Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, told Vatican News “the new norms determine much more clearly when ecclesiastical authority must intervene in the case of crimes.”
“They are more precise and the penalties that must be imposed are also clearer, better determined,” Arrieta added. “In addition, the Eastern discipline has also been harmonized with the Latin discipline in so many aspects, such as the abuse of minors and the protection of the sacraments.”
A total of 23 canons were modified, many of them with the addition of new paragraphs. Canons 1443 and 1449 were replaced in their entirety.
Pope Francis wrote that “the pastors, therefore, reveal their concern when they see to it that the portion of God’s people entrusted to them is preserved within the ways of the Lord; when, out of fraternal correction, admonition, or other appropriate means, they endeavor to correct the behavior of the faithful Christians who err; and finally they use canonical punishments where offenses have been committed.”
“When the pastor acts in this way to avoid crimes and to properly punish the guilty,” he continued, “he shows that he is aware of his duty to love the faithful committed to him.”
“Punishment is primarily the remedy for his healing” for the Christian who has committed an offense, the pope said.
The following canons of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches have been changed and/or added to: 1402, 1406, 1407, 1409, 1410, 1414, 1416, 1424, 1429, 1430, 1436, 1442, 1443, 1446, 1449, 1453, 1456, 1459, 1463, 1464, 1466, 1467, and 1152.
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.
