Of Gratian we know practically nothing. He was a Camaldulensian monk of the convent of St Felix at Bologna, where he taught canon law, and published, probably in 1148, his treatise called at firstConcordantia discordantium canonum, but soon known under the name of theDecretum. Nowadays, and for some time past, the only part of theDecretumconsidered is the collection of texts; but it is actually a treatise, in which the author endeavours to piece together a coherent juridical system from the vast body of texts, of widely differing periods and origin, which are furnished by the collections. These textsDicta Gratiani.he inserts bodily in the course of his dissertation; where they do not agree, he divides them into opposite groups and endeavours to reconcile them; but the really original part of his work are theDicta Gratiani, inserted between the texts, which are still read. Gratian drew his materials from the existing collections, and especially from thericher of them; when necessary, he has recourse to the Roman laws, and he made an extensive use of the works of the Fathers and the ecclesiastical writers; he further made use of the canons of the recent councils, and the recently published decretals, up to and including the Lateran council of 1139. His immenseContents.work consists of three parts (partes). The first, treating of the sources of canon law and of ecclesiastical persons and offices, is divided according to the method of Paucapalea, Gratian’s pupil, into 101distinctiones, which are subdivided intocanones. The second part consists of 36causae(cases proposed for solution), subdivided intoquaestiones(the several questions raised by the case), under each of which are arranged the variouscanones(canons, decretals, &c.) bearing on the question. Butcausaxxxiii.quaestio3, headedTractatus de Poenitentia, is divided like the main part into sevendistinctiones, containing each severalcanones. The third part, which is entitledDe Consecratione, gives, in fivedistinctiones, the law bearing on church ritual and the sacraments. TheMode of citation.following is the method of citation. A reference to the first part indicates the initial words or number of thecanonand the number of thedistinctio,e.g.can. Propter ecclesiasticas, dist. xviii. or c. 15, d. xviii. The second part is cited by thecanon, causaandquaestio,e.g.can. Si quis suadente, C. 17, qu. 4, or c. 29, C. xvii., qu. 4. The treatiseDe Poenitentia, forming the 3rdquaestioof the 33rdcausaof the second part, is referred to as if it were a separate work,e.g.c. Principium, D. ii. de poenit. or c. 45, D. ii. de poenit. In quoting a passage from the third part thecanonanddistinctioare given,e.g.c. Missar. solenn. D.I. de consecrat., or c. 12, D.I. de consecr.
Considered from the point of view of official authority, theDecretumoccupies an intermediate position very difficult to define. It is not and cannot be a really official code, in which every text has the force of a law. It has neverAuthority.been recognized as such, and the pretended endorsement of it by Pope Eugenius III. is entirely apocryphal. Moreover, it could not have become an official code; it would be impossible to transform into so many laws either the discordant texts which Gratian endeavoured to reconcile or his ownDicta; a treatise on canon Law is not a code. Further, there was as yet no idea of demanding an official compilation. TheDecretumhas thus remained a work of private authority, and the texts embodied in it have only that legal value which they possess in themselves. On the other hand, theDecretumactually enjoys a certain public authority which is unique; for centuries it has been the text on which has been founded the instruction in canon law in all the universities; it has been glossed and commented on by the most illustrious canonists; it has become, without being a body of laws, the first part of theCorpus juris canonici, and as such it has been cited, corrected and edited by the popes. It has thus, by usage, obtained an authority perfectly recognized and accepted by the Church.25
Gratian’s collection, for the very reason that it had for its aim the creation of a systematic canon law, was a work of a transitional character. Henceforth a significant differentiation began to appear; the collections of texts, theAfter Gratian.number of which continued to increase, were clearly separated from the commentaries in which the canonists continued the formation and interpretation of the law. Thus the way was prepared for official collections. The disciples of Gratian, in glossing or commenting on theDecretum, turned to the papal decretals, as they appeared, for information and the determination of doubtful points. Their idea, then, was to make collections of these points, to support their teaching; this is the origin of thoseCompilationeswhich were soon to be embodied in the collection of Gregory IX. But we must not forget that these compilations were intended by their authors to complete theDecretumof Gratian; in them were included the decretals calledextravagantes, i.e. quae vagabantur extra Decretum. This is why we find in them hardly any documents earlier than the time of Gratian, and also why canonists have continued to refer to the decretals of Gregory IX. by the abbreviation X (Extra, i.e. extra Decretum).
