New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law

An entirely new and Comprehensive Commnentary by Canonists from North America and Europe, with a Revised English Translation of the Code "No group has worked harder at putting to work the principles of the Second Vatican Council than scholars of the canon law. Led off by two brilliant essays on the analogous sense of law in the Church (by Les Orsy), and on developments, positive and regressive, since the council (by Fred McManus), this encyclopaedic work of interpretation explores the often-surprising strengths and weaknesses of church law put in place in 1983. I may mention two sections of special relevance: the treatment of the Pauline and Petrine privileges permitting the dissolution of marriages of the unbaptised, a topic of immense relevance in an interconnected globe, and the treatment of the Roman curia, twice reformed since the council and already the focus of further thoughtful proposals for reform. To know the Church as it lives is to know how the canons are interpreted and are applied and are susceptible of improvement." - John T. Noonan, United States Court of Appeals San Francisco "This new commentary constitutes a landmark contribution to the Church as a whole, its historical depth and interpretive balance render the meaning of the canons accessible not only to canon lawyers but to all those in the Church and beyond it who want to understand canon law. Church leaders, lay persons and clergy, and in particular theologians and ethicists will be in debt for a long time to the scholars who made this volume possible." - Margaret A. Farley, Stark Professor of Christian Ethics Yale University Divinity School "Why would a parish spend money on the Code of Canon Law? Because this volume isn't just about Church law. It's an invaluable pastoral aid to understanding any number of Church issues.... This volume is an essential reference work!" - Liturgical Ministry "The commentary has a comprehensive index of more than ninety pages. It is well bound, beautifully produced, and easy to consult. The Canon Law Society of America is to be congratulated. - Theological Studies

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