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Person (Catholic canon law)

January 07, 2024

In the canon law of the Catholic Church, a person is a subject of certain legal rights and obligations.[1][2] Persons may be distinguished between physical and juridic persons. Juridic persons may be distinguished as collegial or non-collegial, and public or private juridical persons. The Holy See and the Catholic Church as such are not juridic persons since juridic persons are created by ecclesiastical law. Rather, they are moral persons by divine law.

Physical persons edit

By baptism, a natural person is incorporated into the church and is constituted a person in the same. All the validly baptized, called Christifideles, have the status of physical persons under Catholic canon law.[citation needed]

Age of reason edit

See also: Age of accountability

The age of reason, sometimes called the age of discretion, is the age at which children attain the use of reason and begin to have moral responsibility. On completion of the seventh year, a minor is presumed to have the use of reason,[3] but intellectual disability can prevent some individuals from ever attaining the use of reason. The term "use of reason" appears in the 1983 Code of Canon Law 17 times, but "age of reason" does not appear.[4] However, the term "age of reason" is used in canon law commentaries such as the New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law published by Paulist Press in 2002.

Children who do not have the use of reason and the mentally disabled are sometimes called "innocents" because of their inability to commit sins: even if their actions are objectively sinful, they sometimes lack the capacity for subjective guilt.[citation needed]

In the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Eucharist and Confirmation are given immediately after baptism, even to infants who do not yet have the use of reason. In Latin Rite Catholicism, Confirmation is conferred, except in danger of death, only on persons who have the use of reason;[5] and Holy Communion may be administered to children only if "they have sufficient knowledge and careful preparation so that they understand the mystery of Christ according to their capacity and are able to receive the Body of Christ with faith and devotion."[6] In danger of death, the Eucharist may be administered also to children who lack the use of reason if the child can distinguish the sacrament from ordinary food and receive it reverently.[6]

Age of majority edit

The age of majority in the Latin Catholic Church is 18[7] though, until the entry into force of the 1983 Code of Canon Law in 1983, the age of majority was 21.[8]

Juridic persons edit

In simple terms, a juridic person is an artificial construct under canon law that allows a group of persons or things to function and be treated under canon law as a single unit. The 1917 Code of Canon Law referred to all juridic persons as "moral persons",[9] while the 1983 Code of Canon Law uses the term "moral person" solely to designate the Apostolic See and the Catholic Church itself.[10]

Kennedy gives a more thorough definition: "A juridic person […] is an artificial person, distinct from all natural persons or material goods, constituted by competent ecclesiastical authority for an apostolic purpose, with a capacity for continuous existence and with canonical rights and duties like those of a natural person […] conferred upon it by law or by the authority which constitutes it and to which it is also accountable under canon law."[11][12]

The doctrine of juridic personality is thought to have its origins in canon law. It has been attributed to Pope Innocent IV, who seems at least to have helped spread the idea of persona ficta as it is called in Latin. In the early church, the doctrine of persona ficta allowed monasteries to have a legal existence apart from the monks, simplifying the difficulty in balancing the need for such groups to have infrastructure despite monks' vows of personal poverty. Another effect of this was that as a fictional person, a monastery could not be held guilty of delict due to not having a soul, helping to protect the organization from non-contractual obligations to surrounding communities. This effectively moved such liability to individuals acting within the organization while protecting the structure itself since individuals were considered to have a soul and, therefore, capable of being guilty of negligence and excommunicated.[13]

Canonical age edit

The canonical age in Roman Catholic canon law is an age when the faithful becomes capable of incurring certain obligations, enjoying special privileges, embracing special states of life, holding office or dignity, or receiving the sacraments.[14][15]

Each of these human acts requires the development of mind, body, or spirit appropriate to its free and voluntary acceptance and adequate knowledge of, and capability for, the duties and obligations attached. The ages prescribed by canon law differ, as do the privileges, offices, and dignities to which they apply.[14]

