Folia Theologica et Canonica 11. 33/25 (2022)
Ius canonicum
160 SZABOLCS ANZELM SZUROMI, O.Praem. the authentic exercise of mercy (authenticus) - which is a characteristic of the canon law - is not possible to promote the salvation (salus) of the individual and the community together. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) explained at the session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2003, “authentic charity does not mean refraining from the exercise of justice in the concrete case” but “serving the salvation of souls through the wise exercise of justice.”87 Abstract Justice (from a human perspective), summarizing the Church s position in different epochs and in different contexts, yet united, is the right action which is in accordance with the order established by God. A patristic understanding of justice and mercy is synthesized in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas. The Angelic Doctor s statement, based on the thought of St. Gregory the Great, that in just punishments justice and mercy are expressed together by the person s realization through suffering of his cleansing from minor sins and approach to God, detached from the temporal attachments of this world, is particularly significant. After baptism, the repentant believer is cleansedfrom sins committed after baptism by the valid reception of the sacrament of absolution. This simplified brief definition summarizes the most essential elements of the canonical prescriptions which have been crystallized in ecclesiastical sources since the early Christian epoch. The reconciliation through confession, thanks to the gift of God’s grace and compassion through the ministry of the Church, gives the people capacity to abstain from sin, to be more attentive to the fulfilment of penance and to heal those wounds which sin has caused in the soul and bad inclinations. With regard to the concept of the canonical penal law, the current Code of Canon Law still explicitly and emphatically considers the prosecution and the imposition ofpunishment as the last resort, because of the primarily curative nature of ecclesiastical sanctions. Szabolcs Anzelm Szuromi, O.Praem. Pázmány Péter Catholic University szúrom i. szabolcs@ppke. hu 87 DEL Pozzo, M .,11 magistero fi Benedetto XVI ai giuristi. Inquadramento, testi e commenti (Studi Giuridici CII), Cittá del Vaticano 2013. 67.
