Folia Theologica et Canonica 6. 28/20 (2017)
RECENSIONS
RECENSIONS 275 As compared the above mentioned list with Prof. Szuromi' newly published handbook, we can say that his work - even on the international level - complies most accurately to the terminological definition of the scientific discipline of “institutional history”, because it describes not only canonical regulations on the frames of ecclesiastical institutions in the different epochs of history, but explains their contents which have a close and inseparable bound to the teaching of the Church too. Moreover, this work gives a special attention on the dogmatic development of the sacraments and sacramental, defining the institutional system of the Church. The evaluation of Anzelm Sz. Szuromi’s work can be objective only, if besides the above indicated - proper sense - institutional history works, we take a glance at the recent canon law history publications’ contents and results on the international level. Here must make a reference on the series of History of Medieval Canon Law (Washington D.C. 1999ff.), edited by Wilfried Hartmann and Kenneth Pennington, which is currently the most outstanding systematical work on the Medieval Western and Eastern canon law. Thanks to the best authors and experts who have enriched by their chapters of this series, these volumes presents the analyzed age very accurately and precisely, considering the entire recent source-, institutional-, and science historical scientific results. Nevertheless, the volumes of this series - even on the center topic, i.e. the Middle Ages - cannot appear as a united work. The different approach of every single author and the disproportionateness of explanation of the topics, moreover, the insufficient knowledge of the contemporary doctrinal teaching and concept of the Catholic Church make uneven this prominent work. It is difficult to classify into one of the three genre of this series, because even within one volume the emphasis is differs, depending on the chapter and the author main research field. Another very important publication is three volumes series Der Einfluss der Kanonistik auf die europäische Rechtskultur, I—III (Köln-Weimar-Wien 2009-2012), edited by Orazio Condorelli - Franck Roumy - Mathias Schmoe- ckel. This work is a unique scientific adventure, because it focus on the correlation of canon law, stale law. and the legislation by cities throughout the European history, and classified systematically its material into the disciplines of legal science. This approach gives an extraordinary new perspective to the analysis of the different epochs of institutional history of the Church too. Prof. Szuromi - consistently uses these volumes - has inserted the relevant facts, considerations and results into his new handbook, which have facilitated to understand the concept of the relation of canon law and civil legislation, the relationship between the Church and states in the different epochs. Anzelm Sz. Szuromi’s new handbook - as I have already emphasized above - much more than only an updated version of his earlier (2003) publication, based on the most recent international literature. The professor has published numerous articles, brief-monographs, omnibus edition between 2003 and 2017
