Codified law in general, and canon
law in particular, makes considerable use of private
commentary in the elucidation and application of legal
norms. The weight to be accorded a private opinion
depends less on who authored the opinion and more on the
accuracy and completeness with which the views are
expressed. The literature that developed under the 1917
Code was
enormous and will probably never be completely identified and organized.
Scholarly commentary on the 1917 Code
For insight into the meaning of
codified law Pio-Benedictine canonists generally turned first to one or
more scholarly, monographic commentaries on the Code as
a whole or on larger or smaller parts thereof. See
generally:
?
Pan-Textual
Commentaries on the 1917 Code
,
here
.
?
Mero-Textual
Commentaries on the 1917 Code
,
here
.
?
Lygo-Textual
Commentaries on the 1917 Code
,
here
.
Academic works on canon law
An important category of canonical commentary is
the formal academic treatise, i.e., the doctoral dissertation
and, to a lesser degree, the licentiate thesis. See generally:
International Directory of Academic Works on Canon Law
,
here
.
Peer-reviewed publications
Scholarly articles and reviews appearing in
peer-reviewed, academic journals (usually ones dedicated
to canon law) play an important part in canonistics.
Again, however, this literature is vast.
A qualified bibliography of canonical
articles
(not
including monographs!) covering
just the first 15 years
of
the Pio-Benedictine Code ran over 300 pages. See Guiscardus
Moschetti (Italian =, 1906-1984),
Bibliographia
Iuris Canonici ex Ephemerides ab a. 1918 ad 1934
(Casa
Editrice Libro Italiano, 1942) 335 pp.
Rev. Rhode
provides a list of over 40
peer-reviewed
canon law journals from around the world,
here
.
Of particular interest to English-reading canonists would be
The Jurist
(CUA),
CLSA Proceedings
,
Studia Canonica
(English and French, St. Paul's Univ., Ottawa) and the
GB&I Newsletter
.
Some useful canonical
materials appear in publications aimed at more
general audiences
. Of particular interest to
English-reading canonists would be articles appearing
in, for example,
Christifideles
,
Homiletic &
Pastoral Review
,
America
, and so on.
Advisory opinions
A special category of canonical commentary is
the advisory opinion or consultation, a canonical genre
similar to the "casus conscientiae" of the moral theologians. Among the most important
collections of advisory opinions on Pio-Benedictine law are:
?
Edward
Mahoney (English priest, 1888-1954),
Priests’
Problems
, (Burns & Oates,
ed. by L. McReavey,
1958) 468
pp.
▪
Review
:
F. Furlong,
Gregorianum
42
(1961) 161.
Notes
:
Not every question and/or answer was strictly canonical, but an
index on pp. 459-461 indicates whether a given 1917 Code canon was among
the more than 230 canons treated in some 335 main questions.
Earlier versions of most of Mahoney's replies can be found be in
Clergy
Review
, 1945-1954.
?
William
Conway (Irish priest, 1913-1977),
Problems
in Canon Law: Classified Replies to Practical Questions,
(Newman,
1956) 345 pp. ▪
Review
:
E. Roelker,
Jurist
17
(1957) 211.
Notes
:
Earlier versions of most replies can be found be in
The
Irish Ecclesiastical Record
, 1943-1956.
≡
Conway
b
iograph
.
?
Aa.vv.,
Consultationes
Iuris Canonici
, (Pont. Inst. Utriusque Iuris, 1934/1939)
in 2 vols. ▪
Notes
:
Scores of questions on hundreds of canons from throughout the
Pio-Benedictine Code.
Other resources
A list of
Dictionaries, Encyclopedia, and Reference Works on Canon
Law
is available
here
.
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