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The competence of the institutions of the Roman Curia can be examined from a material point of view to evaluate the legitimacy and impact of the functions assigned to them by the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium of Pope Francis. The contribution focuses on the “external” limits of material competence, which involve the relationships between the Church and temporal realities as well as on the “internal” limits which derive from the need to safeguard specific ecclesial juridical assets (such as the unitas fidei and the rights of the faithful), proposing a remedy to encourage the revision of the norms in the synodal Church that define the attributions and prerogatives of the apical structures of government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to study how the new organization of the Roman Curia, established by the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium influences the way in which the central government of the Church is exercised. The paper aims to reflect on the subject from a legal point of view and, to this end, first of all takes into consideration the existence and scope of the fundamental right of the faithful to good governance. It then identifies the principles of reform that may influence good governance. Finally, it examines the distribution of the functions of government (legislative, judicial and administrative) within the Roman Curia and analyzes their exercise, taking into account at all times the fundamental right to good governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a summary of a book titled "Studi sul diritto del governo e dell'organizzazione della Chiesa in onore di Mons. Juan Ignacio Arrieta", which is a historical monograph on the law of government and organization of the Church. The book consists of two volumes and 71 articles written by university professors, addressing topics such as canonical constitutional law and the central and local government of the Church. The editors have managed to provide coherence to the set of contributions, which are divided into ten parts dealing with the rights and duties of the faithful, cardinals, bishops, parishes, religious institutions, and canonical courts, among other topics. The summary highlights the quality and care put into the publication and congratulates the editors and the main author of the book. [Extracted from the article]

The history of the Church, its institutions and communities evinces many examples of governing practices that meet high standards of quality, leading to greater growth in the communion of its members with God and with each other, and to more profound evangelizing action. If these actions of good government in the Church, which are not infrequent over the two millennia of its existence, correspond to what Jesus Christ established, it may be concluded that, as a salvific good (and therefore, in the Church, a legal good), good government may also be considered as the object of a right of the faithful, the right of the faithful to good government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the reform of the penal canon law promulgated by Pope Francis via the Apostolic Constitution Pascite gregem Dei, in light of the events that occurred in the years of the writing of Book VI, particularly 1967-1970. The latent issue arising from the documents and meetings of the study group, viz. the apparent incompatibility between justice and pastorality, asserted by a significant number of scholars at that time, is also assessed. Finally, this reform by Pope Francis is shown to constitute a change of mentality in the law of the Church, since it frames penal power as a tool in the service of justice and the pastoral government of the Church as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a reprint, in Spanish, of the procedural norms of the amended "Normae de gravioribus delictis," norms governing the power of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Holy See to judge crimes against the Catholic faith. The norms establish the congregation as the Supreme Apostolic Tribunal for judgment of crimes against the Catholic faith, stipulate the requirements for judges serving on the tribunal, and set forth the procedures to be followed by the tribunal.

The article presents commentary on a circular letter dated April 18th, 2009 from cardinal Claudio Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy of the Holy See, to all ordinaries of the Catholic Church, describing special powers granted to the congregation by the Pope to intervene in certain cases regarding the defrocking of priests. These powers include expulsion from the clergy by extrajudicial decree, waiver of celibacy, and application of "ex officio" procedures for the deprivation of clerical status, according to the article. The powers question both the mandatory application of the judicial process in imposing perpetual sanctions and the characterization of crimes punishable by expulsion, as stipulated in the Code of Canon Law, the article asserts.

The article presents a reprint, in Spanish, of the substantive norms of the amended "Normae de gravioribus delictis," norms governing the power of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Holy See to judge and punish crimes against the Catholic faith. The norms authorize the congregation to judge cardinals, patriarchs, and bishops, define crimes against the faith as heresy, apostasy and schism, and establish that such a crime committed is extinguished by prescription after 20 years.

The article analyzes the "Normae de gravioribus delictis," a body of norms that represents changes to the motu proprio "Sacramentorum Sanctitatis tutela" governing the authority of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Holy See to judge crimes against the Catholic faith. It asserts that the congregation has been unusually transparent and active in disseminating the norms in the public sphere, including publishing them in seven languages, due to controversy surrounding child sexual abuse by Catholic priests. The article presents detailed legal analysis of both the substantive norms and procedural norms contained in the body of norms.

The article opens with an account of the principles of territoriality and personality in the organization of the Church, in light of the most recent contributions from ecclesiologists and canon lawyers. Thereafter, the nature and significance of cumulative ecclesiastical jurisdiction are addressed: in particular, the difference between circumscriptions added to those already existing (where the local Ordinary has cumulative jurisdiction because the faithful of such circumscriptions are also faithful of the local diocese) and circumscriptions with exclusive jurisdiction. In this context, the current typology of personal circumscriptions is analyzed: personal prelatures, military ordinariates, ritual ordinariates, and the specific case of the Apostolic Administration of Campos. The article concludes with a series of reflections on the nature and defining features of the personal ordinariates recently envisioned for faithful coming from the Anglican Churches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses legislation from 2008 and ecclesiastical law in Spain. The article begins with a discussion on the qualifications of new teachers in subjects such as citizenship, history of religious cultures, and religious studies. It continues on with a description of Spain's economic policy and financing of the Catholic Church. The article then continues on with a discussion of the organic structure of various ministries, management of religious personnel within the armed forces, and the relationship between various religious entities.

On these pages I propose a double objective: to make a critical commentary on the book of Sandro Gherro about Constitutional Canon Law and taking occasion of this commentary, to explain briefly what I understand of Constitutional Canon Law. In my opinion, there are two ways to understand the relation between constitutional canon law and the structure of the Church. These two ways need to be clarified because the juridical consequences which are derived from them are different, especially in relation with the «principle of constitutionality». Moreover, constitutional canon law is to be conceived actually in close relation with divine law. The reason for this is that divine law has the constitutional function based on its own nature, which is constituent of all ecclesiastical human law. In this sense, constitutional canon law will be reduced into a set of principles which are intrinsic to the fundamental structure of the Church and to the fundamental norms which are derived from them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the Roman Curia and the process of appointing archbishops. It proposes several questions regarding the process which include competence requirements. The ideal Catholic bishop must possess certain intellectual preparation and doctrinal formation in addition to virtues and experience. The second question it discusses refers to the actual methods in selecting bishops. The article argues that a bishop is named to serve the Church in its entirety and not just for a specific aspect.

The article presents a reprint of the text "A brief introduction to the modifications made in the Normae de gravioribus delictis, reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith," in Spanish, by cardinal William Levada and archbishop Luis F. Ladaria, S.I., Prefect and Secretary, respectively, of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Holy See. The text outlines legal changes to the power of the congregation to judge and punish crimes against the Catholic faith.