Folia Theologica et Canonica 4. 26/18 (2015)
IUS CANONICUM - Szabolcs Anzelm Szuromi. O.Praem., Interpretation of the Church's discipline without the former sources?
266 SZABOLCS ANZELM SZUROMI, O.PRAEM. sentation is the Church’s institutional unity. The effort to maintain this close bond - which has great bearing on even the outermost horizons of the Church’s activity - determines the proper work of ecclesiastical ministry, which is formulated in the last canon of the CIC in force (Can. 1752) in this way: “(...) keeping in mind the salvation of souls, which in the Church must always be the supreme law.”55 Quoting Pope Benedict XVI, we may hold that “the Church is not to be interpreted starting from its organization, but her organization must be understood beginning from the Church. (...) it is also clear, that the visible unity in the visible Church is more than an organization.”56 That is, the system of canonical norms, as “sacred law” (ius sacrum), bound to the proper level of the "hierarchical communion”, holds together the integral working of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, and at the same time promotes the sanctification of her members. Therefore, the particular harmony of teaching (doctrina) and discipline (disciplina) is indispensable, and it cannot be separated from the natural law (lex naturális) and the positive divine law (lexpositiva divina). Nevertheless, together with Stephan Kuttner we can say that the “order of law is not the eternal, absolute order”.57 Indeed, this is the reason why jurists in every epoch of Church history tried to make harmony between the current circumstances wherein the canonical system was working and the tradition which had formed the earlier sources, the interpretative horizon and the basis of the canonical disciplinary system. This endeavor has not changed for our time; moreover it was - it still is and it must be - the motivation behind the new legislation. Consequently, there is no way to interpret well the Church's discipline without the former sources. 55 CIC Can. 1752 -(...) servata aequitate canonica et prae oculis habita salute animarum, quae in Ecclesia suprema semper lex esse debet. 56 Ratzinger, J., Einführung in des Christentum. Vorlesungen über das Apostolische Glaubensbe- kenntnid, München 1968. 288. 57 Kuttner, S„ Harmony from Dissonance, 1/5.
