Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

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The paper explores whether the creation of a parliamentary investigation commission on the abuse of minors by members of the clergy or in the context of activities organized by the Catholic Church falls within the remit of the nature and purposes of such commissions. The article also examines whether or not the creation of an Ombudsman- led commission for the same purpose complies with the constitutional precepts that regulate that office and the relationships between religious confessions and the State. Finally, the paper discusses whether the current legal procedures and rules justify the number of cases of abuses committed by members of the clergy brought by the State Attorney General’s Office.

The recent synodal process is an opportunity to reflect on the role of the baptised faithful in the life of the Church and especially in its dynamics of mission and evangelisation. Through his teaching and reforms, Pope Francis has converted the Synod of Bishops into a place open to the petitions of the entire Christian world and to offer solutions that may enable the Pope to govern the universal Church more efficiently. The paper examines the initial phase of the synodal process, that is, the stage in which the particular churches are called upon to offer their proposals and suggestions by listening to the faithful. In addition, it analyses some questions about the legal status of synodal consultation and the relationship between this process and the rights of the faithful, in particular concerning the right of petition.

The law-centered or code-centered focus has given way to the età dei diritti, shaped by the revival of natural law after the Second World War. In theory, the law has not been at the center of canon law because of the undeniable validity of the ius divinum, although the code-focused paradigm has given rise to a canonical experience that depends almost exclusively on the legal text. Setting aside theoretical canonizatio, the code-centered paradigm has brought about a certain practical canonizatio in the juridical life of the Church. The age of rights transformed constitutionalism in the second half of the 20th century, yielding a more nuanced account of so-called paleopositivism and leading to iusmoralism, and blurring the boundary between iusnaturalism and iuspositivism. In order to clarify these questions, we turn to a fundamental debate that has conditioned the history of law and canon law up to the present day: iusvoluntarism or iusrealism. After examining some insufficient paradigms and their origins in canon law, the author points to the constitutional paradigm as the most appropriate for channeling and continuing the canonical tradition and the mission of the Church.

Ministers of worship may carry out functions that have civil import; some religious acts have civil effects. Some religious professions do not limit the role of minister to men. Given that the rules and regulations of Ecclesiastical Law relating indirectly to women ministers of worship are scarce (Social Security), the purpose of this paper is to gain a clearer understanding of the situation and find out the number of women ministers who carry out religious functions that have civil effects. The Sub- Directorate General of Religious Freedom has been consulted to establish the number of ministers of worship included in the Registry of Religious Bodies, and religious organizations approached to see how many such ministers are women. At the same time, this analysis also provides further information on the functions that women carry out in religious organizations.

In order to show to what extent the notion of law is an indispensable basis for fruitful interdisciplinary dialogue between theologians and canonists, three models of understanding law in its application to canon law are presented here, drawn from texts by both theologians and canonists. These are the model of law yielded by the power of jurisdiction or as a discipline to be obeyed; the model of law as institution, order, structure or system; and the model of justice and the law as establishing what is just. Having acknowledged the legitimacy of these models, the advantages of the third model as the basis and driver of interdisciplinarity between theology and canon law are highlighted: justice and law must be of interest to theologians, and the mystery of the Church must be of interest to canonists.

This essay aims to provide an overview of the development of Canon Law in relation to other branches of knowledge, from its institution in the university to the present day. Five historical paradigms are deployed to this end; and a paradigm proposal for the future is offered, based on the unity of the fields of sacred knowledge and their dialogue with branches of secular knowledge.