Sacraments edit

  1. Baptism: the sacrament can be validly administered regardless of age.
  2. Confirmation: the canonical age is the age of reason.
  3. Holy Communion: the canonical age is the age of reason. Children in danger of death, capable of committing and confessing to mortal sin, and distinguishing heavenly from ordinary food when desirous of receiving Holy Communion, must not be denied, although they may not have achieved the minimum age prescribed.
  4. Confession: the canonical age is the age of reason. After reaching the age of reason, each member of the faithful is obliged to confess faithfully their grave sins at least once a year. (CIC can. 989)
  5. Anointing of the Sick: the sacrament is to be administered to any Catholic who desires it (normally it is the sick or older person who suffers from infirmity) or who is in mortal danger
  6. Holy Orders: the sacrament can be received at the earliest at 23 years (deacons), 25 years (priest), or 35 years (bishop), according to canon 1031 CIC. The Apostolic See can grant dispensations.
  7. Marriage: the age for a valid sacramental marriage is, according to can. 1083, 16 years for males and 14 years for females. The Conference of bishops is free to establish a higher age for the licit celebration of marriage.

All Catholics are bound to attend Holy Mass on Sundays and every holy day of obligation.[16] To be a godparent at the bestowal of baptism and confirmation, a Catholic must be confirmed and must normally be 16 years old (canon 874 CIC). The days of abstinence are to be respected by Catholics of at least 14 years of age; the law of fasting from 18 to the beginning of the sixtieth year (canon 1252 CIC).

Priesthood, orders, and clerical office edit

The ancient discipline was neither universal nor fixed but varied with circumstances of time and locality. The requisite age, according to Gratian, for tonsure and the first three minor orders, those of doorkeeper, reader, and exorcist, was seven, and for acolyte, twelve years.[citation needed]

The Council of Trent fixed the ages of 21 years and 1 day for subdeaconship, 22 years and 1 day for deaconship, and 24 years and 1 day for priesthood. Canon 1031 CIC fixed the ages of 23 for deaconship and 25 for priesthood. The first day of the year the canonical age is to be reached is sufficiently timely for the reception of the order. Trent confirmed the Lateran age of thirty years for the episcopate. The 1983 Code of Canon Law estimates the general age for a permanent deacon as thirty-five years. A candidate for the permanent diaconate who is not married is not to be admitted to the diaconate until after completing at least the twenty-fifth year of age; one who is married, not until after completing at least the thirty-fifth year of age.[17]

For admission to the canonical novitiate, an age of 17 years is fixed by Canon law (can. 643); for admission to the solemn vows (and analogously to the Consecration of virgins), it is 21 (can. 658).

Generals, provincials, abbots, and other regular prelates having quasi-episcopal jurisdiction must, according to many constitutions, have completed their thirtieth year before an election; according to others, their 25th year. However, various orders and congregations have rules for the requisite ages for inferior offices and dignities.

The Council of Trent (Sess. xxv, cap. 7, de regular. et monial.) fixed forty years, and eight years after her solemn vows, for an abbess, mother general, or prioress of a religious order. If a convent (monastery) had no nun or religious sister meeting those requirements, then one over thirty years old and more than five years professed can be elected. An election contrary to these rules is invalid.

References edit

  1. ^ Canon 96, 1983 Code of Canon Law
  2. ^ Canon 113 §2, 1983 Code of Canon Law
  3. ^ Code of Canon Law, can. 97 §2
  4. ^ Code of Canon Law, concordance of the word "reason"
  5. ^ Code of Canon Law, canon 889 §2
  6. ^ a b Code of Canon Law, canon 913
  7. ^ 1983 Code of Canon Law, can. 97
  8. ^ 1917 Code of Canon Law, can. 88
  9. ^ The Code of Canon Law: A Text and Commentary, pg. 80 (commentary on Book I, Title IV, Chapter II: Juridic Persons)
  10. ^ The Code of Canon Law: A Text and Commentary, pg. 80 (commentary on Canon 113 §1)
  11. ^ Robert T. Kennedy, "Juridic Persons" in New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, ed. John P. Beal et al. (New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2000) 155. Italic text added.
  12. ^ Gray, Jason A., References to Statutes in the Code of Canon Law; available from http://www.jgray.org/docs/statute_canons.html; Internet; accessed 1 January 2006.
  13. ^ John Dewey, "The Historic Background of Corporate Legal Personality", Yale Law Journal, vol. XXXV, April 1926, p. 655-673
  14. ^ a b "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Canonical Age". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  15. ^ "Definition of CANONICAL AGE". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  16. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church, II. The Precepts of the Church, 2042
  17. ^ Code of Canon Law can. 1031

Bibliography edit

  • James A. Coriden, Thomas J. Green, Donald E. Heintschel (eds), The Code of Canon Law: A Text and Commentary, Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1985.

