1917 and 1983 Code
Justin Sean Luis Canaria
A. The 1917 Code of Canon Law:
Throughout the years, the Church has produced numerous laws.
However, there was no comprehensive collection of these laws, leading
to confusion about their status—whether they were abrogated,
obsolete, or still effective. Even if attempts at compilation such as that
of Gratian appeared, the fact remained that it was a scholarly work and
not an officially codified body of laws. In response to this issue, Pope
Pius X issued the motu proprio Arduum sane munus in 1904,
directing the codification of canon law.
f.1. Codification Process:
The codification process involved extensive consultation with canon law experts, all bishops,
and superiors general of religious orders in the Latin Church. Each Latin bishop was represented
in Rome to express their concerns during commission meetings. By 1912, the commission had
completed a draft text of the code, which was distributed for review by Latin bishops and
superiors general. Their feedback was compiled and shared within the commission for further
refinement.
The commission meticulously reviewed centuries of canon law, carefully evaluating its
authenticity and reconciling it with other legal traditions, such as the Code of Justinian and the
Napoleonic Code. It finalized the code under the guidance of Pope Benedict XV. The code was
promulgated in 1918, earning it the moniker “the Pio-Benedictine Code.”
f.2. Period of enforcement (1917-1983):
Enforcement of the new Code of Canon Law (1917-1983) began on May 19, 1918, when Pope
Benedict XV promulgated it through the apostolic constitution Providentissima Mater Ecclesia.
Known as the Codex Iuris Canonici, it primarily applied to the Latin Church but extended to
the Eastern Churches on matters relevant to them.
To preserve its integrity, Benedict XV issued the motu proprio Cum Iuris Canonici,
instructing Roman Congregations to refrain from issuing new general decrees unless
absolutely necessary and to clarify when interpretations pertained to specific canons. This
approach helped prevent the code from becoming obsolete soon after its release.
The code remained largely unchanged for its first 30 years until a minor amendment to canon
1099 by Pope Pius XII in 1948 took effect in 1949.
The 1917 Code remained in force until canon 6 §1 1° of the 1983 Code came into legal effect
on November 27, 1983, effectively abrogating the 1917 Code.
f.3. Structure:
The 1917 Code presents canon law in five groupings:
1. the general principles of law
2. the law of persons (clergy, religious, and laity)
3. de rebus (including such "things" as the sacraments, holy places and times, divine
worship, the magisterium, benefices, and temporal goods)
4. procedures
5. crimes and punishment
The 1917 Code of Canon Law, as the first comprehensive collection of legal regulations for the
Latin Church, offers a fairly accurate portrayal of the organizational structure and the roles of the
papacy and the Roman Curia at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Prior to the First Vatican Council (1869), there were approximately 10,000 canons, disparate
norms, laws, and regulations that lacked proper codification. Following the Vatican I Council,
the pope was tasked with codifying this corpus into a Code of Canon Law (which had a
Napoleonic influence). The 1917 Code marked the first genuine attempt to systematize these
disparate elements, resulting in the codification of all of them into 2414 canons.
During its six-and-a-half-decade enforcement period, a complete translation of the Code from
its original Latin was never published. Translations were strictly prohibited, partly to ensure
that interpretive disputes among scholars and canonists concerning this novel type of code
would be resolved in Latin itself rather than in one of the numerous languages commonly used
in scholarly discourse.
On the positive side, the Code provided clear and concise answers to pastoral and spiritual
questions. Moreover, the Code reflected the drive to centralize the authority of popes and
bishops, imposing an extreme uniformity in church practices. However, these concrete
directives soon became obsolete as the requirements for ministry in the modern world
underwent significant changes.
B. Calls for Revisions:
In 1959, Pope John XXIII announced plans to revise the 1917 Code of Canon Law, alongside his
intention to convene the Second Vatican Council. However, the revision project was delayed
until the council’s conclusion in 1965, as it became evident that the code needed updating to
reflect the council’s theological and doctrinal developments. After nearly 20 years of work,
Pope John Paul II promulgated the revised code on January 25, 1983, and it came into effect on
November 27, 1983. This revised code, comprising 1,752 canons, continues to serve as the
governing law for the Latin Church.
g.1. Principles of Revisions:
1. The code is to define and protect the rights and obligations of the faithful in relation to
one another and to the church. Its norms are to help the faithful, in the course of their Christian
lives, share in whatever assistance toward salvation the church offers them.
2. The external and internal forums should be coordinated and not in conflict with one
another.
3. Pastoral care is to be fostered above all, and to that end both the legislation and its
application are to be characterized by charity, moderation, humanity and equity as well as
justice. Exhortation and persuasion are to be preferred to an insistence on rights.
