In
Catholic canon law, a canon is a certain rule or norm of conduct or belief prescribed by the
Catholic Church.
Tridentine usage From the
First Council of Nicea up to the beginning of the
Council of Trent, the regulations concerning discipline issued by assemblies of bishops received the name of canons. With the
Council of Trent in the sixteenth century began the departure from this ancient usage. This council used the word
canon for short, dogmatic definitions with an anathema attached to them. On the other hand, it gave the name of
decrees to its disciplinary regulations. The example set by Trent was followed by the
First Council of the Vatican. The usage of Trent seems to bring
canon nearer to the signification it bore before the
First Council of Nicea, when it referred rather to faith than to discipline. The general idea of a decision by Church authority seems to be also the root-meaning of the expressions "
Canon of Scripture", "
Canon of the Mass", "
Canon of Saints", although for the last term Ducange suggests a somewhat different origin.
Authority As to the authority of ecclesiastical canons in the Catholic Church, a distinction is made when speaking of
canons of faith and
canons of discipline, for the former are irreversible, the latter are not. Similarly, canons containing a precept already binding by reason of
Divine or
natural law, cannot be on the same footing as those that are of mere ecclesiastical origin. In general, the
Corpus Juris Canonici declares that canonical statutes are binding on all; likewise that bishops are the guardians of the canons and must see to their observance. When there is question of canons in the ordinary ecclesiastical sense (namely, that which obtained before the
Council of Trent), as they refer principally to matters of discipline, it must be borne in mind that they are neither immutable nor irreformable. The subject-matter of such canons depends not only on circumstances of persons, places, and times, but also on considerations of expediency or temporary necessity. A change in any of the causes which brought about the framing of the canons, will make a change in their binding force, for disciplinary regulations are almost necessarily mutable. In like manner when there is question of the binding force of a canon, it is important to determine whether it was issued by a
general council or by the decree of a
pope, as imposing an obligation on all the faithful, or whether it was framed solely for restricted regions or persons. In the latter case its binding-force is as restricted as its scope.
Abrogation, obrogation, and custom The
Catholic Encyclopedia argues that the object which the Catholic Church has always had in view in
promulgating her canons has been the guidance and preservation of the
clergy and
laity in the duties of a Christian life and in the best methods of ecclesiastical administration. Although, therefore, such canons contain elements of positive human law, yet ultimately they are founded on the
Divine or
natural law. As such, they cannot be entirely abrogated by contrary custom, though their rigour may be mitigated by certain circumstances, on the ceasing of which, the pristine rigour of the canon would be again binding. When they are entirely of human law, they may, of course, be completely abrogated, not only by legislation on the part of the proper authorities, but also by legitimate custom. William H. W. Fanning, in the 1913
Catholic Encyclopedia article states that: According to Fanning, the study of the sacred canons is especially enjoined on the clergy. Fanning speculates that perhaps most of the regulations refer directly to ecclesiastics, and suggests that clergy will find in them the surest guidance for their own conduct and for the fruitful exercise of their ministry in directing the faithful. == Eastern Orthodox Church ==