Canon law presentation focuses on rights and duties of faithful
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
By Mary Stadnyk | Associate Editor
To some, the Code of Canon Law is just a large book containing lots of rules and regulations telling Catholics what they can and cannot do.
In reality, the Code is a rich resource for Catholics in both understanding the Church and their rights and duties as her members.
To help Catholics come to know the Church’s laws that are laid out in the pages of that large book, Father Kevin Kimtis led a presentation on the Code of Canon Law during which he reviewed its history, defined elements such as rights and duties that are designed to guide the spiritual and moral development of the faithful, and offered some practical insights to help Catholics mature in their faith.
When understood properly, canon law serves the singular aim of the Church, which is namely to lead to the sanctification of men and women and their ultimate salvation, said Father Kimtis in the late August presentation he gave on “What does a ‘practicing Catholic’ look like? Rights and duties of the faithful” in St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square.
“Each of us possesses rights and duties which arise from nature, from God, from civil society and from the Church,” said Father Kimtis, a priest of the Diocese who is currently pursuing a licentiate in canon law in Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. “And from each right there is a correlative duty.”
“Rights and duties serve to assist us in seeking holiness, sanctifying the Church on earth, building up the Kingdom of God and pursuing salvation,” he said.
Father Kimtis noted that the Church has always had law since its establishment, and that the law had developed and matured over the centuries. The idea of creating a single “Code of Law” emerged in the latter 18th, early 19th centuries. Pope Pius X began the project which culminated in the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law in 1917. This code was completely reformed and replaced by Pope John Paul II in 1983 and consists of 1,752 canons which cover virtually every aspect of Catholic discipline. Although many of the canons would be of particular interest to ecclesiastical officials, many other canons impact lay Catholics, Father Kimtis said.
Father Kimtis reviewed points contained in Book II of the Code of Canon Law, which talks about the “people of God.”
“In Book II, we get an outline of how the Church thinks of itself today,” and who the members of the Church are; how they ought to act and how they ought to treat one another, he said.
Clarifying the difference between rights and duties and how they pertain to the lay faithful, Father Kimtis said a right is a claim to something which demands the acknowledgement and respect of others. In a particular way, the rights possessed by the lay faithful pertain directly to their growth in holiness and progress toward salvation.
A duty, Father Kimtis continued, “lies in the respect that a person gives to others or in the legitimate demands that a person places upon others.”
Examples of duties would include a person respecting the right of another to live, and he or she cannot violate that right. Another example would be children who legitimately demand an education from their parents for their well-being and development.
Consequently, Father Kimtis said, parents have a duty to provide their children with an education.
“Rights and duties play a role in assisting us in living genuinely Christian lives. God has planned that we are to be made holy and saved, not merely as individuals, but together as a society. Rights and duties assist us in attaining this end,” he said.
Among the more than 100 participants in attendance, St. Gregory the Great parishioner Gaeta Iseicz was particularly interested to learn that there are rights and duties that come with being a practicing Catholic.
“I feel more empowered,” she said, then described how she could apply what she had learned to her participation in the parish’s Lazarus Ministry, which provides outreach to grieving families.
As an example, Iseicz said that when helping family members make funeral arrangements for a loved one, she had a clearer understanding of her “duty” to educate them about what the Church teaches with regard to Catholic funerals and give them the reasons “why Catholics do the things we do.”
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By Mary Stadnyk | Associate Editor
To some, the Code of Canon Law is just a large book containing lots of rules and regulations telling Catholics what they can and cannot do.
In reality, the Code is a rich resource for Catholics in both understanding the Church and their rights and duties as her members.
To help Catholics come to know the Church’s laws that are laid out in the pages of that large book, Father Kevin Kimtis led a presentation on the Code of Canon Law during which he reviewed its history, defined elements such as rights and duties that are designed to guide the spiritual and moral development of the faithful, and offered some practical insights to help Catholics mature in their faith.
When understood properly, canon law serves the singular aim of the Church, which is namely to lead to the sanctification of men and women and their ultimate salvation, said Father Kimtis in the late August presentation he gave on “What does a ‘practicing Catholic’ look like? Rights and duties of the faithful” in St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square.
“Each of us possesses rights and duties which arise from nature, from God, from civil society and from the Church,” said Father Kimtis, a priest of the Diocese who is currently pursuing a licentiate in canon law in Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. “And from each right there is a correlative duty.”
“Rights and duties serve to assist us in seeking holiness, sanctifying the Church on earth, building up the Kingdom of God and pursuing salvation,” he said.
Father Kimtis noted that the Church has always had law since its establishment, and that the law had developed and matured over the centuries. The idea of creating a single “Code of Law” emerged in the latter 18th, early 19th centuries. Pope Pius X began the project which culminated in the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law in 1917. This code was completely reformed and replaced by Pope John Paul II in 1983 and consists of 1,752 canons which cover virtually every aspect of Catholic discipline. Although many of the canons would be of particular interest to ecclesiastical officials, many other canons impact lay Catholics, Father Kimtis said.
Father Kimtis reviewed points contained in Book II of the Code of Canon Law, which talks about the “people of God.”
“In Book II, we get an outline of how the Church thinks of itself today,” and who the members of the Church are; how they ought to act and how they ought to treat one another, he said.
Clarifying the difference between rights and duties and how they pertain to the lay faithful, Father Kimtis said a right is a claim to something which demands the acknowledgement and respect of others. In a particular way, the rights possessed by the lay faithful pertain directly to their growth in holiness and progress toward salvation.
A duty, Father Kimtis continued, “lies in the respect that a person gives to others or in the legitimate demands that a person places upon others.”
Examples of duties would include a person respecting the right of another to live, and he or she cannot violate that right. Another example would be children who legitimately demand an education from their parents for their well-being and development.
Consequently, Father Kimtis said, parents have a duty to provide their children with an education.
“Rights and duties play a role in assisting us in living genuinely Christian lives. God has planned that we are to be made holy and saved, not merely as individuals, but together as a society. Rights and duties assist us in attaining this end,” he said.
Among the more than 100 participants in attendance, St. Gregory the Great parishioner Gaeta Iseicz was particularly interested to learn that there are rights and duties that come with being a practicing Catholic.
“I feel more empowered,” she said, then described how she could apply what she had learned to her participation in the parish’s Lazarus Ministry, which provides outreach to grieving families.
As an example, Iseicz said that when helping family members make funeral arrangements for a loved one, she had a clearer understanding of her “duty” to educate them about what the Church teaches with regard to Catholic funerals and give them the reasons “why Catholics do the things we do.”
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