Canon 391, §1 of the 1983 Code distinguishes the power of governance of a diocesan bishop as legislative, executive and judicial. This threefold distinction is based on the division of powers in a secular system of governance. Although, in a democratic civil society, three independent organs exercise legislative, executive and judicial powers, such a division is not possible in the Church because of the nature and the purpose of its power.
In the canonical tradition of the Church, the concepts of legislative and judicial powers have generally remained the same. However, the notion of executive power has been subject to progressive understanding, especially after the Second Vatican Council. The 1917 Code, in c. 335 stated that the bishop governs his diocese with legislative, judicial and coercive powers. The Second Vatican Council described it as right/duty of making laws, passing judgement and moderating. The seventh revision principle of the 1983 Code used the term "administrative" instead of "moderating." While the Code revision process had an inconsistent use of the terms "executive" and "administrative," the Code itself, in cc. 135, §1 and 391, §1 prefers the term "executive." Moreover, the Code also uses the expressions "administrative power" and "acts of administration." Some other documents related to the Code equate "executive power" with "administrative power." There is no consensus concerning these concepts in the post conciliar canonical literature. Therefore, it is difficult to determine the exact nature and scope of the executive power of a diocesan bishop in the Code.
The first chapter of this study discusses the theological nature of the power of the diocesan bishop in the light of the Second Vatican Council. This provides the theological context within which the juridical nature of the diocesan bishop's power of governance is to be understood. The focus of the second chapter is on the nature and scope of executive power in general, and its juridic nature. Here, the study proves that the expression "administrative power" in the Code refers to "executive power" itself. "Acts of administration" in the Code are distinct from "administrative acts," and therefore, they are subject to distinct processes. With this clarification, the study provides a definition of executive power. After analysing the acts of executive power in general (the general and singular administrative acts), in the third chapter, the study makes an attempt in the final chapter to determine the acts of the diocesan bishop's executive power in the 1983 Code, and then draws some conclusions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/29061 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Menezes, Valerian M |
| Contributors | Mendonca, Augustine, |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 326 p. |
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