Folia Theologica et Canonica 3. 25/17 (2014)
RECENSIONS
FOLIA THEOLOGICA ET CANONICA (2014) 249-261 Erdő, P., Egyházjog (Szent István kézikönyvek 7) [Canon Law\ St. Stephan Manuals 7], Szent István Társulat [St. Stephan Society Editing House], Budapest 2014/ pp. 894 Card. Peter Erdő’s name (member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) is inseparable from the annotated bilingual edition (Latin - Hungarian) of the New Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Pope Saint John Paul II on January 25lh 1983; but also Peter Erdő is the one who has elaborated the most fundamental canon law manual based on the New Code in Hungarian. Through these two monumental works has established not only a “school” in its classical sense - in the field of teaching, research, legislation, and jurisprudence - but has created the Hungarian canonical technical language of canon law too. Obviously, this last one is not without antecedents, because several Hungarian canonists had already written some important canonical work in Hungarian, i.e. Justinian Serédi, Jusztin Baranyai, István Sípos, László Gálos, Blessed Zoltán Meszlé- nyi, and József Bánk. Official translation of the Codex iuris canonici (1917) was permitted only to Spanish as an extraordinary exception. Therefore, it is well understandable that really significant change which was caused by the New Code (1983) and its multilingual - including into Hungarian - translations. For this heroic hermeneutic, interpretative and linguistic work Peter Erdő naturally had used those Hungarian canonical or legal technical expressions which were already existed. His teaching experience in Rome, moreover his highly recognized scientific activity within the current canon law science and in the historical disciplines of canon law had given a solid fundament to write that canon law handbook which had a first edition in 1992 and even on the international level has become one of the best general manuals. The very first edition could give an extraordinary effort to that canon law instruction which took place in the theological formation at the theological faculties and priestly seminaries. Nevertheless, in the same time it served also the daily activity of the diocesan tribunals, helping to transform the jurisprudential routine based on the New Code. After the second edition (1996) which did not contain any change of its text, essential modification happened in the third edition (2003) concerning its typography, further new canonical material with precise and detailed interpretation. This edition has appeared in the St. Stephan
