This is from Father John Dietzen’s column, Question Corner. It hasn’t been posted online yet, but since all of Father Dietzen’s other columns are online, I’m sure this column will be, too. It just came out last week.
The column is about Canon Law. The quote that I am posting is preceded by a description of the history of Canon Law.
*"I should warn anyone who is considering buying it, however, that while it is generally easy to read, the code is far from simple to apply correctly. It compacts into 1,752 brief canons the legal experience of hundreds of years, and like any tightly-written legal documents is highly complex.
Canons interrelate broadly with each other. Innocent-sounding phrases that one might easily pass over can be crucial for a right understanding and interpretation of the law. There is a reason why men and women spend years of study and training to properly apply the code in the daily life of Catholic people.
Canon law is not in itself a document to teach Catholic dogmas. Nevertheless it must obviously be based on Catholic doctrine. One reason canon law needs occasional revision, therefore, is that Catholic doctrine itself develops over the years.
The Code of Canon Law can be enlightening and interesting reading (if one enjoys that sort of thing). Just be aware of the limitations. A careful, serious reading of canon law does not make one a canon lawyer any more than a reading of the Internal Revenue Code makes one an expert on income tax."*
end of quote.
I have often said on these forums that it is not a good thing for laymen who are untrained to read and interpret the documents and give an impression that they are just as well-qualified to read them as the priests and bishops and indeed, are qualified to challenge a priest or bishop.
My dear bishop is a Canon Lawyer with a doctoral degree in Canon Law. He knows and understands the various documents of the Catholic Church. With all due respect to the members of CAF who take an interest in church documents and claim to understand them perfectly, I prefer to follow my bishop, who is not only called and ordained by the Lord Jesus to lead His Church here on earth, but is also thoroughly educated in the documents, and has had decades of experience leading real-life Catholics and parishes.
I personally think this is where the amateur canon enthusiasts are lacking. They may have mastered the legal aspects of the documents. But there is a human factor that they are not experienced and knowledgeable about and have not mastered. This is the same “human factor” that allowed Jesus to know when it was appropriate to break various traditional Sabbath rules and when the rules must be kept. E.g., Jesus broke Jewish law to heal people. But He kept many other Jewish laws and in fact, told us that He didn’t come to abolish the Law, but fulfil it.
This “human factor” is probably something in the various documents that even the most devoted laystudent is not aware of or cognizant of, and this “something” allows the bishops to set aside the rules for the sake of a higher good. I think this “something” is a charism from the Holy Spirit, a “priestly instinct,” or a “father’s love” or a “shepherding gift” that helps a priest or bishop to know what is the best way to lead his flock.
Those who are not priests do not have this charism, and to try to act as a priest without it may have negative consequences for the Church.
I think that a priest can use this “shepherding” charism to appoint laypeople to advise him in regards to music, liturgy, etc. When he does this, these people are protected from abusing the documents by the priest’s or bishop’s charism, and they will make wise decisions that the rest of us in the Church may safely abide by.
But when laypeople appoint themselves to read and interpret the documents, I fear that they are no longer protected, and that in their zeal to apply documents to real-life Church situations, these self-appointed liturgists may blunder.
I’m thinking that there were very good reasons why the archbishop chose to allow a “multi-cultural Mass,” even though it is not the norm. There may be racial tensions in his city, or powerful gangs who are in a power struggle with the Church for the control of various ethnic groups, or even terrorist threats. The archbishop may have been told by the Holy Spirit that this unique Mass without Latin would ease those tensions and help restore the confidence of Christians in Jesus and in their Church.
I am confident that the Lord Jesus has given me these wise men, His apostles, to lead me and the Church into righteousness, and that by following them, even if they appear to go against the “rules” of the Church, as long as they are not leading into obvious sin, I will be blameless. OTOH, I fear that Catholics who choose to disregard or undermine the work of the bishops are walking on very thin ice indeed.
Please keep an eye out online for Father Dietzen’s excellent column. I just googled his name. His website is
jjdietzen@aol.com if anyone cares to contact him.
