Book 6

Sanctions in the Church

Part I: Offenses and Punishments in General

Penal law is:

Reactive, It is not well planned nor systematic
Its focus is on the forum externum. The presumption is that penal law works in the forum externum. This is the principle.
Penal law must be the ultimate or the last measure to be taken. Before the measure of penal law is to be taking, all the possible manses must be exhausted. Therefore Penal law must be taken as last remedy.

Penal law in the 1917 code

Penalties were in book 5
General norms, Persons, Goods, Processes the Penal law. This code was very much inline with the Roman law system.

Penal law in the 1983code

Material law then to enforce this law penal law follows. This is the logic of putting it after material law.
Penal law also could be placed next to Book I (the rules of the game) in order to enforce these rules and it would have been the appropriate placing from the viewpoint of Vatican II.
In the code of 1983, we find penalties/penal laws almost all over book VI.

Examples are-

Administrative process	= Canons 45, 50-52… extrajudicial (measures taken by Bishops)
	= Canon 1720…………precepts
	= Canons, 1720-1739…..hierarchical records
Penal procedures	= Canon 1314 which is late sententiae
	= Canons 1341-1353 …….. impostions (declarations of late sententiae)

Crimes; in cases of crimes the congregation for faith which is sometimes called the holy office is to deal with criminal cases. Refer Canon 1362(1).It is reserved to this office.

It is the congregation with many competencies of judicial power, executive power and protector of the true doctrine or faith. It is a very special office with many competencies.
Read pastor bounas of Pope Paul VI about the cases of crimes. The office also deals with Ethics. The office is a micro-cosmos of the important matters of the church
The following canons show us what is reserved to this important office.

canon 1367,1378(1),1379,977,1387,1388 and 1395(2)
other crime canons are 1365 and 927

Examples of crime are; sexual matters, sacramental crimes and the combination of the two.
Where does the right to punish of the Church come from? It is the part of the divine law of the Church. It is of divine origin that you acquire through history or on the journey. Canons 1311of 1983 and canon2214 of 1917 are similar showing that penalties can be both spiritual and material.
In canon 1311 “who are the faithful’? the answer is in canon 11 of the 1983 code.

Title I: Punishment of Offenses

(Canons 1311 - 1312) English

Canon 1311

Title II: Penal Law and Penal Precept

(Canons 1313 - 1320) English

Title III: Those Liable

(Canons 1321 - 1330) English

Title IV: Penalties and Other Punishments

(Canons 1331 - 1340)

Title V: Application of Penalties

(Canons 1341 - 1353) English

Title VI: CESSATION of Penalties

(Canons 1354 - 1363) English

Part II: Penalties for Particular Offenses

Title I: Offenses against Religion and the Unity of the Church

(Canons 1364 - 1369) English

Title II: Offenses against Church Authorities

(Canons 1370 - 1377) English

Title III: Usurpation of Ecclesiastical Offices

(Canons 1378 - 1389) English

Title IV: Falsehood

(Canons 1390 - 1391) English

Title V: Offenses against Special Obligations

(Canons 1392 - 1396) English

Title VI: Offenses against Human Life and Liberty

(Canons 1397 - 1398) English

Title VII: General Norm

(Canon 1399) English