NAIROBI, Kenya, AUG. 30, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is the text of an address given Tuesday by Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, at the convention of the Canon Law Society of Kenya.
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CANON LAW AT THE SERVICE OF JUSTICE AND FREEDOM IN THE CHURCH AS THE PEOPLE OF GOD
Introduction
First of all, I thank His Lordship Bishop Philip Sulumeti of the Diocese of Kakamega for his gracious introduction. At the same time, I thank Bishop Dominic Kimengich of the Diocese of Lodwar for his kind words. I am grateful, too, to the Apostolic Nunciature for its encouragement of my first visit to Kenya and for the presence of Monsignor Javier Herrera Corona, Chargé d’affaires. I wish also to thank Father Alphonse Díaz, Executive Secretary of the Canon Law Society of Kenya, for the invitation to address the annual convention of the Society. At the same time, I am deeply grateful to all who have made my visit with you possible and who have received me so warmly. It is my hope that my time with you will confirm you in your communion with the Apostolic See and offer you encouragement and help in your application of the Church’s universal discipline in your noble and beloved nation.
In addressing the service which canon law provides to the Church, I place my reflections within the context of the present situation of the Church in a totally secularized culture and the response of the Church to the culture of our time.[i] The response is a new evangelization. It is my desire to give particular attention to the state of the Church’s canonical discipline and its irreplaceable role in the work of the new evangelization. While the presentation addresses a number of particular phenomena in the recent history of the Church, it seeks to interpret those phenomena within the perspective of the organic life of the Church, handed down to us, in an unbroken line, from Our Lord’s consecration and commissioning of Saint Peter and, with him, of the College of the Apostles. While the question which I am addressing pertains to the life of the universal Church, I trust that its application to the life of the Church in the Kenya will be sufficiently evident.
The Call to the New Evangelization in the Magisterium of Blessed Pope John Paul II
The pontificate of Blessed Pope John Paul II may be rightly described as a tireless call to recognize the Church’s challenge to be faithful to her divinely-given mission in a totally secularized society and to respond to the challenge by means of a new evangelization. A new evangelization is teaching the faith through preaching, catechesis and all forms of Catholic education; celebrating the faith in the Sacraments and in their extension through prayer and devotion, and living the faith through the practice of the virtues, all as if for the first time, that is, with the engagement and energy of the first disciples and of the first missionaries to our native place.
In his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, “On the Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World,” Blessed Pope John Paul II described the contemporary situation of the Church in the world with these words:
Whole countries and nations where religion and the Christian life were formerly flourishing and capable of fostering a viable and working community of faith, are now put to a hard test, and in some cases, are even undergoing a radical transformation, as a result of a constant spreading of an indifference to religion, of secularism and atheism. This particularly concerns countries and nations of the so-called First World, in which economic well-being and consumerism, even if coexistent with a tragic situation of poverty and misery, inspires and sustains a life lived “as if God did not exist”. This indifference to religion and the practice of religion devoid of true meaning in the face of life’s very serious problems, are not less worrying and upsetting when compared with declared atheism.[ii]
To remedy the situation, the saintly Pontiff observed, “a mending of the Christian fabric of society is urgently needed in all parts of the world.”[iii] He hastened to add that, if the remedy is to be achieved, the Church herself must be evangelized anew. Fundamental to understanding the radical secularization of our culture is to understand also how much the secularization has entered into the life of the Church Herself. In the words of Pope John Paul II, “[b]ut for this [the mending of the Christian fabric of society] to come about what is needed is to first remake the Christian fabric of the ecclesial community itself present in these countries and nations.”[iv]
The Roman Pontiff, therefore, called upon the lay faithful to fulfill their particular responsibility, that is, “to testify how the Christian faith constitutes the only fully valid response – consciously perceived and stated by all in varying degrees – to the problems and hopes that life poses to every person and society.”[v] Making more specific the call, he clarified that the fulfillment of the responsibility of the lay faithful requires that they “know how to overcome in themselves the separation of the Gospel from life, to take up again in their daily activities in family, work and society, an integrated approach to life that is fully brought about by the inspiration and strength of the Gospel.”[vi]
Before the challenges of living the Catholic faith in our time, Pope John Paul II recalled to our minds the urgency of Christ’s mandate given to the first disciples and given, no less, to missionaries down the Christian centuries and to us today. He declared:
Certainly the command of Jesus: “Go and preach the Gospel” always maintains its vital value and its ever-pressing obligation. Nevertheless, the present situation, not only of the world but also of many parts of the Church, absolutely demands that the word of Christ receive a more ready and generous obedience. Every disciple is personally called by name; no disciple can withhold making a response: “Woe to me, if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16).[vii]
The obedience which is fundamental and essential to the new evangelization is also a virtue acquired with great difficulty in a culture which exalts individualism and questions all authority, except the self. Yet, it is indispensable if the Gospel is to be taught and lived in our time. We must take example from the first disciples, from the first missionaries to our homeland, and from the host of saints and blesseds who gave themselves completely to Christ, calling upon the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit to purify themselves of any rebellion before God’s will and to strengthen them to do God’s will in all things.
Pope John Paul II issued the same call to a new evangelization to the faithful in the other states of life in the Church. In the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, “On the Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day,” writing about the spiritual gift of the priest for “the universal mission of salvation to the end of the earth,” he observed:
Today in particular, the pressing pastoral task of the new evangelization calls for the involvement of the entire People of God, and requires a new fervour, new methods and a new expression for the announcing and witnessing of the Gospel. This task demands priests who are deeply and fully immersed in the mystery of Christ and capable of embodying a new style of pastoral life, marked by a profound communion with the Pope, the Bishops and other priests, and a fruitful cooperation with the lay faithful, always respecting and fostering the different roles, charisms and ministries prese
nt within the ecclesial community.[viii]
According to the teaching of Pope John Paul II, the seminarian preparing to present himself for ordination to the priesthood and the exercise of the priestly office, today, must be equipped for and engaged in the remaking of “the Christian fabric of the ecclesial community,”[ix] in fidelity to the Church’s apostolic nature, sustained in organic unity, down the Christian centuries from the Resurrection, Ascension and Descent of the Holy Spirit. Before the forces of secularization which dominate society and culture, the faithful need the spiritual ministration of priests who recognize the gravity of the situation and are prepared to address it steadfastly with apostolic zeal, with fervent prayer, especially prayer before the Blessed Sacrament; with sound teaching, and with obedience to the Holy Father and the Bishops in communion with him.
