Folia Theologica et Canonica 11. 33/25 (2022)
Ius canonicum
JUSTICE AND MERCY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF CANON LAW 151 Among the listed Latin church fathers, it is Pope Gregory the Great13 whose thought has had the most significant influence on the joint explanation of justice and mercy, in both later works of theology and canon law collections. In his extensive elaboration of Moralia in lob, he devoted a separate book (XXVI) to an exposition of the relationship between these two concepts, in which he summarized the essence of his teaching14 in chapter 13 (paragraphs 20-21). The sinner - a one who is already converted before - separates himself, by his sinful act from the perfect God whom he has already accepted. This is why he needs to be purified again, by expressing his adherence to the good, his loyalty to the already accepted God, his refusal of sin. Thus, on the one hand, the repentant person, confronted with divine justice, experiences God’s mercy and its future blessing on his life; on the other hand, in repentance, he suffers in spirit because he feels the pain of separation from God during the fulfilling of penance (penitentia), the satisfaction of returning to the right path.15 A patristic understanding of justice and mercy is synthesized in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas.16 Summa Theologiae I q. 21 is dedicated to the justice and mercy of God, under the title De iustitia et misericordia Dei}1 This questio includes an explication of such fundamental problems as the relation between God and justice18; the relation between God’s righteousness and justice19; the quality of divine mercy20; and the presence of justice and mercy in all the works of God21. All these philosophical, moral, legal and social problems can enlighten sufficiently the complexity of the question of justice: the specific expression of divine justice in the human community, expressed in organized family and community life, in moral action22 and in the law given by God - which carries justice - and in the secular law which is directly or 13 Altaner, B., Patrology (transi. Graef, H. C.), New York 1961.2 556-565. 14 Gillet De Gaudemaris, R., (ed.), Morales sur Job I-II (Sources chrétiennes 32), Paris 1952; cf. Moralia in Job. Morals on the Book of Job by Saint Gregory the Great, III. Lexington, KY 2012. 125-185. 15 Moralia in Job, XXVI. 13. 21: Moralia in Job. Morals on the Book of Job by Saint Gregory the Great, III. 138-139. 16 Evans, G. R. (ed.), The Medieval Theologians. An Introduction to Theology in the Medoeval Period, Malden, MA.-Oxford-Carlton 2004. 201-220. 17 S. Thomae Aquinatis, Summa Theologiae, I. 177-181. 181 q. XXI art. 1: Utrum in Deo sit iustitia, S. Thomae Aquinatis, Summa Theologiae, 1.177-178. 191 q. XXI art. 2: Utrum iustitia Dei sit veritas, S. Thomae Aquinatis, Summa Theologiae, I. 179. 201 q. XXI art. 3: Utrum misericordia competat Deo, S. Thomae Aquinatis, Summa Theologiae, I. 179-180. 21 I q. XXI art. 4: Utrum in omnibus operibus Dei sit misericordia et iustitia, S. Thomae Aquinatis, Summa Theologiae, I. 180-181. 221 q. XXI art. 1: (...) Sicut igitur ordo congruus familiae vel cuiuscumque multitudinis gubernatae demonstrat huiusmodi iustitiam in gubernate; ita ordo universi, qui apparet tam in rebus naturalibus qua min rebus voluntariis, demonstrat Dei iustitiam (...). S. Thomae Aquinatis, Summa Theologiae, I. 177.
