Rights of the clergy and laity/Canon Law

[Denise]

In the midst of the crisis of the Church in the United States in the last five years and also as a result of the challenges placed on the Church by the issues of the modern world, many people, both clergy and laity ask: Do I have rights in the Catholic Church? What are those rights? How can I reclaim my rights as a Christian? The following essay will offer an overview of the rights and duties of the Christian faithful according to the recent Code of Canon Law. The list of rights and duties is not exhaustive and its study will necessarily require a further research of each one of the canons in order to understand their entire meaning and their legal implications in concrete pastoral circumstances.

Let us continue by saying that the communion of all the Christian faithful among themselves and with the Church helps guide the implementation of rights and obligations. Each person is called to respect the dignity of the other and to work together in building up God’s kingdom cooperatively. The following is the list presented in the Code of Canon Law of the rights of the Christian faithful:

1. Christ’s faithful are free to make known their needs, especially their spiritual needs, to the pastors of the Church (Code of Canon Law 212 §2).

2. The Christian faithful have the right to make known their opinions to pastors and other members of the Christian faithful, indeed at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence, and position (c. 212 §3).

3. Christ’s faithful have the right to receive assistance from their pastors from the spiritual riches of the Church, especially by the word of God and the sacraments (c. 213).

4. The Christian faithful have the right to worship God according to the prescriptions of their own rite (c. 214).

5. Christ’s faithful have the right to found and govern their own associations which serve charitable or pious purposes or which foster the Christian vocation in the world, and they may hold meetings to pursue these purposes by common effort (c. 215).

6. The Christian faithful have the right to promote and to sustain apostolic action by their own initiative, undertaking according to their state and condition. No initiative, however, can lay claim to the title ‘Catholic’ without the consent of the competent ecclesiastical authority (c. 216).

7. Since Christ’s faithful are called by baptism to lead a life in harmony with the gospel teaching, they have the right to Christian education (c. 217).

8. The Christian faithful possess a lawful freedom of inquiry to research matters in which they are expert and to express themselves prudently concerning them, with due submission to the magisterium of the Church (c. 218).

9. The Christian faithful have the right to choose a state of life (c. 219).

10. The members of the Christian faithful have the right to a good reputation and the protection of their privacy (c. 220).

11. Christ’s faithful have the right to vindicate and defend their rights before the competent ecclesiastical forum in accord with the law (c. 221 §1).

12. If any member of Christ’s faithful are summoned to trial by the competent authority, they have the right to be judged according to the provision of law, to be applied with equity (c. 221 §2).

Associated with the rights listed above are the obligations of the Christian faithful listed by the Code of Canon Law as follows:

1. Christian faithful are to cooperate in building up the Body of Christ (c. 208).

2. The Christian faithful are called to maintain communion with the Church (c. 209).

3. The Christian faithful are called to lead a holy life and to promote the growth of the Church (c. 210).

4. The Christian faithful have an obligation to promote the message of salvation (c. 211).

5. The Christian faithful are called to follow their pastors (c. 212).

6. The Christian faithful are called to assist with the needs of the Church (c. 222).

7. The Christian faithful have the obligation to promote social justice, and mindful of the Lord’s precept, and to help the poor from their own resources (c. 222).

8. The Christian faithful are to consider the common good when exercising their rights (c. 223).

In addition to the rights and obligations of the Christian faithful, the Code of Canon Law identifies the rights and obligations of the laity who are those members of the Christian faithful whose ministry derives solely from their baptism. They have not received ordination but work within the world for the proclamation of the Gospel. The laity live out their baptismal promises in their everyday lives in a variety of professions and circumstances. The rights of the laity are listed in the Code of Canon Law as follows:

1. Married Christians have the right to imbue the world with their charisms and spirituality (c. 226 &1).

2. The lay Christian faithful have the right to educate their children (c. 226 §2).

3. The lay Christian faithful have the right to freedom as citizens (c. 227).

4. The lay Christian faithful have the right to assume ecclesiastical offices when qualified (c. 228 §1).

5. The lay Christian faithful have the right to act as advisors to pastors (c. 228 §2).

6. Lay Christian faithful have the right to acquire knowledge of Christian doctrine (c. 229 §1). They also possess the right to acquire the fuller knowledge of the sacred sciences taught in ecclesiastical universities and to obtain appropriate degrees (c. 229 §2). They also have the right, when properly qualified and with requisite suitability, to receive a mandate from ecclesiastical authority to teach the sacred sciences (c. 229 §3).

7. Laypersons have the right to decent remuneration when employed by the Church (c. 231 §2).

The obligations of the laity are listed in the Code of Canon Law as follows:

1. The lay members of the Christian faithful are obliged to work individually or in groups to proclaim the divine message (c. 225 §1).

2. The lay Christian faithful have the obligation to perfect the temporal order (c. 225 §2).

3. The lay Christian faithful build up the kingdom by their married vocation and family life (c. 226 §1).

Another section of the Code of Canon Law deals with those who have received ordination to sacred ministry. Both priests and deacons are included in the term “cleric.” Some canons will specifically address priests or deacons regarding certain prescriptions of the law. Those offices in the Church that require holy orders or the authority of ecclesiastical governance are limited to clerics. Some specific offices require that the office holder be a priest. The rights of the clergy are listed as follows:

1. Clerics have a right to appropriate remuneration (c. 281 §1).

2. Clerics should receive the appropriate social assistance and benefits (c. 281 §2).

3. Permanent deacons should receive provisions for their family (c. 281 §3).

4. Clerics are to be provided a sufficient period for vacation (c. 282 §2).

5. Clerics have the right to obtain from their eparchial bishop, after the requirements of law have been satisfied, a certain office or ministry or function to be exercised in the service of the Church (Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches 371 §1).

The above rights of the clerics are attached to the following obligations:

1. Clerics have the obligation to show reverence and obedience to the Roman Pontiff and to their own Ordinary (Code of Canon Law 273).

2. Clerics are obliged to fulfill the duties of pastoral ministry that are entrusted to then (c. 274 §2) and thus foster peace and harmony (c. 287 §1).

3. Clergy are to maintain a bond of brotherhood and prayer with other clerics (c. 275 §1).

4. Clerics are to promote the mission of the laity (c. 275 §2).

5. Clerics are to pursue holiness (c. 276 §1), by nourishing their spiritual life from word and table (c. 276 §2, 2º) and utilizing mental prayer (c. 276 §2, 5º).

6. Clerics are called to perfect and perpetual continence and to exercise due prudence in this regard (c. 277 §1&2).

7. Secular clerics have the right to associate with others for ends appropriate to their state in life (c. 278 §1).

8. Clerics are called to a simple style of life (c. 282 §1), to live a life in community when possible (c. 280), and to wear suitable ecclesiastical garb (c. 284). They are to avoid those things that are unbecoming to their clerical state (c. 285) and not leave the diocese for extended periods (c. 283 §1).

9. Priests are not to run for elected office (c. 285 §3), nor are they to be involved in political parties or trade unions (c. 287 §2). They are not to engage in business or trade without permission (c. 286), nor are they to be agents for goods belonging to lay persons (c. 285 §4).

10. Clerics are not to engage in military service without permission of their ordinary (c. 289 §2) and should make use of proper exemptions for duties alien to the clerical state (c. 289 §2).


Fr. Langes Silva, JCL, JCD