  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Canonical Age". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Further reading edit

  • Catholic Encyclopedia: Canonical Age (of historical value only)

January 07, 2024
person, catholic, canon, canon, catholic, church, person, subject, certain, legal, rights, obligations, persons, distinguished, between, physical, juridic, persons, juridic, persons, distinguished, collegial, collegial, public, private, juridical, persons, hol. In the canon law of the Catholic Church a person is a subject of certain legal rights and obligations 1 2 Persons may be distinguished between physical and juridic persons Juridic persons may be distinguished as collegial or non collegial and public or private juridical persons The Holy See and the Catholic Church as such are not juridic persons since juridic persons are created by ecclesiastical law Rather they are moral persons by divine law Contents 1 Physical persons 1 1 Age of reason 1 2 Age of majority 2 Juridic persons 3 Canonical age 3 1 Sacraments 3 2 Priesthood orders and clerical office 4 References 4 1 Bibliography 5 Further readingPhysical persons editBy baptism a natural person is incorporated into the church and is constituted a person in the same All the validly baptized called Christifideles have the status of physical persons under Catholic canon law citation needed Age of reason edit See also Age of accountability The age of reason sometimes called the age of discretion is the age at which children attain the use of reason and begin to have moral responsibility On completion of the seventh year a minor is presumed to have the use of reason 3 but intellectual disability can prevent some individuals from ever attaining the use of reason The term use of reason appears in the 1983 Code of Canon Law 17 times but age of reason does not appear 4 However the term age of reason is used in canon law commentaries such as the New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law published by Paulist Press in 2002 Children who do not have the use of reason and the mentally disabled are sometimes called innocents because of their inability to commit sins even if their actions are objectively sinful they sometimes lack the capacity for subjective guilt citation needed In the Eastern Catholic Churches the Eucharist and Confirmation are given immediately after baptism even to infants who do not yet have the use of reason In Latin Rite Catholicism Confirmation is conferred except in danger of death only on persons who have the use of reason 5 and Holy Communion may be administered to children only if they have sufficient knowledge and careful preparation so that they understand the mystery of Christ according to their capacity and are able to receive the Body of Christ with faith and devotion 6 In danger of death the Eucharist may be administered also to children who lack the use of reason if the child can distinguish the sacrament from ordinary food and receive it reverently 6 Age of majority edit The age of majority in the Latin Catholic Church is 18 7 though until the entry into force of the 1983 Code of Canon Law in 1983 the age of majority was 21 8 Juridic persons editIn simple terms a juridic person is an artificial construct under canon law that allows a group of persons or things to function and be treated under canon law as a single unit The 1917 Code of Canon Law referred to all juridic persons as moral persons 9 while the 1983 Code of Canon Law uses the term moral person solely to designate the Apostolic See and the Catholic Church itself 10 Kennedy gives a more thorough definition A juridic person is an artificial person distinct from all natural persons or material goods constituted by competent ecclesiastical authority for an apostolic purpose with a capacity for continuous existence and with canonical rights and duties like those of a natural person conferred upon it by law or by the authority which constitutes it and to which it is also accountable under canon law 11 12 The doctrine of juridic personality is thought to have its origins in canon law It has been attributed to Pope Innocent IV who seems at least to have helped spread the idea of persona ficta as it is called in Latin In the early church the doctrine of persona ficta allowed monasteries to have a legal existence apart from the monks simplifying the difficulty in balancing the need for such groups to have infrastructure despite monks vows of personal poverty Another effect of this was that as a fictional person a monastery could not be held guilty of delict due to not having a soul helping to protect the organization from non contractual obligations to surrounding communities This effectively moved such liability to individuals acting within the organization while protecting the structure itself since individuals were considered to have a soul and therefore capable of being guilty of negligence and excommunicated 13 Canonical age editThe canonical age in Roman Catholic canon law is an age when the faithful becomes capable of incurring certain obligations enjoying special privileges embracing special states of life holding office or dignity or receiving the sacraments 14 15 Each of these human acts requires the development of mind body or spirit appropriate to its free and voluntary acceptance and adequate knowledge of and capability for the duties and obligations attached The ages prescribed