There were numerous collections of this kind towards the end of the 12th and at the beginning of the 13th century. Passing over the firstAdditionesto theDecretumand the“Quinque compilationes.”Appendix concilii Lateranensis(council of 1179), we will speak only of theQuinque compilationes,26which served as a basis for the works of Raymond of Pennaforte. The first and most important is the work of Bernard, provost and afterwards bishop of Pavia, namely, theBreviarium extravagantium, compiled about 1190; it included the decretalsBernard of Pavia, “Breviarium.”from Alexander III. to Clement III., together with certain “useful chapters” omitted by Gratian. The important feature of the book is the arrangement of the decretals or sections of decretals in five books, divided into titles (tituli) logically arranged. The five books treat of (1) ecclesiastical persons and dignitaries or judges; (2) procedure; (3) rights, duties and property of the clergy,i.e.benefices, dues, sacraments, &c., with the exception of marriage, which is the subject of book (4); (5) of penalties. There is a well-known hexameter summing up this division:
Judex, judicium, clerus, connubia, crimen.
This is the division adopted in all the official collections of theCorpus juris. By a bull of the 28th of December 1210 Innocent“Compilatio tertia.”III. sent to the university of Bologna an authentic collection of the decretals issued during the first twelve years of his pontificate; this collection he had caused to be drawn up by his notary, Petrus Collivacinus of Benevento, his object being to supersede the collections in circulation,“Secunda.”which were incomplete and to a certain extent spurious. This was theCompilatio tertia; for soon after, Joannes Galensis (John of Wales) collected the decretals published between the collection of Bernard of Pavia and the pontificate of Innocent III.; and this, though of later“Quarta.”date, became known as theCompilatio secunda. Thequarta, the author of which is unknown, contained the decretals of the last six years of Innocent III., and the“Quinta.”important decrees of the Lateran council of 1215. Finally, in 1226, Honorius III. made an official presentation to Bologna of his own decretals, this forming theCompilatio quinta.
The result of all these supplements to Gratian’s work, apart from the inconvenience caused by their being so scattered, was the accumulation of a mass of material almost as considerable as theDecretumitself, from which theyDecretals of Gregory IX.tended to split off and form an independent whole, embodying as they did the latest state of the law. From 1230 Gregory IX. wished to remedy this condition of affairs, and gave to his penitentionary, the Dominican Raymond of Pennaforte, the task of condensing the five compilations in use into a single collection, freed from useless and redundant documents. The work was finished in 1234, and was at once sent by the pope to Bologna with the bullRex pacificus, declaring it to be official. Raymond adopts Bernard of Pavia’s division into five books and into titles; in each title he arranges the decretals in chronological order, cutting out those which merely repeat one another and the less germane parts of those which he preserves; but thesepartes decisae, indicated by the words “et infra” or “et j,” are none the less very useful and have been printed in recent editions. Raymond does not attempt any original work; to the texts already included in theQuinque compilationes, he adds only nine decretals of Innocent III. and 196 chapters of Gregory IX. This first official code was the basis of the second part of theCorpus juris canonici. The collection of Gregory IX. is cited as follows: the opening words of the chapter are given, or else its order or number, then the title to which it belongs; earlier scholars added X (extra); nowadays, this indication is omitted, and the order or number of the title in the book is giveninstead,e.g.Quum olim, de Consuetudine, X.; or cap. 6,de consuet.(I. iv.); that is to say, book I., title iv.,de consuetudine, chapter 6, beginning with the wordsQuum olim.
