Abstract not available.

On 15 August 1990 the Vatican issued Pope John Paul's Apostolic constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae (From the Heart of the Church) concerning Catholic higher education. Promulgated as law, the document deal firstly with the Catholic identity and mission of the college or university, and secondly with the general norms for all institutes of higher studies. The document also reflects and reaffirms the mandatum of c. 812. This study looks at the mandatum and how the norms of Ex corde Ecclesiae are implemented at a Catholic college in the United States that is sponsored by a religious institute by attempting to place the discussion in the context of the American culture. Beginning with a canonical look at the defining moment when one becomes a Catholic and an historical examination of the university system and the Catholic Church, this study shows the intimate relation that religious institutes have had with higher education. In the United States there are over 230 Catholic colleges and universities and other such institutions of higher studies, most of which are canonically and civilly connected to a religious institute. The question is what role does the sponsoring religious institute have in the canonical compliance of their separately incorporated apostolate in the implementation of the norms of Ex corde Ecclesiae? Discussed in this work are the canonical obligations and rights of the diocesan bishop, the religious institute, the college (administrators and trustees) and the professors of theological disciplines. This study also looks at some of the issues of concern that were raised by theologians, canonists, colleges and universities, religious institutes and bishops relating to the implementation of Ex corde Ecclesiae. It took ten years for the bishops of the United States to receive the Vatican recognitio for "The Application of Ex corde Ecclesiae for the United States" to be used in the implementation of Ex corde Ecclesiae for American Catholic colleges and universities. On 3 May 2001 the Application became particular law for the United States. St. Norbert College, a Norbertine sponsored college in De Pere, Wisconsin, USA, is used as the case study for this work.

L'auteur de la thèse traite de "la formation des prêtres diocésains au Bénin à la lumière de la législation canonique actuelle". Former des prêtres pour l'Église est une question toujours actuelle, liée au droit de l'Église et qui doit être avant tout abordée comme telle. La science canonique a besoin de progresser en cette matière, tant pour l'Église tout entière que pour chaque église particulière. Dans sa recherche, l'auteur focalise l'attention sur le lien entre le droit universel et le droit particulier, spécialement en ce qui concerne la formation sacerdotale dans son pays d'origine le Bénin. Depuis le Concile Vatican II, en effet, deux critères sont à envisager désormais par ceux à qui il revient d'oeuvrer dans la formation sacerdotale: il s'agit de concilier les principes d'universalité et d'adaptation. Après avoir décrit les grands traits qui caractérisent le Bénin et son Église, l'auteur propose une synthèse de la formation des clercs à travers l'histoire de l'Église. Par la suite, en se servant des nombreuses publications du Siège apostolique, il présente la législation actuelle en précisant les quatre dimensions de toute formation sacerdotale: humaine, spirituelle, intellectuelle et pastorale. Il évalue ensuite les normes de la Ratio institutionis sacerdotalis du Bénin à la lumière de cette législation universelle actuelle. Il propose enfin une série de recommandations pratiques pouvant permettre à l'Église au Bénin de mieux adapter la formation de ses prêtres aux défis concrets du pays. Selon lui, l'inculturation ne doit pas être seulement un aspect de la formation, elle doit en être le moteur principal.

Before the Second Vatican Council, ecclesiastical legislation reflected uniformity throughout the entire Church. The Second Vatican Council however, placed greater emphasis on canonical institutes that best provided for the good of souls (salus animarum). Thus, to provide for the greater good of souls, c. 522 of the 1983 Code determines it is necessary that a parish priest has the benefit of stability in office and so he is to be appointed for an indeterminate period. The diocesan bishop can appoint him for a specified period only if the bishops' conference has, by decree, allowed this. The decree of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (= CBCN), in response to the prescript of c. 522, is defective and fails to provide for the required stability for the office of a parish priest. The confusion caused by this single decree raised the question as to the status of the rest of the decrees of the conference that might give rise to similar or related problems. This situation informed the choice of our topic---the relationship between universal law and particular law: an analysis of the particular complementary norms of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria. Our project focused on a critical analysis of the complementary norms of CBCN to determine whether they complement the universal law or go contrary to it. Since the end of Canon Law is the salvation of souls, we gave special attention to the institute that best provides for this objective, that is, the office of the parish priest. Our study shows that CBCN performed fairly well in its complementary norms, putting into consideration the time the norms were published and how fast they were put together. However, some of the decrees are inadequate and one might be tempted to say that such decrees are contrary to law ( contra legem). We consider them apart from the law in view of the recognitio they have received from the Holy See. We concluded our study with some suggestions that we hope could assist CBCN in the review of its particular complementary norms.