by canon law differ as do the privileges offices and dignities to which they apply 14 Sacraments edit Baptism the sacrament can be validly administered regardless of age Confirmation the canonical age is the age of reason Holy Communion the canonical age is the age of reason Children in danger of death capable of committing and confessing to mortal sin and distinguishing heavenly from ordinary food when desirous of receiving Holy Communion must not be denied although they may not have achieved the minimum age prescribed Confession the canonical age is the age of reason After reaching the age of reason each member of the faithful is obliged to confess faithfully their grave sins at least once a year CIC can 989 Anointing of the Sick the sacrament is to be administered to any Catholic who desires it normally it is the sick or older person who suffers from infirmity or who is in mortal danger Holy Orders the sacrament can be received at the earliest at 23 years deacons 25 years priest or 35 years bishop according to canon 1031 CIC The Apostolic See can grant dispensations Marriage the age for a valid sacramental marriage is according to can 1083 16 years for males and 14 years for females The Conference of bishops is free to establish a higher age for the licit celebration of marriage All Catholics are bound to attend Holy Mass on Sundays and every holy day of obligation 16 To be a godparent at the bestowal of baptism and confirmation a Catholic must be confirmed and must normally be 16 years old canon 874 CIC The days of abstinence are to be respected by Catholics of at least 14 years of age the law of fasting from 18 to the beginning of the sixtieth year canon 1252 CIC Priesthood orders and clerical office edit The ancient discipline was neither universal nor fixed but varied with circumstances of time and locality The requisite age according to Gratian for tonsure and the first three minor orders those of doorkeeper reader and exorcist was seven and for acolyte twelve years citation needed The Council of Trent fixed the ages of 21 years and 1 day for subdeaconship 22 years and 1 day for deaconship and 24 years and 1 day for priesthood Canon 1031 CIC fixed the ages of 23 for deaconship and 25 for priesthood The first day of the year the canonical age is to be reached is sufficiently timely for the reception of the order Trent confirmed the Lateran age of thirty years for the episcopate The 1983 Code of Canon Law estimates the general age for a permanent deacon as thirty five years A candidate for the permanent diaconate who is not married is not to be admitted to the diaconate until after completing at least the twenty fifth year of age one who is married not until after completing at least the thirty fifth year of age 17 For admission to the canonical novitiate an age of 17 years is fixed by Canon law can 643 for admission to the solemn vows and analogously to the Consecration of virgins it is 21 can 658 Generals provincials abbots and other regular prelates having quasi episcopal jurisdiction must according to many constitutions have completed their thirtieth year before an election according to others their 25th year However various orders and congregations have rules for the requisite ages for inferior offices and dignities The Council of Trent Sess xxv cap 7 de regular et monial fixed forty years and eight years after her solemn vows for an abbess mother general or prioress of a religious order If a convent monastery had no nun or religious sister meeting those requirements then one over thirty years old and more than five years professed can be elected An election contrary to these rules is invalid References edit Canon 96 1983 Code of Canon Law Canon 113 2 1983 Code of Canon Law Code of Canon Law can 97 2 Code of Canon Law concordance of the word reason Code of Canon Law canon 889 2 a b Code of Canon Law canon 913 1983 Code of Canon Law can 97 1917 Code of Canon Law can 88 The Code of Canon Law A Text and Commentary pg 80 commentary on Book I Title IV Chapter II Juridic Persons The Code of Canon Law A Text and Commentary pg 80 commentary on Canon 113 1 Robert T Kennedy Juridic Persons in New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law ed John P Beal et al New York Mahwah NJ Paulist Press 2000 155 Italic text added Gray Jason A References to Statutes in the Code of Canon Law available from http www jgray org docs statute canons html Internet accessed 1 January 2006 John Dewey The Historic Background of Corporate Legal Personality Yale Law Journal vol XXXV April 1926 p 655 673 a b CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA Canonical Age www newadvent org Retrieved 2022 06 17 Definition of CANONICAL AGE Merriam Webster Retrieved 2022 06 17 Catechism of the Catholic Church II The Precepts of the Church 2042 Code of Canon Law can 1031 Bibliography edit James A Coriden Thomas J Green Donald E Heintschel eds The Code of Canon Law A Text and Commentary Mahwah NJ Paulist Press 1985 nbsp This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Herbermann Charles ed 1913 Canonical Age Catholic Encyclopedia New York Robert Appleton Company Further reading editCatholic Encyclopedia Canonical Age of historical value only Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Person Catholic canon law amp oldid 1183163681 Age of reason, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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