4. Bishops are to have the authority to dispense from the general laws of the church.
5. The principle of subsidiarity is to be more effectively applied, especially because the office
of bishop is of divine law. Where unity of discipline is not required, decentralization should
prevail, especially in the form of particular legislation and a healthy autonomy of executive
authority.
6. The rights of persons are to be defined and safeguarded, since all the Christian faithful are
fundamentally equal and their offices andduties so diverse. Then the exercise of authority will
appear more closely as service, and it will be more effective and free from abuse.
7. Subjective rights are to be protected by suitable procedures. The administration of justice
must be improved, and the various functions of church authority, namely, legislative,
administrative and juridical, are to be clearly distinguished.
8. Portions of the People of God are to be determined territorially for purposes of
governance, but other criteria may also be used to describe communities of the faithful.
9. Penalties are sometimes necessary, but they are to be imposed in the external forum and
after judgment; those imposed by the law itself are to be reduced to a minimum.
10. The new code is to be restructured to reflect its accommodation to a new mentality and
different needs.
g.2. Comparison:
1917 Code of Canon Law 1983 Code of Canon Law
Book I: General Norms, Book I: General Norms (Cann. 1–203)
Book II: Persons, Book II: People of God (Cann. 204–746)
Book III: Things, Book III: Teaching Function of the Church (Cann. 747–833)
Book IV: Procedures, Book IV: Sanctifying Function of the Church (Cann. 834–
Book V: Delicts & Penalties. 1253)
Book V: Temporal Goods of the Church (Cann. 1254–1310)
Book VI: Sanctions (Cann. 1311–1399)
Books VII: Processes (Cann. 1400–1752)
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
The 1983 Code of Canon Law, a product of Vatican II’s ecumenical principles, particularly
those outlined in Lumen gentium, represents a significant shift in the Church’s perspective on
non-Catholic Christian communities. Instead of adopting an “us vs. them” mentality, the new
code acknowledges these communities as possessing a share of divine grace, particularly through
practices like baptism and faith in the Trinity. This ecumenical approach encourages respectful
engagement without compromising Catholic beliefs.
Furthermore, the 1983 Code redefines the Church hierarchy. The 1917 Code presented a “top-
down” structure, with the pope at the apex, followed by bishops and priests governing the laity.
While 1983 Code maintains the essential distinction between clergy and laity (Ministerial
priesthood), it wishes to highlight the common priesthood they partake in and thus the active
role the laity have to play in their lives.
What the council fathers really wanted to emphasize is that we all share in the common
priesthood of Jesus Christ to carry out the mission of the gospel. What is distinct in the function
is the ministerial priesthood, against those activists who want to blur the line even further. In
short, it simply wishes to emphasize both the common and ministerial priesthood, and remove
the negative connotation of clericalism, whereby the priest is viewed as a ruthless king leading
them to feel and act entitled. It’s not so much that they can’t be viewed as kings. Christ was a
king and the priests act in persona Christi capitis, but the kingliness we speak of is that of
service and with the dignity bestowed upon him he must follow the example of Christ the king,
to serve and not to be served, that’s the reason why he used beautiful vestments and vessels is for
god's glory not himself, a danger that many priests and seminarians are too often subject to. In
short, the focus was on transforming how we approach this relationship, not the
classifications themselves.
The emphasis on these principles centered on the need for a pastoral approach in canon law,
increased autonomy for diocesan bishops, and a respect for the rights of all persons. Penal law
and prohibitions were reduced to a minimum. However, to say that the revision of Canon Law
represents a total change in church teaching is a false assumption, though at first glance there are
some questionable omissions.
III. SUMMARY
I. Post-Apostolic (1st 4th cent): DECENTRALIZATION
II. Constantine (4th-8th): CHURCH OF THE EMPIRE
III. Charlamagne & Feudalism (9th-12th): STATE-CHURCH INTERPLAY
CONCORDAT OF WORMS (1122)
IV. “CLASSICAL” PERIOD (12th – 20th)
1. Gregory VII (1050):
Canon Law as a Science.
2. John Gratian (1140):
Camaldolese monk
Concordia Discordantium Canonum (1141).
father of the science of canon law
3. John Chapuis
Corpus Iuris Canonici (1500)
The Decretum of Gratian
The Liber Extra Gregory IX (1234)
The Liber Sextus of Boniface VIII
The Constitutiones Clementinae of Clement V (1317)
The Extravagantes of John XXII and the Extravagantes communes
4. Council of Trent
V. CIC (1917)
Pius X: Arduum sane munus (March 19, 1904)
Benedict XV: Providentissima Mater Ecclesia (May 19, 1918)
VI. CIC (1983)
Vatican II
John Paul II: Sacrae Disciplinae Leges (27 November 1983)
