That Which Is Just in the Church: An Introduction to Canon Law

"Consonant with its commitment to publish seminal works in the field of canon law, St. Augustine's Press is pleased to make available the first volume in a series that will undoubtedly endure as a masterpiece of scholarship. Carlos Josâe Errâazuriz, Professor of Canon Law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome) has provided a comprehensive and insightful treatment of rights, justice, and law in the Catholic Church, beginning with the most basic questions regarding the essence of these realities. His responses exhibit the perspective of that which is just in the Church, which consists of ecclesial juridical goods: the Word of God, the sacraments, the freedom of the children of God, and sacred potestas. This work vindicates the institution of law, but also addresses the "spontaneity" of just freedom proper to what has been instituted by Christ. Errâazuriz presents more than the current Code of Canon Law. He instills a realistic perspective of right and law in the Church, and in so doing fills a massive gap in English scholarship. No introduction to canon law available in English rivals Errâazuriz's description of justice in the Church and its relationship with communion and sacramentality. Volume I is comprised of the first three chapters of the original, Corso fondamentale sul diritto nella Chiesa (in two volumes, Giuffráe: Milan, 2009 and 2017): "Rights, Justice and Law in the Church," "Canon Law in History," and "The Configuration of Rights and Law in the Church." Volume one of Prof. Carlos J. Errâazuriz's monumental treatment of canon law establishes that law in the Catholic Church is properly understood as that which is just. In the second volume, he moves to the foremost protagonist in this arena-namely, the human person. The human person is the primary holder of rights and obligations in the Church, destined for the salvation merited by Christ. The salvific goods constituted by the Word of God and the sacraments are fundamental aspects of juridical relationships and life in the Church."--