The church's law dealing with incardination is a venerable ancient guarantor of its highest values with regard to community, holy orders, ministry, and the content of faith. By establishing a juridic protection for a permanent relational bond, incardination provides the context within which these are enabled to be vivid, dynamic, and reciprocally life/Life giving. Explored in light of the Legislator's intent as that was given shape and substance in the Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis, incardination is lifted up from a flat uni-dimensional and somewhat narrow juridic plane, to become something rich and multi-dimensional. When this is combined with the work of Oblate theologian David N. Power, it is learned that incardination involves a series of attitudes that invite a range of spiritual and pastoral decisions that make koinonia (fellowship or collaboration; Christ's ministry of love), diakonia (service; Christ's ministry of service), martyrion (witness; Christ's proclamation of the word), and leitourgia (worship; the origin and ultimate end of Christ's entire ministry)---the God-life---possible. This leads to the formulation of a new definition for incardination that pushes doors ajar inviting new exploration. The Pastoral Office of Priests and its Relationship to the Canonical Institute of Incardination is a historical exploration into one of the church's oldest canonical institutes. By returning to the most fundamental of sources, the New Testament, it seeks to discover the root of a spiritual bond that identifies those in the ministerial priesthood. The Fathers of the Church are consulted, together with early conciliar decrees, and ordination rites extant in ancient times, in order to understand the pastoral bond that unites priests and their bishops. The Council of Trent and legislation found in the 1917 Codex Iuris Canonici are explored in order to learn the specific nature of the juridic bond formally called incardination. Pope John XXIII initiated a new fuller understanding of the theology of ordained ministry that was eventually reflected by the Conciliar Fathers in Presbyterorum ordinis, and enveloped in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. This is identified as a movement toward a unified understanding of incardination with implications for the church today.

In light of current legal developments, there is a need to analyze the interface between canon law and civil law with respect to the seal of confession. This study integrates the theology, history, canon law, and civil law in order to ascertain the status of the seal of confession as a privileged communication in the law of evidence and whether it is subject to disclosure in court. The ethical basis may be founded on the exhortation to cover sin which appears in Scripture and patristic writings. After public confession fell into disuse, this ethic later crystallized into a rule, first of local application, then of universal application by the fifth century. By the thirteenth century, the Fourth Lateran Council affirmed its universal application and attached severe penalties to violations. Throughout history, there has been always been an interaction between the canon law and civil law. First, the civil law seems to have reinforced the rule of secrecy. Later, when the Church became established, civil legislation appeared enforcing the rule of secrecy, or alternatively recognizing the canon law. With the Reformation, civil legislation and case law appeared threatening the integrity of the seal of confession, and the Church responded with reaffirmations and legislation forbidding the breach of the of confession. The reason that the Church insists so strongly that the rule be upheld is that it is based on natural law, divine law, and positive law. It is critical that these three elements be clearly established and delineated in order to defend the rule concerning the seal of confession. The civil law of evidence has not received the seal of confession uniformly as a privileged communication. In England, the privilege was denied, whereas in Ireland and the United States the privilege was upheld. The Commonwealth countries of Australia and New Zealand have adopted the rule in certain states but not in others. The Canadian legal system is an offshoot of the English system. As a result, the English law was followed on the priest-penitent privilege, with the exception of provincial legislation in Quebec and Newfoundland. However, in 1991, the Supreme Court implemented the ad hoc use of the Wigmore criteria, a set of four evidentiary tests which is used to adjudicate claims of privilege with respect to confidential communications. With this, the question as to whether confessional communications were privileged communications within the law of evidence was reopened. The issue of whether the Catholic canon law in c. 983 CIC/1983 and c. 733 CCEO on the seal is sufficient to satisfy a claim of privilege has not yet been adjudicated, but it appears to satisfy the Wigmore criteria. The obligation of secrecy may conflict with the statutory reporting requirements for incidents of child abuse and communicable diseases. However, confessional secrecy may be a legitimate exercise in religious freedom due to the confessor being in a strong position to counsel a penitent to turn him or her self in to authorities and cease the behaviour, and thereby serves a public safety function. In any event, the Church has stated in no uncertain terms that where there is a conflict between the divine law and the civil law, the divine law is always to be followed.