In a similar fashion, in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, “On the Consecrated Life and Its Mission in the Church and in the World,” Pope John Paul II emphasized the new evangelization as the particular form, in our time, of the universal charity which is the characteristic mark of the state of life of consecrated persons. He declared:
Today, among the possible works of charity, certainly the one which in a special way shows the world this love “to the end” is the fervent proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who do not yet know him, to those who have forgotten him, and the poor in a preferential way.[x]
Consecrated persons, because of their identification with Christ the Poor, the Chaste and the Obedient, both by their consecration itself and through their apostolate – including the apostolate of prayer and penance of those who are monastic or contemplative religious – , carry out an essential service in the Church in every age and, in a special way, in our time. They call the faithful and all persons of good will to Christ, to contemplate Christ and the Gospel virtues, to love Christ and to serve Him.
Later on in Vita Consecrata, Blessed Pope John Paul II articulated the service to a new evangelization, given by consecrated persons, with these words:
The new evangelization, like that of all times, will be effective if it proclaims from the rooftops what it has first lived in intimacy with the Lord. It calls for strong personalities, inspired by saintly fervour. The new evangelization demands that consecrated persons have a thorough awareness of the theological significance of the challenges of our time. Those challenges must be weighed with careful joint discernment, with a view to renewing the mission. Courage in proclaiming the Lord Jesus must be accompanied by trust in Providence, which is at work in the world and which “orders everything, even human differences, for the great good of the Church.” … In every place and circumstance, consecrated persons should be zealous heralds of Jesus Christ, ready to respond with the words of the Gospel to the questions posed today by the anxieties and urgent needs of the human heart.[xi]
Given the materialism, individualism and relativism characteristic of a secularized society, the faithful witness of the consecrated life to the poverty, chastity and obedience of Christ is more critically needed in our time than ever.
An extraordinary synthesis of the teaching of Pope John Paul II on the new evangelization is found in his Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, “At the Close of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.” In the face of the grave situation of the world today, we are, the saintly Pontiff reminded us, like the first disciples who, after hearing Saint Peter’s Pentecost discourse, asked him and the other Apostles: “Brethren, what shall we do?”[xii] Even as the first disciples faced a pagan world which had not even heard of our Lord Jesus Christ, so we, too, face a culture which is forgetful of God and hostile to His Law written upon every human heart.
Before the great challenge of our time, Pope John Paul II cautioned us that we will not save ourselves and our world by discovering “some magic formula” or by “inventing a new programme.”[xiii] In unmistakable terms, he declared:
No, we shall not be saved by a formula but by a Person, and the assurance which he gives us: I am with you.[xiv]
He reminded us that the programme by which we are to address effectively the great spiritual challenges of our time is, in the end, Jesus Christ alive for us in the Church. He explained:
The programme already exists: it is the plan found in the Gospel and in the living Tradition, it is the same as ever. Ultimately, it has its center in Christ himself, who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in him we may live the life of the Trinity, and with him transform history until its fulfillment in the heavenly Jerusalem. This is a program which does not change with shifts of times and cultures, even though it takes account of time and culture for the sake of true dialogue and effective communication.[xv]
In short, the program leading to freedom and happiness is, for each of us, holiness of life, in accord with our state in life.
Pope John Paul II, in fact, cast the entire pastoral plan for the Church in terms of holiness. He explained himself thus:
In fact, to place pastoral planning under the heading of holiness is a choice filled with consequences. It implies the conviction that, since Baptism is a true entry into the holiness of God through incorporation into Christ and the indwelling of his Spirit, it would be a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethics and a shallow religiosity. To ask catechumens: “Do you wish to receive Baptism?” means at the same time to ask them: “Do you wish to become holy?” It means to set before them the radical nature of the Sermon on the Mount: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).[xvi]
Pope John Paul II continued, making reference to the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, by reminding us that “this ideal of perfection must not be misunderstood as if it involved some kind of extraordinary existence, possible only for a few ‘uncommon heroes’ of holiness.”[xvii]
Pope John Paul II taught us the extraordinary nature of our ordinary life, because it is lived in Christ and, therefore, produces in us the incomparable beauty of holiness. He declared:
The ways of holiness are many, according to the vocation of each individual. I thank the Lord that in these years he has enabled me to beatify and canonize a large number of Christians, and among them many lay people who attained holiness in the most ordinary circumstances of life. The time has come to re-propose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of ordinary Christian living: the whole life of the Christian community and of Christian families must lead in this direction.[xviii]
Seeing in us the daily conversion of life by which we strive to meet the high standard of holiness, the “high standard of ordinary Christian living,” our brothers and sisters will discover the great mystery of their own ordinary life in which God daily showers upon them His ceaseless and immeasurable love, calling them to holiness of life in Christ, His only-begotten Son. Clearly, the “mending of the Christian fabric of society” can only come about by the remaking of “the Christian fabric of the ecclesial community,” beginning with the individual in his family, at home.[xix]
The New Evangelization and the Hermeneutic of Continuity
For the Church to remake her own fabric requires that she acknowledge a rupture in her life caused by the failure to see the organic nature of her life, received from Christ, faithfully down the centuries, the gift of the Holy Spirit for the evangelization of the world. The rup
ture is embodied in the perception that everything which had happened in the Church after the time of the first disciples was a betrayal and that the Church must, therefore, be created ex novo by somehow returning to the life of the primitive ecclesial community, viewed, according to this way of thinking, in a naïve manner which takes no account of the grave internal struggles which the Church experienced from the beginning and about which Saint Luke in the Acts of the Apostles and Saints Paul, John, Peter and James in their letters give ample testimony.