Though Gregory IX. wished to supersede thecompilationes, he had no idea of superseding theDecretumof Gratian, still less of codifying the whole of the canon law. Though his collection is still in theory the chief monument ofTheir relation to the general law.ecclesiastical law, it only marked a certain stage and was before long to receive further additions. The reason for this is that in most cases the decretals did not formulate any law, but were merely solutions of particular cases, given as models; to arrive at the abstract law it was necessary to examine the solution in each case with regard to the circumstances and thus formulate a rule; this was the work of the canonists. The “decretalists” commented on the new collection, as the “decretists” had done for that of Gratian; but the canonists were not legislators: even the summaries which they placed at the head of the chapters could not be adduced as legislative texts. The abstract law was to be found rather in theSummaeof the canonists than in the decretals. Two important results, however, were achieved: on the one hand, supplementary collections on private authority ceased to be made, for this Gregory IX. had forbidden; on the other hand, the collections were no longer indefinitely swelled by the addition of new decisions in particular cases, those already existing being enough to form a basis for the codification of the abstract law; and for this reason subsequent collections contain as a rule only the “constitutions” of popes or councils,i.e.rules laid down as of general application. Hence arose a separation, which became more and more marked, between legislation and jurisprudence. This change was not produced suddenly, the old method being at first adhered to. In 1245 Innocent IV. sent to the universities a collection of 45 decretals, with the order that they should be inserted under their proper titles in the collection of Gregory IX. In 1253 he sent a further list of the first words (principia) of the complementary constitutions and decretals; but the result was practicallyniland the popes gave up this system of successive additions. It was, however, found expedient to publish a new official collection. At the instance of the university of Bologna, Boniface VIII., himself an eminent canonist, had this prepared by a committee of canonists and published it in 1298. As it came as an addition to the fiveThe “Liber Sextus.”books of Gregory IX., it was called the sixth book, theLiber Sextus. It includes the constitutions subsequent to 1234, and notably the decrees of the two ecumenical councils of Lyons, and is arranged in books and titles, as above described; the last title,de regulis juris, contains no less than eighty-eight legal axioms, mostly borrowed from Roman law. TheLiber Sextusis cited like the decretals of Gregory IX., only with the addition of:in sexto(in VIo.).
The same observations apply to the next collection, theClementinae. It was prepared under the care of Clement V., and even promulgated by him in consistory in March 1314; but in consequence of the death of the pope, whichThe “Clementinae.”took place almost immediately after, the publication and despatch of the collection to the universities was postponed till 1317, under John XXII. It includes the constitutions of Clement V., and above all, the decrees of the council of Vienne of 1311, and is divided, like preceding collections, into books and titles; it is cited in the same way, with the additional indicationClem-(entina).
At this point the official collections stop. The two last, which have found a place in the editions of theCorpus, are collections of private authority, but in which all the“Extravagantes” of John XXII.documents are authentic. Evidently the strict prohibition of the publishing of collections not approved by the Holy See had been forgotten. TheExtravagantes(i.e. extra collectiones publicas) of John XXII. number 20,And “communes.”and are classified under fourteen titles. TheExtravagantes communes(i.e.coming from several popes) number 73, from Boniface VIII. to Sixtus IV. (1484), and are classified in books and titles. These two collections were included in the edition of Jean Chappuis in 1500; they passed into the later editions, and are considered as forming part of theCorpus juris canonici. As such, and without receiving any complementary authority, they have been corrected and re-edited, like the others, by theCorrectores romani. They are cited, like the decretals, with a further indication of the collection to which they belong:Extrav. Jo. XXII.,orinter-comm-(unes).
Thus was closed, as the canonists say, theCorpus juris canonici; but this expression, which is familiar to us nowadays, is only a bibliographical term. Though we find in the 15thThe “Corpus juris canonici.”century, for example, at the council of Basel the expressioncorpus juris, obviously suggested by theCorpus juris civilis, not even the official edition of Gregory XIII. has as its title the wordsCorpus juris canonici. and we do not meet with this title till the Lyons edition of 1671.
