A couple of follow-ups on the recent entry on the gravity of Friday penance. First, a reader writes:
Doesn’t the 1983 Code of Canon Law operate to repeal and replace the previous norms set forth by Pope Paul VI? Shouldn’t you be looking only at what the Code of Canon Law says? (And it doesn’t mention the gravity of the obligation.)
Good question! The answer is no, the Code does not repeal and replace all prior norms.
First, there are some norms that, although part of universal law, simply are not part of the Code. The largest body of norms that are not found in the Code are the Church’s liturgical laws, a fact of which the Code itself takes note:
For the most part the Code does not define the rites which must be observed in celebrating liturgical actions. Therefore, liturgical laws in force until now retain their force unless one of them is contrary to the canons of the Code (Can. 2).
There are also other parts of universal law that are not contained within the Code, for example most of the norms that are to be observed in electing a new pope are not found in the Code but are contained in another document. The one presently in force in John Paul II’s apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis. There are thus certain documents that contain norms complimentary to those in the Code. One of these is Paenitemini. In fact, it is one of the oldest such documents currently in force.
Second, the Code makes the point that it does not repeal all other norms. For example:
The canons of the Code neither abrogate nor derogate from the agreements entered into by the Apostolic See with nations or other political societies. These agreements therefore continue in force exactly as at present, notwithstanding contrary prescripts of this Code [Can. 3].
What the Code does say lapse are the following:
When this Code takes force, the following are abrogated:
1° the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1917;
2° other universal or particular laws contrary to the prescripts of this Code unless other provision is expressly made for particular laws;
3° any universal or particular penal laws whatsoever issued by the Apostolic See unless they are contained in this Code;
4° other universal disciplinary laws regarding matter which this Code completely reorders [Can. 6 §1].
By this standard, the norms of Paenitemini are not abrogated. These are not part of the 1917 Code (1°), they are not en toto contrary to the prescriptions of the 1983 Code (2°), they are not penal laws (3°), and–although they are universal disciplinary laws–they do not regard matters which the 1983 Code completely reorders (4°). Therefore, Paenitemini stands except where specifically modified in the new Code.
In fact, the Code has so little to say about penance that one cannot determine what the Church’s law is without consulting Paenitemini. For example, the Code does not provide any explanation of what the law of fast entails. It states who is subject to it (Can. 1251), but it does explain what the law itself is. To find that out, you have to consult Paenitemini (Norm III §2).
