The Dispatch
Thoughts on a mid-air marriage
Popes have jurisdiction for the external forum anywhere on earth (cc. 134, 331, 1108), so Francis can officiate at a wedding anywhere, anytime. But officiating […]
canon law
The Dispatch
Is the ‘Petrine Privilege’ an exception to Church teaching on the indissolubility of marriage?
Comprising a very small portion of all the marital cases dealt with by the Church world-wide, recent Petrine cases follow complex procedures that evolved in […]
The Dispatch
Canon 17 does not let us undercut Canon 915 and what it protects: A response to Stephen Walford
It is difficult to discuss law, of all things, with people who not know what it actually says. […]
The Dispatch
Pope Francis, “diaconal primacy”, and decentralization of the curia
Decentralization by no means guarantees better governance, but is much more theologically, historically, and practically defensible than the Roman centralization and personality cult of the […]
The Dispatch
Comments on Prof. Robert De Mattei’s response about AL, canon law, and heresy
I am immensely glad that canon law is here, but the fact that we are lately having to rely on law almost exclusively to defend crucial Church teachings is a sign […]
The Dispatch
Massimo Faggioli’s many errors regarding canon law, Francis’ letter to the Argentine bishops
Faggioli’s recent Commonweal essay illustrates several of the ways that non-canonists can stumble over canonical issues while setting faulty views before the public. […]
The Dispatch
Pope Francis’ letter to the Argentine bishops is in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis. Now what?
Canon 915 and the fundamental sacramental and moral values behind it might be forgotten, ignored, or ridiculed, but unless and until that law is revoked […]
The Dispatch
Canon 844 is not a snag on which Canon 915 might unravel
Most discussants in the matter of “divorced and remarried Eastern Orthodox Christians receiving Eucharist in a Catholic church routinely but incorrectly assume that one’s “proper disposition” for a […]
Features
Fr. Weinandy was clear and direct. The USCCB was not.
The Bishops had the right – perhaps the duty – to require Fr. Weinandy’s resignation. Nevertheless, the Catholic faithful in every state of life in […]
The Dispatch
My response to Boudway’s response on canon law and marriage norms
It’s usually a bad sign when someone who, despite his utter lack of credentials to debate a given technical issue professes to correct an expert […]