Pope Benedict XVI reflected at length upon the rupture in his first Christmas address to the Roman Curia, in December of 2005, which also marked the fortieth anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. He described a struggle between two interpretations of the Council, the “hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture,” and the “hermeneutic of reform.”[xx] Without entering into a thorough analysis of his discussion of the struggle between the two hermeneutics, which would certainly be illuminating for the subject of our reflection but which time does not permit me to undertake, suffice it to say that the hermeneutic of rupture “risks ending in a split between the pre-conciliar Church and the post-conciliar Church” and, thereby, justifies an interpretation of the Council not based upon the texts approved by the Council Fathers but upon what is called “the true spirit of the Council,” which is discovered “in the impulses toward the new that are contained in the texts.”[xxi]
The fruit of the “hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture” is described by Pope Benedict XVI in these words:
The nature of a Council as such is therefore basically misunderstood. In this way, it is considered as a sort of constituent that eliminates an old constitution and creates a new one. However, the Constituent Assembly needs a mandatory and then confirmation by the mandatory, in other words, the people the constitution must serve. The Fathers had no such mandate and no one had ever given them one; nor could anyone have given them one because the essential constitution of the Church comes from the Lord and was given to us so that we might attain eternal life and, starting from this perspective, be able to illuminate life in time and time itself. [xxii]
His analysis points to the need of a new evangelization which centers upon the gift of Christ’s life given to us, as individuals and as a community, in the Church, by which we are to live and thus to serve our neighbor.
The State of Canon Law in the Church
After I began my studies of Canon Law in September of 1980, I soon learned how much the Church’s discipline was disdained by her priests, in general. When I answered the question of a brother priest regarding my area of study, the fairly consistently reaction was expressed in words like these: “I thought that the Church had done away with that,” and “What a waste of your time.” The usual reaction, in fact, reflected a general attitude in the Church toward her canonical discipline, an attitude inspired by the hermeneutic of discontinuity, by that sense that “a day of sunlight” had arrived in the Church, in contrast to the darkness of what had gone before.[xxiii] Institutes of the Church’s law, which, in her wisdom, she had developed down the Christian centuries, were set aside without consideration of their organic relationship to the life of the Church or of the chaos which would necessarily result from their neglect or abandonment.
The “hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture,” which has tried to highjack the renewal mandated by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, is marked by a pervasively antinomian culture, epitomized by the Paris student riots of 1968, and has had a particularly devastating effect on the Church’s discipline. It is profoundly sad to note, for instance, how the failure of knowledge and application of the canon law, which was indeed still in force, contributed significantly to the scandal of the sexual abuse of minors by the clergy in our some parts of the world.
Indeed, in the United States of America, my homeland, in which the scandal has been great, it is often asserted that it was caused by the absence of a proper discipline in the Church to deal justly with such abhorrent situations. In the typical approach of the hermeneutic of discontinuity, it is assumed that the Church lacked the proper canonical discipline with which to investigate such crimes and sanction them. The truth of the matter is that the Church had dealt with such crimes in the past, which should come as a surprise to no one, and that she had in place a carefully articulated process by which to investigate accusations, with full respect for the rights of all parties involved, including the protection of potential victims during the time of the investigation; to reach a just decision regarding their truth, and to apply the appropriate sanction. The discipline in place was not followed because it was not known and, in fact, was presumed not to exist.
In his annual addresses to the Roman Rota, from 1969 to 1973, the Servant of God Pope Paul VI repeatedly confronted the loss of respect for the irreplaceable, if also humble, service of canon law in safeguarding and fostering our life in Christ in the Church. His repeated appeals for a new appreciation of the Church’s discipline are an indication of the gravity of the weakened situation of canon law, at the time. Confronting a general opinion that somehow the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council had repudiated the service of Canon Law, he declared:
On the contrary the Council not only does not repudiate canon law, the norm that spells out the duties and defends the rights of the members of the Church, but wishes and desires it as a consequence of the power bequeathed by Christ to his Church, as a necessity of its social and visible nature, its communitarian and hierarchical nature, as the guide of religious life and of Christian perfection, and as the juridical safeguard of liberty itself.[xxiv]
In another address to the Roman Rota, he confronted the false dichotomy between canon law and freedom in the Church, observing that canon law is not opposed to freedom but serves “what is needed to safeguard the common good – including the basic good of exercising freedom – which only a well-ordered social order can adequately guarantee.”[xxv]
The years of a lack of knowledge of the Church’s discipline and even of a presumption that such discipline was no longer fitting to the nature of the Church indeed reaped gravely harmful fruits in the Church. For example, I think of the pervasive violation of the liturgical law of the Church, of the revolution in catechesis which often rendered the teaching of the faith vacuous and confused, if not erroneous; of the breakdown of the discipline of priestly formation and priestly life, of the abandonment of the essential elements of religious life and the devastating loss of fundamental direction in many congregations of religious Sisters, Brothers and priests; of the loss of the identity of charitable, educational and healthcare institutions bearing the name of Catholic; and the failure of respect for the nature of marriage and the time-proven process for judging claims of nullity of marriage in ecclesiastical tribunals.
Regarding the last example, the concern about the breakdown of canonical discipline in the Church’s matrimonial tribunals is not simply a technical legal concern but, above all, a concern for the sanctity itself of marriage, the first cell of the life of the Church and society, which must be respected, above all else, in judging a cause of matrimonial nullity, and which is the reason why, in the Church’s procedural discipline, marriage must always enjoy the favor of the law.[xxvi] It is also a concern for the scandal caused in the wider
society, when the Church, which is to be the speculum iustitiae for all legal orders, treats claims of nullity of marriage without due respect for the nature of marriage itself and for the time-tested process for arriving at the truth regarding such claims.
