Final report of Synod’s canon law commission published

Vatican News

The final report of the synod’s Canon Law commission has been published by the General Secretariat of the Synod. Established to serve the Synod, in agreement with the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, the commission worked on the basis of the results of the 2021–24 synodal process. The document explains that the commission sought to identify how the theological and ecclesiological insights emerging from the synodal process could be translated into canonical norms, distinguishing three time horizons.

In the short term, it proposes amendments to the current legislation that could immediately support ecclesial life as it unfolds in concrete circumstances. These proposals constitute the subject of the present report. In the medium term, it identifies several areas that, arising from the needs highlighted by the synodal process, could be addressed in a cross-cutting manner and together with the competent Dicasteries, through new Instructions or revisions of those already in force. Finally, in the long term, it envisages a comprehensive revision of the two Codes of Canon Law—the Latin and the Eastern Codes—so that they may incorporate the theological and ecclesiological insights that have emerged.

Proposals

The report published today, and available on the website www.synod.va, concerns only the Latin Code, since a separate commission has been established for the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. It presents the legislative proposals to be implemented in the short term.

Specifically, these concern: amendments to the canons governing the capacity of lay people, both men and women, to exercise offices, responsibilities, and ministries in the Church for which they are qualified and competent, including within the sphere of ecclesial governance; a revision, from a synodal perspective, of certain canons concerning particular councils and Episcopal Conferences, which are the ecclesial bodies responsible for cooperation among local Churches; and amendments to participatory bodies in order to strengthen their participatory dimension and missionary orientation.

Equal Dignity

Beginning with the two General Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops (October 2023 and October 2024), and following the work carried out and analyzing and studying the documents produced, up to and including the Final Document (FD) approved by the 2024 Assembly, the Canon Law Commission examined paragraphs 60, 71, 76, and 77 of the Final Document of the October 2024 General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. These paragraphs refer to the equal dignity of the faithful in the People of God and to the consequences that this equality, in a juridical sense, has for the capacity of lay people, both men and women, to exercise offices, responsibilities, and ministries in the Church for which they are qualified and competent, including in the area of ecclesial governance.

For this reason, the Commission considered revising Canons 145, 204, 208, 212, 228, 230, 275, 476, 483, 749, 1112, 1421, and 1425, with a view to updating the Church’s law so that it may be consistent with the teaching of the recent Synod of Bishops.

The Commission found that, in most cases, the Church’s current legal system already possesses adequate instruments for greater recognition and appointment of lay people, alongside Pastors, to roles and functions involving ecclesial co-responsibility. However, these instruments are often not implemented and are sometimes also in need of stronger normative affirmation in order to make them more accessible and effective.

The proposals seek to bring certain aspects of canon law into conformity with the Synod’s decisions concerning some current forms and methods of lay cooperation in the Church’s mission. Of particular interest is the dimension of synodal discernment and commitment between Pastors and other members of the faithful, with regard to assessing pastoral needs and providing for ecclesial offices, in accordance with the attention given by the current universal Magisterium to synodality as something intrinsic to the nature of the Church.

In celebrating the Synod on Synodality, the Church involved all the faithful in a process of discernment aimed at deepening and receiving the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. By welcoming the counsel of all the faithful in the interpretation and application of the law, it is necessary to assess the existing norms; this may also lead to the necessary modification of certain legislative provisions in light of new insights and changed circumstances.

Councils and Episcopal Conferences

With regard to the canons concerning particular councils and Episcopal Conferences that are to be revised from a synodal perspective, the possibility for all members of the People of God to participate in a particular council, in a proportion equal to that of the ex officio members, and the removal of the limitation “only” from the consultative vote granted to them, are innovations conceived in light of the synodality desired for the whole Church.

The new provision for councils to be held every ten years should help revitalize them. Greater authority is granted to Episcopal Conferences by eliminating the Holy See’s involvement in delegating a lay person to assist at marriages and by introducing a presumption of validity for the acts of a council if the Holy See does not respond within one year.

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Finally, some new examples seek to clarify the nature and role of auxiliary bishops, while, in order to enhance the contribution of emeritus bishops, their appointment to committees of Episcopal Conferences is envisaged.

Participatory Bodies and “Missionary Transformation”

The third and final part of the Report highlights how the Final Document emphasizes the urgency of renewing participatory bodies in order to initiate paths of “missionary transformation.” These are bodies that support the proclamation of the Gospel and the coherence of the life of the People of God with it, and whose function is missionary, not merely organizational.

The “widest possible” participation of the baptized requires institutional forms of mediation, especially within the local Church, as provided for by canon law. These bodies are primary spaces of participation, according to the canonical status, charisms, ministries, and competencies of the faithful involved.

Differentiated co-responsibility values the gifts of individuals for shared decision-making. The synodal process does not remove the decision-making competence of the bishop, the College of Bishops, or the Pope; rather, it incorporates the contribution of the People of God, giving the synodal act a genuinely communal character.

Amendments have been made to Canons 127, 399, 461, 463, 466, 473, 493, 495, 500, 511, 512, 514, 536, and 537. A new norm has also been introduced concerning what is specified in paragraph 10 of the Final Document, with reference to the principle of accountability.