The history of the canonical collections forming theCorpus juriswould not be complete without an account of the labours of which they were the object. We know that the universities of the middle ages contained a FacultyThe study of canon law.of Decrees, with or without a Faculty of Laws,i.e.civil law. The former madedoctores decretorum, the latterdoctores legum. The teaching of themagistriconsisted in oral lessons (lecturae) directly based on the text. The short remarks explanatory of words in the text, originally writtenThe glosses.in the margin, became the gloss which, formed thus by successive additions, took a permanent form and was reproduced in the manuscripts of theCorpus, and later in the various editions, especially in the official Roman edition of 1582; it thus acquired by usage a kind of semi-official authority. The chief of theglossatoresof theDecretumof Gratian were Paucapalea, the first disciple of the master, Rufinus (1160-1170), John of Faenza (about 1170), Joannes Teutonicus (about 1210), whose glossary, revised and completed by Bartholomeus Brixensis (of Brescia) became theglossa ordinaria decreti. For the decretals we may mention Vincent the Spaniard and Bernard of Botone (Bernardus Parmensis, d. 1263), author of theGlossa ordinaria. That on theLiber Sextusis due to the famous Joannes Andreae (c. 1340); and the one which he began for the Clementines was finished later by Cardinal Zabarella (d. 1417). The commentaries not so entirely concerned with the text were calledApparatus; andSummaewas the name given toThe “Summae.”general treatises. The first of these works are of capital importance in the formation of a systematic canon law. Such were theSummaeof the first disciples of Gratian: Paucapalea (1150),27Rolando Bandinelli28(afterwards Alexander III.,c. 1150), Rufinus29(c. 1165), Étienne of Tournai30(Stephanus Tornacensis,c. 1168), John of Faenza (c. 1170), Sicard, bishop of Cremona (c. 1180), and above all Huguccio (c. 1180). For the Decretals we should mention: Bernard of Pavia31(c. 1195), Sinibaldo Fieschi (Innocent IV.,c. 1240), Henry of Susa (d. 1271), commonly called (cardinalis) Hostiensis, whoseSumma HostiensisorSumma aureais a work of the very highest order; Wilhelmus Durantis or Durandus, Joannes Andreae, Nicolas de Tudeschis (abbas siculus), &c. The 15th century produced few original treatises; but after the council of Trent theCorpus juriswas again commented on by distinguished canonists,e.g.the Jesuit Paul Laymann (1575-1635), the Portuguese Agostinho Barbosa (1590-1649), Manuel Gonzalez Tellez (d. 1649) and Prospero Fagnani (1598-1687), who, although blind, was secretary to the Congregation of the Council. But as time goes on, the works gradually lose the character of commentaries on the text, and develop into expositions of the law as a whole.
We can mention here only the chief editions of theCorpus. The council of Trent, as we know, ordered that the official books of the Roman Church—sacred books, liturgical books,Editions.&c.—should be issued in official and more correct editions; the compilations of ecclesiastical law were also revised. The commission of theCorrectores romani,32establishedThe “Correctores romani.”about 1563 by Pius IV., ended its work under Gregory XIII and the official edition, containing the text and the glosses, appeared at Rome in 1582. Richter’s edition (2 vols., Leipzig, 1839) remains valuable, but has been greatly surpassed by that of E. Friedberg (Leipzig,“Institutiones Lancelotti.”1879-1881). Many editions contain also theInstitutionescomposed at the command of Paul IV. (1555-1559) by Giovanni Paolo Lancelotti, a professor of Bologna, on the model of the Institutes of Justinian. The work has merits, but has never been officially approved.
Though the collections of canon law were to receive no more additions, the source of the laws was not dried up; decisions of councils and popes continued to appear; but there was no attempt made to collect them. Canonists obtained the recent texts as they could. Moreover, it was an epoch of trouble: the great Schism of the West, the profound divisions which were its result, the abuses which were to issue in the Reformation, were conditions little favourable for a reorganization of the ecclesiastical laws. Thus we are brought to the third period.
3.After the Council of Trent.—The numerous important decrees made by the council of Trent, in the second part of its sessions, calledde reformatione, are the starting-point of the canon law in its latest stage,jus novissimum; it is this which is still in force in the Roman Church. It has in no way undermined the official status of theCorpus juris; but it has completed the legislation of the latter in many important respects, and in some cases reformed it.
