The New Canon Law

For several months past the articles by Father Stanislaus Woywod in the Ecclesiastical Review have informed the clergy of the most important features of the new Code of Canon Law. The same author now gives to the public a Summary and Commentary of the whole Code. As the present volume is published mainly with a. view of the needs of the clergy engaged in the care of souls, the bulk of the book has been kept as compact as possible; wherefore in such places only where explanation and...
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For several months past the articles by Father Stanislaus Woywod in the Ecclesiastical Review have informed the clergy of the most important features of the new Code of Canon Law. The same author now gives to the public a Summary and Commentary of the whole Code. As the present volume is published mainly with a. view of the needs of the clergy engaged in the care of souls, the bulk of the book has been kept as compact as possible; wherefore in such places only where explanation and comment seemed necessary they have been given, and in as brief a form as possible. Chapters which are not needed by every priest have been mentioned only with few words and en passant, as it were. The fourth and the fifth Book have been summed up very briefly, giving the most important points of legislation contained therein. A very complete Index will make it easy to find any desired point of law.We heartily congratulate Father Woywod on the good work and trust that the clergy of the United States will be pleased to find in this volume a welcome means of acquiring the necessary knowledge of the new legislation of the Church.This book was published shortly after the promulgation of the Codex Juris Canonici in 1917. It must be remembered that the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1917 did not replace the previous law, it was merely a codification in one place of the law of the Catholic Church. Canon Law remains constant throughout history, adapting to changing circumstances in those which are adaptable and remaining firm in those which are unchangable, such as the Natural Law and Divine Law which finds its way into the Code of Canon Law of the Church.