A frequent manifestation of the confusion and error regarding the irreplaceable role of canon law in the life of the Church has been the claim that the Church’s discipline is, somehow, in opposition to her pastoral care of the faithful. Pope John Paul II confronted the false opposition between Church discipline and her pastoral care in his annual address to the Roman Rota in 1990.[xxvii] He confronted it once again in his last annual address to the Roman Rota in 2005.[xxviii] Pope Benedict XVI has addressed the same false opposition in his annual addresses to the Roman Rota in 2006,[xxix] 2007[xxx] and 2010.[xxxi] In his 2010 address, Pope Benedict XVI recalled the words of Pope John Paul II: “The judge… must always guard against the risk of misplaced compassion, which could degenerate into sentimentality, itself pastoral only in appearance.”[xxxii] He went on to observe:
One must avoid pseudo-pastoral claims that would situate questions on a purely horizontal plane, in which what matters is to satisfy subjective requests to arrive at a declaration of nullity at any cost, so that the parties may be able to overcome, among others things, obstacles to receiving the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. The supreme good of readmission to Eucharistic Communion after sacramental Reconciliation demands, instead, that due consideration be given to the authentic good of the individuals, inseparable from the truth of their canonical situation. It would be a false “good” and a grave lack of justice and love to pave the way for them to receive the sacraments nevertheless, and would risk causing them to live in objective contradiction to the truth of their own personal condition.[xxxiii]
Regarding the Church’s pastoral concern, Pope Benedict XVI reminded the Rotal auditors and, through them, the whole Church, “that both justice and charity postulate love for truth and essentially entail searching for truth.”[xxxiv] “In particular,” he observed, “charity makes the reference to truth even more exacting.”[xxxv]
Canon Law in the Magisterium of Blessed Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II pursued with vigor the revision of the 1917 Code of Canon Law. There was no question in his mind, as a Father of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, about the Council’s desire that the perennial discipline of the Church be addressed to the present time. Clearly, the Council’s desire regarding Church discipline did not intend the abandonment of her discipline but a new appreciation of it in the context of contemporary challenges. In the Apostolic Constitution Sacrae Disciplinae Leges, with which he, the Supreme Legislator in the Church, promulgated the 1983 Code of Canon Law, he wrote:
Turning our minds today to the beginning of this long journey [of the revision of the Code of Canon Law], to that January 25, 1959 [“when my predecessor of happy memory, John XXIII, announced for the first time his decision to reform the existing corpus of canonical legislation which had been promulgated on the feast of Pentecost in year 1917”] and to John XXIII himself who initiated the revision of the Code, I must recognize that this Code derives from one and the same intention, the renewal of Christian living. From such an intention, in fact, the entire work of the council drew its norms and its direction.[xxxvi]
These words point to the essential service of canon law in the work of the new evangelization, that is, the living of our life in Christ with the engagement and energy of the first disciples. Canonical discipline is directed to the pursuit, at all times, of holiness of life.
The saintly Pontiff described the nature of canon law, indicating its organic development from God’s first covenant with His holy people. He recalled “the distant patrimony of law contained in the books of the Old and New Testament from which is derived the whole juridical-legislative tradition of the Church, as from its first source.”[xxxvii] In particular, he reminded the Church how Christ Himself declared that He had not come to abolish the law but to bring it to completion, teaching us that it is, in fact, the discipline of the law which opens the way to freedom in loving God and our neighbor. He observed: “Thus the writings of the New Testament enable us to understand even better the importance of discipline and make us see better how it is more closely connected with the saving character of the evangelical message itself.”[xxxviii]
Pope John Paul II then articulated the purpose of canon law, that is, the service of the faith and grace, and of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and charity. He noted that, far from hindering the living of our life in Christ, canonical discipline safeguards and fosters our Christian life. He declared:
[I]ts purpose is rather to create such an order in the ecclesial society that, while assigning the primacy to love, grace and charisms, it at the same time renders their organic development easier in the life of both the ecclesial society and the individual persons who belong to it.”[xxxix]As such, canon law can never be in conflict with the Church’s doctrine but is, in the words of Pope John Paul II, “extremely necessary for the Church.”[xl]
The teaching of the Church, in fact, is translated into discipline by the canonical tradition.[xli] He indicated four ways in which the Church’s discipline is a necessary complement to her doctrine, declaring:
Since the Church is organized as a social and visible structure, it must also have norms: in order that its hierarchical and organic structure be visible; in order that the exercise of the functions divinely entrusted to it, especially that of sacred power and of the administration of the sacraments, may be adequately organized; in order that the mutual relations of the faithful may be regulated according to justice based upon charity, with the rights of individuals guaranteed and well-defined; in order, finally, that common initiatives undertaken to live a Christian life ever more perfectly may be sustained, strengthened and fostered by canonical norms.[xlii]
Because of the essential service of canon law to the life of the Church, Pope John Paul II reminded the Church that “by their very nature canonical laws are to be observed,” and, to that end, “the wording of the norms should be accurate” and “based on solid juridical, canonical and theological foundations.”[xliii]
Specific Form of the New Evangelization through Canonical Discipline
From the above considerations, it should be clear that the knowledge of and respect for canonical discipline is indispensable to the Church’s response to the call to a new evangelization. There are many aspects of the form of the new evangelization through canonical discipline. I address four as examples.
The first aspect is respect for the rule of law as the irreplaceable foundation for right relationships and coherent activities within the Church. In specific, we must confront the antinomian tendency of the culture, which is inimical to the organic unity which is inherent to the Body of Christ. A general ignorance of canon law, which sees it as some esoteric and surpassed aspect of Church life, must be overcome. At the same time, the false conflict between canon law and the pastoral nature of the Church, between truth and love, must be addressed.
Secondly, key to the form of the new evangelization through canonical discipline is the study of the sources of canonical institutes in the Sacred Scriptures and Tradition. The discipline regarding the refusal
of Holy Communion to persons who persist in grave and public sin, for example, must be seen in its consistent development from the time of Saint Paul.[xliv] Likewise, the ground of nullity of marriage, lack of sufficient discretion of judgment, must be seen in the long canonical tradition regarding the influence of the lack of psychological capacity or the loss of it through mental illness on the capacity to give marriage consent.[xlv]
Thirdly, the study of the text of the law must respect the mind of the legislator and, therefore, avoid any kind of formalism. The wording of Church discipline derives from solid juridical, canonical and theological foundations which can only be known by those humble enough to study them. All forms of manipulation of the law to advance particular agenda redound to the grave harm of the faithful and of the Church as the Body of Christ.[xlvi]
Finally, liturgical law must enjoy the primacy among canonical norms, for it safeguards the most sacred realities in the Church. It is interesting to note that in his first Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis, Blessed Pope John Paul II confronted the abuse of general confession and general absolution, of the essentially personal encounter with Christ in the Sacrament of Penance, reminding us both of the right of the penitent to such an encounter and the right of Christ Himself,[xlvii] and that, in his last Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, he urgently addressed abuses of the Church’s discipline regarding the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.[xlviii] In Ecclesia de Eucharistia, he declared:
I consider it my duty, therefore, to appeal urgently that the liturgical norms for the celebration of the Eucharist be observed with great fidelity. These norms are a concrete expression of the authentically ecclesial nature of the Eucharist; this is their deepest meaning. Liturgy is never anyone’s private property, be it of the celebrant or of the community in which the mysteries are celebrated. The Apostle Paul had to address fiery words to the community of Corinth because of grave shortcomings in their celebration of the Eucharist resulting in divisions (schismata) and the emergence of factions (haereses) (cf. 1 Cor 11:17-34). Our time, too, calls for a renewed awareness and appreciation of liturgical norms as a reflection of, and a witness to, the one universal Church made present in every celebration of the Eucharist. Priests who faithfully celebrate Mass according to the liturgical norms, and communities which conform to those norms, quietly but eloquently demonstrate their love for the Church.[xlix]
As is always the case, knowledge and observance of canonical discipline frees us from the false impression that we must make the Sacred Liturgy interesting or stamp it with our personality, and frees us to be the instruments by which the presence of Christ, the Good Shepherd, among His people is rendered more visible, and the action of the Sacred Liturgy bears His stamp alone.