The law during this period, as abstracted from the texts and compilations, suggests the following remarks. The laws are formulated in general terms, and the decisions in particular cases relegated to the sphere of jurisprudence;Final state of the law.and the canonists have definitely lost the function which fell to them in the 12th and 13th centuries: they receive the law on authority and no longer have to deduce it from the texts. The legislative power is powerfully centralized in the hands of the pope: since the reforming decrees of the council of Trent it is the pontifical constitutions alone which have made the common law; the ecumenical council, doubtless, has not lost its power, but none were held until that of the Vatican (1870), and this latter was unable to occupy itself with matters of discipline. Hence the separation, increasingly marked, between the common law and the local laws, which cannot derogate from the common law except by concession of the Holy See, or by right of a lawfully authorized custom. This centralization, in its turn, has greatly increased the tendency towards unity and uniformity, which have reached in the present practice of the Roman Church a degree never known before, and considered by some to be excessive.
If we now consider the laws in themselves, we shall find that the dispersed condition of the legislative documents has not been modified since the closure of theCorpus juris; on the contrary the enormous number of pontificalDispersion of the texts.constitutions, and of decrees emanating from the Roman Congregations, has greatly aggravated the situation; moreover, the attempts which have been made to resume the interrupted process of codification have entirely failed. As regards the texts, the canon law of to-day is in a very similar position to that of English law, which gave rise to J.S. Mill’s saying: “All ages of English history have given one another rendezvous in English law; their several products may be seen all together, not interfused, but heaped one upon another, as many different ages of the earth may be read in some perpendicular section of its surface.”33Nothing has been abrogated, except in so far as this has been implicitly demanded by subsequent laws. From this result insoluble controversies and serious uncertainties, both in the study and practice of the law; and, finally, it has become impossible for most people to have a first-hand knowledge of the actual laws.
For this third period, the most important and most considerable of the canonical texts is the body of disciplinary decrees of the council of Trent (1545-1563). In consequence of the prohibition issued by Pius IV., they have notDecrees of the Council of Trent.been published separately from the dogmatic texts and other acts, and have not been glossed;34but their official interpretation has been reserved by the popes to the “Congregation of the cardinal interpreters of the Council of Trent,” whose decisions form a vast collection of jurisprudence. Next in importance come the pontifical constitutions, whichPontifical constitutions.are collected together in theBullarium; but this is a collection of private authority, if we except theBullariumof Benedict XIV., officially published by him in 1747; further, theBullariumis a compilation arranged in chronological order, and its dimensions make it rather unwieldy. In the third place come the decrees of the Roman Congregations, which have the force of law. SeveralDecrees of the Curia.of these organs of the papal authority have published official collections, in which more place is devoted to jurisprudence than to laws; several others have only private compilations, or even none at all, among others the most important, viz. the Holy Office (seeCuria Romana). The resulting confusion and uncertainty may be imagined.
These drawbacks were felt a long time back, and to this feeling we owe two attempts at a supplementary codification which were made in the 16th century, both of which are known under the name ofLiber Septimus. The first“Liber septimus” of P. Mathieu.was of private origin, and had as its author Pierre Mathieu, the Lyons jurist (1563-1621); it appeared in 1590 at Lyons. It is a continuation of theExtravagantes communes, and includes a selection of papal constitutions, from Sixtus IV. (1471-1484) to Sixtus V. (1585-1590) inclusive, with the addition of a few earlier documents. It follows the order of the decretals. This collection has been of some service, and appears as an appendix in many editions of theCorpus juris; the chief reason for its failure is that it has no official sanction. The second attempt was official, but it came to nothing. It was connected with the movement of reform and revision which followed the council of Trent. Immediately after the publication of the official edition of theCorpus juris, Gregory XIII. appointed a committee of cardinals charged with the task of drawing up aLiber septimus. Sixtus V. hurried on its execution, which wasof Clement VIII.rapidly proceeded with, mainly owing to Cardinal Pinelli, who submitted the draft of it to Clement VIII. The pope had this Liber VII. printed as a basis for further researches; but after long deliberations the volume was suppressed, and the idea of a fresh codification was abandoned. The collection included the decrees of the council of Trent, and a number of pontifical constitutions, arranged in the order of the titles of the decretals.35But even had it been promulgated, it is doubtful whether it would have improved the situation. It would merely have added another collection to the previous ones, which were already too voluminous, without resulting in any useful abrogations.
