Folia Theologica et Canonica 11. 33/25 (2022)

Ius canonicum

JUSTICE AND MERCY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF CANON LAW

153

early Christian epoch. According to Pope Leo the Great’s (440-461) Letter 89 (June 11th 452), addressed to Bishop Theodorus, God’s multiple mercies are manifested not only through the purifying grace of baptism, but also through the forgiveness of sins, which makes the soul pure again, restores justice and expresses the rejection of evil by means of a unique judgment, thus freeing us from sin.30 This letter became one of the basic canons for the description of penitential discipline in the Decretum Gratiani (c. 1140) [D. 1 c. 49 de paen.].31 It is well known that from the 7th century spread throughout Europe the practice of the Irish origin paenitentia taxata, which, with its specific structure (confession of sins, imposition of penance, execution of penance or of an equivalent act, reconciliation with the Church, and finally the absolution)32, led to the compilation of new penitential books of a different genre from the confessional summaries.33 The most notable of these are the Paenitentiale Columbani34, the Paenitentiale Cummeani35, the Paenitentiale Bedae36, and the Paenitentiale Egberti.37 In the field of the discipline of administering the sacrament of penance, it is significant that a considerable part of the material of these works was included in later universal Western canonical collections, such as the Decretum Burchardi Wormatiensis (1008-1022). Its Book XIX was separately copied and distributed as a penitential book.38 In the introduction to this book of Burchard’s collection, it states that the contained disciplinary provisions are intended to “reform or heal” the person, both physically and mentally {corrector sive medicus).39 The prayer of BW 19.3 expresses in a particularly elevated tone the specific task of the priest in the administration of the sacrament of penance. In the prayer, the priest asks God’s help to be able to work in the service of his mercy, to judge what is said in confession, and

30 Regesta pontificum romanorum ab condita Ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII, ed. P. Jaffé, editionem secundam curaverunt K. Kaltenbrunner (JK: an.?-590), P. Ewald (JE: 590-882), S. Loewenfeld (JL: 882-1198) (Lipsiae 1885; repr. Graz 1956) JK 485 (263).

31 Friedberg, Ae. (ed.), Corpus iuris canonici, I. Lipsiae 1879 (repr. Graz 1955; hereafter: Friedberg I) 1170.

32 Erdő, P., Az egyházjog forrása. Történeti bevezetés (Bibliotheca Instituti Postgradualis Iuris Canonici Universitatis Catholicae de Petro Pázmány nominatae 1/1), Budapest 1998. 91-92.

33 Cf. Vogel, C., Les «libripaenitentiales» (Typologie des sources du moyen age occidental 27), Tumhout 1978.

34 Stickler, A. M., Historia iuris canonici latini, I: Historia fontium, Roma 1950. 90.

35 Stickler, A. M., Historia iuris canonici latini, 90.

36 Stickler, A. M., Historia iuris canonici latini, 92.

37 Stickler, A. M., Historia iuris canonici latini, 92.

38 Szuromi, Sz. A., Peculiarities of the Decretum Burchardi Wormatiensis especially regarding the Discipline about Bishops and their Duties, in Revista Espahola de Derecho Canonico 71 (2014) 493-506.

39 BW 19 {Argumentum libri): Liber hic Corrector vocatur et Medicus, quia correctiones corporum et animarum medicinas plene continet, et docet unumquemque sacerdotem, etiam simplicem, quomodo unicuique succurrere valeat, ordinato vel sine ordine, pauperi, diviti, puero, juveni, seni, decreptio, sano, infirmo, in omni aetate et in utroque sexu. PL CXL. 949.