Conclusion
It is my hope that these few reflections will help us to understand the key, indeed essential, service of canon law to the life of the Church in our time and specifically to Her work of a new evangelization. There are, to be sure, many other fruitful avenues of reflection on the subject. It must be clear that the remaking of “the Christian fabric of the ecclesial community,” which is necessary for the “mending of the Christian fabric of society,” will have as a fundamental element a new knowledge of and respect for the canonical discipline of the Church.[l]
The challenge of a new evangelization through a new knowledge of and respect for the canonical discipline of the Church is formidable. But we must never forget that Our Lord, the New Moses, accompanies and strengthens us all along the way, and that Mary Immaculate unceasingly intercedes for us.
In undertaking the work of a new evangelization, let us invoke the intercession of Mary Immaculate under her title, Speculum Iustitiae, Mirror of Justice. Mary Immaculate, conceived without any stain of sin, consecrated totally to Christ from the very first moment of her life, by her humility before God and by her total obedience to His will, is indeed a mirror of the justice which is the minimum but indispensable condition of the charity of a life lived in Christ. The Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of the Immaculate Conception, teaches us the hypocrisy of exalting charity, when we do not practice justice in obedience to God’s law. At the same time, she prays for us, drawing our hearts to her Immaculate Heart, in order that our hearts, like hers, may be totally for Christ, so that from our hearts may flow in abundance Christ’s justice and charity.
I conclude with the exhortation with which Blessed Pope John Paul II concluded the Apostolic Constitution Sacrae Disciplinae Leges:
I therefore exhort all the faithful to observe the proposed legislation with a sincere spirit and good will in the hope, that there may flower again in the Church a renewed discipline and that consequently the salvation of souls may be rendered ever more easy under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.[li]
Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE
[i] My presentation draws heavily upon a more extensive article on the subject to appear in a future volume of The Jurist. The article in question is an edited version of the Archbishop Gerety Lecture which I gave on March 30, 2011, at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey (USA), on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of Immaculate Conception Seminary of the Archdiocese of Newark. [ii] “Integrae regiones nec non nationes in quibus anteacto tempore religio et vita christiana florebant, quae vivacis ac operosae fidei communitates excitabant, nunc rebus adversis premuntur ac non raro radicitus sunt transformatae, gliscentibus indifferentismo, saecularismo et atheismo. Agitur praesertim de regionibus et nationibus «Primi Mundi» qui dicitur, in quibus oeconomica prosperitas et consumendarum rerum cupiditas, quamquam etiam terribilibus paupertatis et miseriae adiunctis commixtae, inhiant ac proclamant ita esse vivendum «etsi Deus non daretur». At religiosa indifferentia et practica Dei completa neglegentia ad vitae quaestiones licet graviores exsolvendas non minus affligunt animum nec minus videntur evertentes quam proclamatus atheismus; ….” Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Adhortatio Apostolica Christifideles Laici, “De vocatione et missione Laicorum in Ecclesia et in mundo,” 30 Decembris 1988, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 81 (1989), p. 454, no. 34. [Hereafter, CL]. English translation: Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, 30 December 1988, “On the Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World,” Vatican City State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, nd, p. 95, no. 34. [Hereafter, CLE]. [iii] “consortium humanum spiritu christiano ubique denuo imbuendum est.” CL, p. 455, no. 34. English translation: CLE, p. 96, no. 34. [iv] “[i]d [consortium humanum spiritu christiano imbuendum] tamen possible erit, si christianus communitatum ipsarum ecclesialium contextus, quae his in regionibus et nationibus degunt, renovetur.” CL, p. 455, no. 34. English translation: CLE, p. 96, no. 34. [v] “testari quomodo christiana fides responsum constituat unice plene validum, ab omnibus plus minusve conscie agnitum et invocatum, ad quaestiones et exspectationes, quas vita ipsa homini et societatibus imponit singulis.” CL, p. 455, no. 34. English translation: CLE, p. 96, no. 34. [vi] “hiatum inter Evangelium et vitam in seipsis superare valeant, in quotidianis familiae navitatibus, in labore et in societate unitatem vitae componentes, quaein Evangelio lucem et vim pro sua plena invenit adimpletione.” CL, p. 455, no. 34. English translation: CLE, p. 96, no. 34. [vii] “Equidem mandatum Iesu: «Euntes praedicate evangelium» sua vi perpetuo viget ac inoccidue urget: verumtamen praesens rerum conditio, non solummodo in mundo sed in pluribus quoque Ecclesiae partibus, omnino requirit ut Chrisi verbo promptius ac magis dilatato corde obtemperetur; quivis discipulus ita in sua ipsius persona interpellatur, ut nullus se in proprio responso eliciendo retrahere possit: «Vae enim mihi est, si non evangelizavero!» (1 Cor 9, 16). CL, p. 454, no. 33. English translation: CLE, p. 94, no. 33. [viii] “Hodie praesertim urgentius illud munus pastorale novae evangelizationis, quod universum Dei Populum sollicitat novamque alacritatem, novas methodos, novam denique linguam pro Evangelio nuntiando postulat, sacerdotes requirit qui radicitus atque integre in Christi mysterium immersi sint, capaces novum pastoralis viate stilum in actum ponendi; qui et profunda communione cum Summo Pontifice, cum Episcopis, apud semetipsos emineant, et per fecundam cum christifidelibus laicis collaborationem signentur, reverentes niholiminus et provehentes quae, intro ecclesialem communitatem, diversa sunt vel munera, vel charismata, vel ministeria.” Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Adhortatio Apostolica Postsynodalis Pastores Dabo Vobis, “De Sacerdotum formatione in aetatis nostrae rerum condicione,” 25 Maii 1992, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 84 (1992), p. 685, no. 18. English translation: Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, “On the Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day,” 25 May 1992, Vatican City State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, nd, pp. 46-47, no. 18. [ix] “christianus communitatum ipsarum ecclesialium contextus.” CL, p. 455, no. 34. English translation: CLE, p. 96, no. 34. [x] “Inter varia quae fieri possunt caritatis genera illud quod proprio quodam titulo hominibus amorem ostentat «usque in finem», hodie certe est flagrans Iesu Christi nuntiatio iis qui nondum eum noverunt, qui sunt Ipsius obliti, at potissmum pauperibus.” Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Adhortatio Apostolica Post-Synodalis Vita Consecrata, “De vita consecrata eiusque missione in Ecclesia ac mundo,” 25 Martii 1996, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 88 (1996), p. 452, no. 75. [Hereafter, VC]. English translation: Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, “On the Consecrated Life and Its Mission in the Church and in the World,” 25 March 1996, Vatican City State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, nd, p. 138, no. 75. [Hereafter, VCE]. [xi] “Haud secus atque consueta, evangelizatio nova tum efficax erit cum ex tectis pronuntiare valebit quaecumque in intima cum Domino consortione prius erunt experta. Ad hanc igitur solida flagitantur ingenia sanctorum ardore incensa. A consecratis viris feminisque postulat nova evangelizatio plenum theologici sensus conscientiam provocationum aetatis nostrae. Haec postulata ponderentur oportet a diligenti unanimique iudicio, unde missio ipsa renovetur. In Domino Iesu annuntiando fortitudinem comitari debet fiducia de Providentiae actione, qui in mundo «omnia, adversos etiam humanos casus, in Ecclesiae bonum sapienter» disponit…. Omnibus in locis rerumque adiunctis ardentes sint personae consecratae Dominum Iesum nuntiatrices, conditorum conditricumque menti fideles, paratae ad respondendum cum sapientia postulatis evangelicis quae ex inquieto hominis corde eiusque impellentibus necessitatibus oriuntur.” VC, pp. 457-458, no. 81. English translation: VCE, pp. 148-149, no. 81. [xii] Acts 2:37. [xiii] “formulam veluti «magicam» … excogitando «novo consilio». Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Epistula Apostolica Novo Millennio Ineunte, “Magni Iubilaei anni MM sub exitum,” 6 Ianuarii 2001, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 93 (2001), p. 285, no. 29. [Hereafter, NMI]. English translation: Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, “At the Close of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000,” 6 January 2001, Boston: Pauline Books & Media, 2001, p. 39, no. 29. [Hereafter, NMIE]. [xiv] “Nullo modo: servabit nos nulla formula, verum Persona una atque certitudo illa quam nobis Ipsa infundit: Ego vobiscum sum!” NMI, p. 285, no. 29. English translation: NMIE, p. 39, no. 29. [xv] “Iam enim praesto est consilium seu «programma»: illud nempe quod de Evangelio derivatur semper vivaque Traditione. Tandem in Christo ipso deprehenditur istud, qui sane cognoscendus est, diligendus atque imitandus, ut vita in eo trinitaria ducatur et cum eo historia ipsa transfiguretur ad suam usque in Hierosolymis caelestibus consummationem. Institutum enim hoc, variantibus quidem temporibus ipsis atque culturae formis non mutatur quamvis rationem quidem habeat temporis et culturae, ut verum instituat diverbium efficacemque communicationem.” NMI, pp. 285-286, no. 29. English translation: NMIE, pp. 39-40, no. 29. [xvi] “Re quidem vera, si pastoralis ordinatio sub signo sanctitatis statuitur, aliquid compluribus cum consectariis decernitur. Inde enim in primis firma aperitur sententia: si vera est Baptismus ingressio in Dei sanctitatem per insertionem in Christum ipsum necnon Spiritus eius per inhabitationem, quaedam repugnantia est contentum esse mediocri vita, quae ad normam transigitur ethnicae doctrinae minimum solum poscentis ac religionis superficiem tantum tangentis. Ex catechumeno quaerere: «Vis baptizari?» eodem tempore est petere: «Vis sanctificari?». Idem valet ac deponere eius in via extremum Sermonis Montani principium: «Estote ergo vos perfecti, sicut Pater vester caelestis perfectus est» (Mt 5, 48).” NMI, p. 288, no. 31. English translation: NMIE, 43, no. 31. [xvii] “optima haec perfectionis species non ita est iudicanda quasi si genus quoddam secum importet vitae extraordinariae quam soli aliqui sanctitatis «gigantes» traducere possint.” NMI, p. 288, no. 31. English translation: NMIE, p. 43, no. 31. [xviii] “Multiplices enim sanctitatis exsistunt viae atque cuiusque congruunt cum vocatione. Grates Domino referimus Nobis quod concessit his proximis annis tot christianos et christianas inter beatos adnumerare ac sanctos, ex quibus plures laici sanctimoniam sunt communissimis in vitae condicionibus adsecuti. Omnibus ergo tempus est iterum firmiter hunc proponere «superiorem modum» ordinariae vitae christianae: ad hanc namque metam conducere debet omnis vita ecclesialis communitatis ac familiarum christianarum.” NMI, p. 288, no. 31.
English translation: NMIE, p. 43, no. 32.
