Canon Law

Although it’s not as common as a personal Lenten penance, it is still very much in keeping with the nature of the Advent season to take on an additional penance for Advent.

Far from static, the Church adapts through law and discernment while remaining faithful to her mission.

In times of unavoidable grief and loss, the Church establishes good, sensitive rules and processes for handling these delicate, powerful moments.

In broad terms, “the Easter duty” usually refers to a fully initiated Catholic’s obligation to make a good sacramental confession and receive holy Communion every year around the time of Easter.
Today, the church’s law does not mandate an “Easter duty” as such.

The Catholic customs of praying for the souls of the dead, praying to the saints who have gone before us in earthly life, and of venerating relics are based primarily in the church’s long-standing tradition and theology rather than explicit scriptural “prooftexts.” However, the Bible does indeed allude to these practices.

A multiyear investigation overseen by the Catholic Church into Archbishop John C. Nienstedt, who resigned from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has ended with the Vatican finding he acted “imprudently” in several instances but not criminally under canon law.

Canon law, communication and a “new mindfulness” of God’s presence can safeguard the sanctity of Catholic churches during occasional secular use, diocesan experts have stated.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a top adviser to Pope Francis on matters involving canon law, denied reports the pope had asked him to draft revisions to the rules governing the preparations for electing a new pope.