Theological Basis of the Rules of Sense of the Conventional Acts and Norms of Competency in Canon Law and Their Consequences for Legislative Decisions

Abstract

The paper presents the meeting of theology and jurisprudence in the work of church legislator. The conventional acts and norms of competency presented in canon law, such as reception of orders, celebration of marriage, imparting blessings, giving dispensation, giving absolution, pardoning an adulterous partner, giving judgment, being a qualified witness for marriage are reasonable because of the rules of sense giving them a sense. In canon law, the rules in question do not depend on the will of legislator only but they are built on the theological reasoning. The conclusion is that the church legislator, in drafting law, must take into consideration the theological factors. This limits his freedom in making legislative decisions. For instance, he cannot admit in the rules of sense a competence for the conventional acts to those who are not able to carry out the act according to theological rules. The article ends with postulate to the church legislator to take care of theological correctness of law drafted by him.