4.The Future Codification.—Neither Clement VIII. nor, at a later date, Benedict XIV., could have dreamt of the radical reform at present in course of execution. Instead of accumulating the texts of the laws in successive collections,Demand for codification.it is proposed entirely to recast the system of editing them. This codification in a series of short articles was suggested by the example of the French codes, the history of which during the 19th century is well known. From all quarters the Catholic episcopate had submitted to the Vatican council petitions in this sense. “It is absolutely clear,” said some French bishops, “and has for a long time past been universally acknowledged and asserted, that a revision and reform of the canon law is necessary and most urgent. As matters now stand, in consequence of the many and grave changes in human affairs and in society, many laws have become useless, others difficult or impossible to obey. With regard to a great number of canons, it is a matter of dispute whether they are still in force or are abrogated. Finally, in the course of so many centuries, the number of ecclesiastical laws has increased to such an extent, and these laws have accumulated in such immense collections, that in a certain sense we can well say: We are crushed beneath the laws,obruimur legibus. Hence arise infinite and inextricable difficulties which obstruct the study of canon law; an immense field for controversy and litigation; a thousand perplexities of conscience; and finally contempt for the laws.”36We know how the Vatican council had to separate without approaching the question of canonical reform; but this general desire for a recasting of the ecclesiastical code was taken up again on the initiative of Rome. On the 19th of March 1904,Decision of Pius X.Pius X. published aMotu proprio, “de ecclesiae legibus in unum redigendis.” After briefly reviewing the present condition of the canonical texts and collections, he pointed out its inconvenience, referred to the many requests from the episcopate, and decreed the preparation of a general code of canon law. This immense undertaking involved the codification of the entire canon law, drawing it up in a clear, short and precise form, and introducing any expedient modifications and reforms. For this purpose the pope appointedMethod.a commission of cardinals, of which he himself became president; also a commission of “consultors” resident at Rome, which asked for a certain amount of assistance from canonists at various universities and seminaries. Further, the assembled bishops of each province were invited to give their opinion as to the points in which they considered the canon law might profitably be modified or abrogated. Two consultors had the duty of separately drawing up a preliminary plan for each title, these projects being twice submitted for the deliberation of the commission (or sub-commission) of consultors, the version adopted by them being next submitted to the commission of cardinals, and the whole finally sent up for the papal sanction. These commissions started work at the end of 1904.
Local Law.—The common law of the Roman Church cannot by itself uniformly regulate all the churches of the different nations; each of them has its own local law, which we must briefly mention here. In theory, this lawLocal law.has as its author the local ecclesiastical authorities, councils or bishops; but this is true only for laws and regulations which are in harmony with the common law, merely completing or defining it. But if it is a question of derogating from the common law, the authority of the Holy See must intervene to legalize these derogations. This intervention takes the form either of “indults,”i.e.graceful concessions granted at the request of the episcopate, or of special approbation of conciliary resolutions. It would, however, be impossible to mention any compilations containing only local law. Whether in the case of national or provincial councils, or of diocesan synods, the chief object of the decrees is to reinforce, define or apply the law; the measures which constitute a derogation have only a small place in them. It is, then, only in a limited sense that we can see a local canon law in the councils of the various regional churches. Having made this remark, we must distinguish between the countries which are still subject to the system of concordats and other countries.
In the case of the former, the local law is chiefly founded on the concordat (q.v.), including the derogations and privileges resulting from it. The chief thing to note is the existence, for these countries, of a civil-ecclesiasticalCountries subject to concordats.law, that is to say, a body of regulations made by the civil authority, with the consent, more or less explicit, of the Church, about ecclesiastical matters, other than spiritual; these dispositions are chiefly concerned with the nomination or confirmation by the state of ecclesiastics to the most important benefices, and with the administration of the property of the Church; sometimes also with questions of jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, concerning the persons or property of the Church. It is plain that the agreements under the concordats have a certain action upon a number of points in the canonical laws; and all these points go to constitute the local concordatory law. This is the case for Austria, Spain, Portugal, Bavaria, the Prussian Rhine provinces, Alsace, Belgium, and, in America, Peru. Up to 1905 it was also the case in France, where the ancient local customs now continue, pending the reorganization of the Church without the concordat.