[xix] “consortium humanum spiritu christiano ubique denuo imbuendum est…christianus commmunitatum ipsarum ecclesialium contextus.” CL, p. 455, no. 34. English translation: CLE, p. 96, no. 34. [xx] “ermeneutica della discontinuità e della rottura…ermeneutica della riforma.”Benedictus PP. XVI, Allocutio “Ad Romanam Curiam ob omina natalicia,” 22 Decembris 2005, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 98 (2006), p. 46. English translation: Pope Benedict XVI, “Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Roman Curia Offering Them His Christmas Greetings,” 22 December 2005, L’Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English, 4 January 2006, p. 5. [xxi] “rischia di finire in una rottura tra Chiesa preconciliare e Chiesa postconciliare…il vero spirito del Concilio…negli slanci verso il nuovo che sono sottesi ai testi.” Ibid., p. 46. English translation: Ibid., p. 5. [xxii] “Con ciò, però, si fraintende in radice la natura di un Concilio come tale. In questo modo, esso viene considerato come una speciedi Costituente, che elimina una costituzione vecchia e ne crea una nuova. Ma la Costituente ha bisogno di un mandante e poi di una conferma da parte del mandante, cioè del popolo al quale la costituzione deve servire. I Padri non avevano un tale mandato e nessuno lo aveva mai dato loro; nessuno, del resto, poteva darlo, perché la costituuzione essenziale della Chiesa viene dal Signore e ci è stata data affinché noi possiamo raggiungere la vita eterna e, partendo da questa prospettiva, siamo in grado di illuminare anche la vita nel tempo e il tempo stesso.” Ibid., p. 46. English translation: Ibid., p. 5. [xxiii] Cf. footnote no. 23. [xxiv] “Ma il Concilio non solo non ripudia il Diritto Canonico, la norma cioè che precisa i doveri e difende i diritti dei membri della Chiesa, ma la auspica e la vuole, come conseguenza delle potestà lasciate da Cristo alla sua Chiesa, come esigenza della sua natura sociale e visibile, comunitaria e gerarchica, come guida alla vita religiosa e alla perfezione cristiana, e come tutela giuridica della stessa libertà.” Paulus PP. VI, Allocutio “Ad Praelatos Auditores, Officiales et Advocatos Tribunalis Sacrae Romanae Rotae, novo litibus iudicandis ineunte anno coram admissos,” 27 Ianuarii 1969, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 61 (1969), p. 177. English translation: William H. Woestman, O.M.I., ed., Papal Allocutions to the Roman Rota 1939-2002, Ottawa: Saint Paul University, 2002, p. 96. [Hereafter, Papal Allocutions to the Roman Rota]. [xxv] “le esigenze di una sicura ed efficace tutela dei beni comuni, tra i quali quello fondamentale dell’esercizio della stessa libertà, che solo una convivenza bene ordinata può adeguatamente garantire.” Paulus PP. VI, Allocutio “Ad Praelatos Auditores et Officiales Tribunalis Sacrae Romanae Rotae, a Beatissimo Patre novo litibus iudicandis ineunte anno coram admissos,” 29 Ianuarii 1970, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 62 (1970), p. 115. English translation: Papal Allocutions to the Roman Rota, p. 101. [xxvi] Cf. can. 1060. [xxvii] Cf. Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Allocutio “Ad Romanae Rotae Praelatos, auditores, officiales, et advocatos anno iudiciali ineunte,”18 Ianuarii 1990, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 82 (1990), pp. 872-877. English translation: Papal Allocutions to the Roman Rota, pp. 209-213. [xxviii] Cf. Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Allocutio “Ad Tribunal Rotae Romanae iudiciali ineunte anno,” 29 Ianuarii 2005, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 97 (2005), pp. 164-166. English translation: Pope John Paul II, “Address of Pope John Paul II to the Members of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota,” 29 January 2005, L’Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English, 2 February 2005, p. 3. [xxix] Cf. Benedictus PP. XVI, Allocutio “Ad Tribunal Rotae Romanae,”28 Ianuarii 2006, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 98 (2006), pp. 135-138. English translation: Pope Benedict XVI, “Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Members of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota,” 28 January 2006, L’Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English, 8 February 2006, p. 3. [xxx] Cf. Benedictus PP. XVI, Allocutio “Ad Tribunal Rotae Romanae in inauguratione Anni Iudicialis,” 27 Ianuarii 2007, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 99 (2007), pp. 86-91. English translation: Pope Benedict XVI, “Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Members of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota,” 27 January 2007, L’Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English, 31 January 2007, pp. 3 and 10. [xxxi] Cf. Benedictus PP. XVI, Allocutio “Ad sodales Tribunalis Romanae Rotae,” 29 Ianuarii 2010, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 102 (2010), pp. 110-114. English translation: Pope Benedict XVI, “Address of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on the Occasion of the Inauguration of the Judicial Year of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota,” 29 January 2010, L’Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English, 3 February 2010, p. 3. [xxxii] “Il giudice […] deve sempre guardarsi dal rischio di una malintesa compassione che scadrebbe in sentimentalismo, solo apparentemente pastorale.” Ibid., p. 112. English translation: Ibid., p. 3. [xxxiii] “Occorre rifuggire da richiami pseudopastorali che situano le questioni su un piano meramente orizzontale, in cui ciò che conta è soddisfare le richieste soggettive per giungere ad ogni costo alla dichiarazione di nullità, al fine di poter superare, tra l’altro, gli ostacoli alla ricezione dei sacramenti della Penitenza e dell’Eucharistia. Il bene altissimo della riammissione alla Communione eucharistica dopo la riconciliazione sacramentale, esige invece di considerare l’autentico bene delle persone, inscindibile dalla verità della loro situazione canonica. Sarebbe un bene fittizio, e una grave mancanza di giustizia e di amore, spianare loro comunque la strada verso la ricezione dei sacramenti, con il pericolo di farli vivere in contrasto oggettivo con la verità della propria condizione personale.” Ibid., pp. 112-113. English