The inspiration to undertake a scientific canonical study on the pastoral care of refugees came from the plight of thousands of Tamils from Sri Lanka who took refuge in the State of Tamil Nadu in India from 1983. A large number of them were Catholics and it was apparent from their way of life that the spirit of Catholicism was deeply entrenched in them. Because of their deep Catholic faith and their unique situation, the Catholic Church has a grave obligation to offer them special pastoral care. The purpose of this dissertation, therefore, is to address this pastoral situation, and examine critically some theoretical, pastoral and structural issues that might enable pastors of the Church to minister to Tamil refugees in accord with their emotional, psychological, spiritual, social and economic needs. Up to now there has not been any major study specifically on the pastoral care of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, India. The principal method we use in this study is analytical in nature. We will review certain historical-sociological factors relating to the current Sri Lankan Tamil refugee phenomenon. But the central question of our inquiry concerns the pastoral care of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu. The historical facts and various sources, such as papal constitutions, and Roman instructions, decrees and laws, the documents of the Second Vatican Council, and both Codes of Canon Law, are the focus of our analysis. This dissertation contains four chapters which reflect four inter-related issues. The first chapter considers the historical and sociological background of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugee problem. The second chapter deals with the Catholic Church's teaching on the pastoral care of displaced persons, with special reference to refugees. The third chapter examines the canonical aspects of pastoral care of refugees in light of the canons of CIC 1983 and the norms of the Pontifical Council's recent Instruction, Erga migrantes caritas Christi: The Love of Christ towards Migrants. Wherever applicable, we also try to refer to those canons of the Eastern Code (CCEO) which have relevance to the care of refugees. The fourth chapter looks at the current pastoral care received by the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the State of Tamil Nadu and offers concrete recommendations to the Church in Tamil Nadu for a more effective pastoral care of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees. The Church in Tamil Nadu has faced and continues to face many practical problems in attending to this enormous refugee problem. The Church has been generous in its service to Tamil refugees. However, the Church can improve its ministry further by establishing special canonical structures suitable for the effective pastoral care of displaced people irrespective of their origin. In light of the recent developments that have taken place in Sri Lanka, it is our hope that all pastors and the Christian faithful of Tamil Nadu will continue to offer appropriate pastoral care to those Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who are still living in camps in the State. Such an attitude on the part of all concerned, we believe, is absolutely necessary for the success of any pastoral programme designed to promote and foster the all-round well-being of all refugees.

The current norms on the administration of temporalities demand a new openness and a mutual trust between those who administer Church property and those who donate temporal goods to the Church. The entire matter of regulating how donated goods are managed is the subject matter of canon 1276. Canon 392, §2 stipulates that the diocesan bishop has an obligation to ensure that abuses do not creep into the administration of ecclesiastical goods. The legislator recognizes the fact that if abuses creep into the administration of ecclesiastical goods this will damage the credibility of the Church. The transparency and accountability of administrators are vital to sustaining this credibility. How is the diocesan bishop to ensure this transparency and accountability? The specific way of achieving this is the subject matter of our dissertation. In order to achieve this goal the dissertation was divided into four chapters. The first chapter examined the power of the diocesan bishop with regard to caring for ecclesiastical goods. The second chapter studied the roles of those who administer ecclesiastical goods. The third chapter examined the very nature of the special instructions that the diocesan bishop is expected to issue for administrators, while the fourth chapter considered the contents of this special instructions. Ecclesiastical goods assist the Church in fulfilling its mission. There is a correlation between ecclesiastical goods and the mission of the Church. Therefore, the mission of the Church is the same as the reasons why a public juridic person own goods. The same concern and due diligence that is shown to ensure that abuses do not creep into the proper celebration of the sacraments is to be shown to ensure the proper administration of ecclesiastical goods (c. 392, §2); We strongly hold that the obligation to issue special instructions for administrators of ecclesiastical goods is one of the major functions of a diocesan bishop, a function that he must consider as part of the mission which has been entrusted to him to fulfill. The special instructions serve as a canonical proactive measure to forestall possible financial malfeasance within the Church. If the Church is to avoid expending its energy and ecclesiastical resources in solving financial crisis in the future, the diocesan instruction for administrators of ecclesiastical goods should be a must for all dioceses.

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-71).

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2008. / Description based on Microfiche version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-52).