We do not imply that in other countries the Church can always find exemption from legislative measures imposed upon her by the civil authorities, for example, in Italy, Prussia and Russia; but here it is a situationde factorather thande jure, which the Church tolerates for the sake of convenience; and these regulations only form part of the local canon law in a very irregular sense.
In other countries the episcopal assemblies lay down the local law. England has its council of Westminster (1852), the United States their plenary councils of Baltimore (1852, 1866, 1884), without mentioning the diocesan synods; andOther Countries.the whole of Latin America is ruled by the special law of its plenary council, held at Rome in 1899. The same is the case with the Eastern Churches united to the Holy See; following the example of the famous council of Lebanon for the Maronites, held in 1730, and that of Zamosc for the Ruthenians, in 1720, these churches, at the suggestion of Leo XIII., have drawn up in plenary assembly their own local law: the Syrians at Sciarfa in 1888; the Ruthenians at Leopol in 1891; and a little later, the Copts. The framing of local law will certainly be more clear and more easy when the general code of canon law has been published.
Bibliography.—For the texts and collections: the dissertations of Dom Coustant,De antiquis canonum collectionibus, deque variis epistolarum Rom. Pont, editionibus(Paris, 1721); P. de Marca,De veteribus collectionibus canonum(Paris, 1681}; the brothers Peter and Jerome Ballerini,De antiquis tum editis tum ineditis collectionibus et collectoribus canonum ad Gratianum usque(Venice, 1757). This is the best of all these works; it is reproduced in Migne,P.L., vol. 56; C. Seb. Berardi,De variis sacrorum canonum collectionibus ante Gratianum(Turin, 1752); P. Quesnel,De codice canonum Ecclesiae Romanae; de variis fidei libellis in antiquo Rom. Eccl. codice contentis; de primo usu codicis canonum Dionysii Exigui in Gallicanis regionibus(Paris, 1675; with the critical notes of the brothers Ballerini, also in Migne,loc. cit.); and finally, Florent,De methodo atque auctoritate collectionis Gratiani(Paris, 1679), and Antonio Agustin, archbishop of Tarragona,De emendatione Gratiani(Tarragona, 1586); these have all been brought together in Gallandi,De vetustis canonum collectionibus dissertationum sylloge(Venice, 1778). The most complete work on the texts up to the 9th century is F. Maassen,Geschichte der Quellen und der Literatur des canonischen Rechts im Abendlande, vol. i. (all that has yet appeared, Gratz, 1870). For the period between the False Decretals and Gratian, there is no work of this sort, but the materials have been put together and published in part by M.P. Fournier. After Gratian, the classic work is Schulte,Geschichte der Quellen und Literatur des canonischen Rechts von Gratian bis auf die Gegenwart(3 vols., Stuttgart, 1875 et. seq.). Manuals for the study of the sources: Ph. Schneider,Die Lehre von den Kirchenrechtsquellen(Regensburg, 1892); F. Laurin,Introductio in Corpus juris canonici(Freiburg, 1889); Tardif,Histoire des sources du droit canonique(Paris, 1887). Most of the German manuals on canon law devote considerable space to the history of the sources: see Phillips, vol. ii (3rd ed., 1857; French translation by the abbé Crouzet); Vering, 3rd ed. (Freiburg, 1893); Schulte,Das katholische Kirchenrecht, pt. i. (Giessen, 1860), &c.For the Greek Church: Pitra,Juris ecclesiae graecorum historia et monumenta(Rome, 1864); the later history of the Greek law: Zachariae,Historiae juris graecorum delineatio(Heidelberg, 1839); Mortreuil,Histoire du droit byzantin(Paris, 1843-1846); the recent texts in theConciliorum Collectio lacensis, vol. ii.;Acta et decreta s. conciliorum, quae ab episcopis rituum orientalium ab a. 1682 usque ad a. 1789 indeque ad a. 1869 sunt celebrata(Freiburg, 