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

Ius canonicum

JUSTICE AND MERCY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF CANON LAW

159

application of mercy within the procedure.83 This is also confirmed by the letter Quemadmodum of Pope Clement XIII (1758-1769) on May 25th 1763.84 We should not forget the firm legal principle - already mentioned - that the lenient explanation prevails when applying penalties. This statement is the strongest proof of the prominent principle of misericordia within the ecclesiastical penal law. It is well known that this legal principle, which is still in use today, is already found in the Regulae Iuris of the Liber Sextus (1298) [RJ 49].85

The above-mentioned principles were incorporated in a systematic system - based on the rich source material of the Corpus iuris canonici - in the CIC (1917), for which the best examples are Cann. 2218-2220; and then their adoption in the current Code of Canon Law (Cann. 1313-1315). In the postcodification canon law, a taxative list of exonerating, extenuating, and aggravating circumstances applicable in penal law was established (CIC [1917] Cann. 2201-2207; CIC Cann. 1323-1327), thus creating a stable jurisprudential background for the harmonious observance of justice and mercy in the course of penal proceedings. With regard to the sanctioning of offences, the current Code of Canon Law, in its Canon 1341, still explicitly and emphatically considers the prosecution and the imposition of punishment as the last resort, because of the primarily curative nature of ecclesiastical sanctions.86

Conclusion

In order to accomplish the task entrusted by Christ to the Church, it is essential that the sin (peccatum) and the crime (delictum) committed be properly judged, with the prudent application of the principles of proportionality (proportionalitas) and equity (aequitas), and that the satisfaction (satisfactio) or just punishment (sanctio) be imposed by the competent ecclesiastical minister or authority, expressing the restoration of the relationship with God on the part of the penitent. In this process, which heals the soul, justice (iustitia) and mercy (misericordia) have a specific and complementary role. Without justice,

83 PrÜmmer, D. M., Manuale iuris canonici, 630-632; cf. BERgAiTZ de Boggiano, A. L., Misericordia, in Otaduy, J. - Viana, A. — Sedano, J. (dir.), Diccionario General de Derecho Canonico, V. 414-417, especially 414—415.

84 Clemens XIII, Ep. Quemadmodum (25 mai. 1763) § 5: Gasparri, P. — Serédi, J. (ed.), Codicis iuris canonici fontes, II. 606.

85 In paenis benignor est interpretatio facienda. Friedberg II. 1123.

86 Astigueta, D., Medicinalitä della pena canonia, in Periodica 99 (2010), 251-304; in detail cf. SZuromi, Sz. A., A vezeklés, mint egyházi büntetőintézkedés, különös tekintettel a korai és a középkori keleti vezeklési gyakorlatra, in lustum Aequum Salutare IX/1 (2013) 155-161. Szuromi, Sz. A., Egy működő szakrális jogrend (Bibliotheca Instituti Postgradualis luris Canonici Universitatis Catholicae de Petro Pázmány nominatae III/16), Budapest 2013. 142.