translation: Ibid., p. 3. [xxxiv] “sia la giustizia, sia la carità, postulino l’amore alla verità e comportino essenzialmente la ricerca del vero.” Ibid., p. 113. English translation: Ibid., p. 3. [xxxv] “In particolare, la carità rende il riferimento alla verità ancora più esigente.” Ibid., p. 113. English translation: Ibid., p. 3. [xxxvi] “Mentem autem hodie convertentes ad exordium illius itineris [ad Codicem Iuris Canonici recognoscendum], hoc est ad diem illam XXV Ianuarii anno MCMLIX [“qua Decessor Noster fel. rec. Ioannes XXIII primum publice nuntiavit captum abs se consilium reformandi vigens Corpus legum canonicarum, quod anno MCMXVII, in sollemnitate Pentecostes, fuerat promulgatum”], atque ad ipsum Ioannem XXIII, Codicis recognitionis initiatore, fateri debemus hunc Codicem ad uno eodemque proposito profluxisse, rei chistianae scilicet restaurandae; a quo quidem proposito totum Concilii opus suas normas suumque ductum praesertim accepit.” Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Constitutio Apostolica Sacrae Disciplinae Leges, 25 Ianuarii 1983, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 75, Pars II (1983), p. viii (cf. p. vii). [Hereafter, SDL]. English translation: Canon Law Society of America, Code of Canon Law: Latin-English Edition, New English Translation, Washington, DC: Canon Law Society of America, 1998, p. xxviii (cf. p. xxvii). [Hereafter, SDLE]. [xxxvii] “longinqua illa hereditas iuris, quae in libris Veteris et Novi Testamenti continetur, ex qua tota tradition iuridica et legifera Ecclesiae, tamquam a suo primo fonte, originem ducit.” SDL, p. x. English translation: SDLE, p. xxix. [xxxviii] “Sic Novi Testamenti scripta sinunt ut nos multo magis percipiamus hoc ipsum disciplinae momentum, utque ac melius intellegere valeamus vincula, quae illud arctiore modo contingunt cum indole salvifica ipsius Evangelii doctrinae.” SDL, pp. x-xi. English translation: SDLE, p. xxix. [xxxix] “Codex eo potius spectat, ut talem gignat ordinem in ecclesiali societate, qui, praecipuas tribuens partes amori, gratiae atque charismati, eodem tempore faciliorem reddat ordinatam eorum progressionem in vita sive ecclesialis societatis, sive etiam singulorum hominum, qui ad illam pertinent.” SDL, p. xi. English translation: SDLE, pp. xxix-xxx. [xl] “Ecclesiae omnino necessarius est.” SCD, p. xii. English translation: SDLE, p. xxxi. [xli] Cf. SDL, p. xi. English translation: SDLE, p. xxx. [xlii] “Cum ad modum etiam socialis visibilisque compaginis sit constituta, ipsa normis indiget, ut eius hierarchica et organica structura adspectabilis fiat, ut exercitium munerum ipsi divinitus creditorum, sacrae praesertim potestatis et administrationis sacramentorum rite ordinetur, ut secundum iustitiam in caritate
innixam mutuae christifidelium necessitudines componantur, singulorum iuribus in tuto positis atque definitis, ut denique communia incepta, quae ad christianam vitam perfectius usque vivendam suscipiuntur, per leges canonicas fulciantur, muniantur ac promoveantur.” SDL, pp. xii-xiii. English translation: SDLE, p. xxxi. [xliii] “canonicae leges suapte natura observantiam exigent…accurate fieret normarum expressio…in solido iuridico, canonico ac theologico fundamento inniterentur.”SDL, p. xiii. English translation: SDLE, p. xxxi. [xliv] Cf. can. 915; Raymond Leo Burke, “Canon 915: The Discipline regarding the Denial of Holy Communion to Those Obstinately Persevering in Manifest Grave Sin,” Periodica de Re Canonica 96 (2007), pp. 7-55. [xlv] Cf. can. 1095, 2°; Raymond L. Burke, “Defectus discretionis iudicii propter schizophraeniam doctrina et recens jurisprudentia rotalis,” Periodica de Re Morali Canonica Liturgica 73 (1984), pp. 560-566. [xlvi] Cf. Raymond L. Burke, “Response Role of Law Award,” Canon Law Society of America, Proceedings of the Sixty-Second Annual Convention (October 2-5, 2000, Arlington, Virginia), Washington, DC: Canon Law Society of America, 2000, pp. 495-500. [xlvii] Cf. Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Litterae Encyclicae Redemptor Hominis, “Pontificali eius ministerio ineunte,” 4 Martii 1979, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 71 (1979), p. 314, no. 20. English translation: Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis, “At the Beginning of His Papal Ministry,”4 March 1979, Vatican City State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, nd, p. 86, no. 20. [xlviii] Cf. Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Litterae Encyclicae Ecclesia de Eucharistia, “De Eucharistia eiusque necessitudine cum Ecclesia,”17 Aprilis 2003, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 95 (2003), p. 439, no. 10. English translation: Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, “On the Eucharist in Its Relationship to the Church,” 17 April 2003, Vatican City State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, nd, p. 13, no. 10. [xlix] “Nostrum propterea esse censemus vehementer hortare, ut in eucharistica Celebratione magna quidem fidelitate liturgicae observentur regulae. Ipsae enim sunt significatio solida verae ecclesialis indolis Eucharistiae; hic eorum est altissimus sensus. Numquam privata alicuius proprietas est liturgia, neque ipsius celebrantis neque communitatis ubi Mysteria celebrantur. Debuit acriora verba apostolus Paulus communitati Corinthiae proferre ob graviora vitia eorum in eucharistica Celebratione, quae pepererunt divisiones (schismata) atque factionum constitutiones (haereses) (cfr 1 Cor 11, 17-34). Nostris pariter temporibus observantia liturgicarum normarum iterum est detegenda et aestimanda veluti actus et testimonium unius universalisque Ecclesiae, quae in omni Eucharistiae celebratione praesens redditur. Tam sacerdos, qui Missam ex liturgicis normis fideliter celebrant, quam communitas, quae his se conformat, modo tacito sed eloquenti suum testificantur erga Ecclesiam amorem.” Ibid., p. 468, no. 52. English translation: Ibid., p. 65, no. 52. [l] Cf. footnote no. 19. [li] “Omnes ergo filios dilectos hortamur ut significata praecepta animo sincero ac propensa voluntate exsolvant, spe confisi fore ut Ecclesiae studiosa disciplina revirescat ac propterea animarum quoque salus magis magisque, auxiliatrice Beatissima Virgine Maria Ecclesiae Matre, promoveatur.” SDL, p. xiv. English translation: SDLE, p. xxxii.
