 2560. Fax: (703) 739 2562
A review on volumes VIII and IX
of Leges Ecclesiae has been prepared by Bishop John Jukes. The celebratory work
of Father Xaverius Ochoa was started in 1966. The collection in Leges Ecclesiae
was not simply the text of the great foundational legislative documents of the
Universal Church usually found in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis but contains
also an immense collection of other papal and curial documents that testify to
the life of the Church especially in the field of legislation and jurisprudence.
On the death of Father Ochoa, this immense work was continued by Father Andrés
Gutierrez, CMF. Volumes 8 and 9 have now appeared and Bishop Jukes has prepared
a review at Document No.XVII.
This little book is written for
lay pastoral associates. It is designed to give such lay pastoral associates the
background knowledge “to enable them to support participants in nullity cases”.
The initial emphasis of the book is pastoral — to encourage active and well
informed support through the annulment process. This aim — in the opinion of the
reviewer — is well achieved. But its canonical expertise does not match up.
Father James Webb reviews the book at Document No. XVIII.
The first edition of the Code of
Canon Law: Annotated: Second Edition from Wilson and Lafleur, Montreal was
published in 1993, ten years after the publication of the New Code. It has had
five printings and 9500 copies have been sold. A revised edition is now offered.
The editor is again Ernest Caparros with others. To quote from the publicity
material: “Amongst the enrichments introduced in the second edition, we can
mention the modifications introduced in Canons 750 and 1372 by the M.P. Ad
tuendam fidetm of May 18, 1998; the inclusion in Appendix I of the new
Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici gregis, of February 22, 1996;
and the new interpretations issued by the Pontifical Council for Legislative
Texts in Appendix II. In addition, the authors of the commentaries have
introduced a good
number of nuances and
improvements in their commentaries and we have tried to insert references to the
new canonical and magisterial documents emanating from the Holy See”.
The new edition may be obtained
from Wilson & Lafleur at 40 Notre Dame Street, Montreal, P de Q, Canada H2Y 1B9.
The price is $115
plus 8% shipping. (Credit cards
are accepted).
Most members will be aware of the
sudden and tragic death of Fr Michael Lynch of the Diocese of Galloway. He was a
long standing member of the Society. His obituary can be found at Document No.
XIX.
Warm regards are conveyed to
Canon Terry Walsh of the Diocese of Portsmouth and a former tireless Judicial
Vicar (Officialis, then) on celebrating his Golden Jubilee. The early Woodhall
Conferences would never have been the same without him. Ad multos annos!
