Indeterminancy in Canon Law: The Refusal of Holy Communion to Catholic Public Officials

Abstract:     
As a Chapter in a book project, this paper discusses indeterminacy in canon law. Specifically, it considers the question of the refusal of Holy Communion to Catholic public officials pursuant to Canon 915 of the CIC-1983. The Chapter is not intended as an argument about whether or not Catholic public officials ought to be excluded from Holy Communion. Rather, it is an examination of the application of a particular canonical provision and what the disagreement among the bishops over the application tells us about canon law. The Chapter consists of three parts. First, the Chapter identifies the controversy about the application Canon 915 during the 2004 United States electoral campaign and discusses this controversy in reference to the indeterminacy claim. Second, the Chapter relies on two features of H.L.A. Hart's legal theory - the rule of recognition and internal aspect of the law - to explore the validity of Canon 915 in the legal system of canon law. Third, the Chapter discusses indeterminacy and Canon 915 in light of another prominent feature of Hart's theory - the law's open texture. In this regard, the Chapter asks whether the application of Canon 915 is a clear or hard case in light of traditional aspects of Catholic doctrine such as objective truth, individual conscience, and cooperation in evil. Finally, it also considers the possibility of antinomianism and legalism in the bishops' approach to Canon 915.

Keywords: other substantive areas of law, comparative law, legal philosophy

JEL Classifications: K3

Working Paper Series