1876). Short manual of Institutions: Jos. Papp-Szilagyi,Enchiridion juris eccl. orientalis catholicae(Magno-Varadini, 1862). For recent canonical texts: Richter’s edition of the council of Trent (Leipzig, 1863); theCollectanea S.C. de Propaganda Fide(Rome, 1893); theBullarium, a collection of papal acts and constitutions; the editions of Cocquelines (28 vols., Rome, 1733-1756), and of Cherubini (19 vols., Luxemburg, 1727-1758), which are better than the enlarged reprint of Turin, which was unfinished (it goes up to 1730). The official edition of theBullariumof Benedict XIV. (4 vols., Rome, 1754-1758) has been reprinted several times and is of great importance; the continuation of theBullariumsince Benedict XIV. has been published by Barberi,Bullarii romani continuatio, in 20 vols., going up to the fourth year of Gregory XVI. Every year, since 1854, has been printed a collection of pontifical acts,Acta Pii IX., Acta Leonis XIII., &c., which are the equivalents of theBullarium. Dictionaries: Durand de Maillane,Dictionnaire canonique(Paris, 1786), re-edited by André under the title,Cours alphabétique et méthodique de droit canonique, and by Wagner (Paris, 1894), has Gallican tendencies; Ferraris,Prompta bibliotheca canonica, &c., several new and enlarged editions; the best is that of Migne (1866), completed by Father Bucceroni,Ferraris Supplementum(Rome, 1899). Articles on canon law in Wetzer und Welte’sKirchenlexicon(2nd ed., Freiburg, 1880 et seq.); Hauck,Realencyklopadie für prot. Theologie und Kirche(2nd ed., Leipzig, 1877-1888); Vacant-Mangenot’sDictionnaire de théologie catholique, in course of publication (Paris, 1899 et seq.). Periodicals:Analecta juris pontificii, ed. by Mgr. Chaillot (1863-1889);Analecta ecclesiastica(since 1893);Acta Sanctae sedis(since 1865);Archiv fur kathol. Kirchenrecht(since 1857);Le Canoniste contemporain(since 1878).
Bibliography.—For the texts and collections: the dissertations of Dom Coustant,De antiquis canonum collectionibus, deque variis epistolarum Rom. Pont, editionibus(Paris, 1721); P. de Marca,De veteribus collectionibus canonum(Paris, 1681}; the brothers Peter and Jerome Ballerini,De antiquis tum editis tum ineditis collectionibus et collectoribus canonum ad Gratianum usque(Venice, 1757). This is the best of all these works; it is reproduced in Migne,P.L., vol. 56; C. Seb. Berardi,De variis sacrorum canonum collectionibus ante Gratianum(Turin, 1752); P. Quesnel,De codice canonum Ecclesiae Romanae; de variis fidei libellis in antiquo Rom. Eccl. codice contentis; de primo usu codicis canonum Dionysii Exigui in Gallicanis regionibus(Paris, 1675; with the critical notes of the brothers Ballerini, also in Migne,loc. cit.); and finally, Florent,De methodo atque auctoritate collectionis Gratiani(Paris, 1679), and Antonio Agustin, archbishop of Tarragona,De emendatione Gratiani(Tarragona, 1586); these have all been brought together in Gallandi,De vetustis canonum collectionibus dissertationum sylloge(Venice, 1778). The most complete work on the texts up to the 9th century is F. Maassen,Geschichte der Quellen und der Literatur des canonischen Rechts im Abendlande, vol. i. (all that has yet appeared, Gratz, 1870). For the period between the False Decretals and Gratian, there is no work of this sort, but the materials have been put together and published in part by M.P. Fournier. After Gratian, the classic work is Schulte,Geschichte der Quellen und Literatur des canonischen Rechts von Gratian bis auf die Gegenwart(3 vols., Stuttgart, 1875 et. seq.). Manuals for the study of the sources: Ph. Schneider,Die Lehre von den Kirchenrechtsquellen(Regensburg, 1892); F. Laurin,Introductio in Corpus juris canonici(Freiburg, 1889); Tardif,Histoire des sources du droit canonique(Paris, 1887). Most of the German manuals on canon law devote considerable space to the history of the sources: see Phillips, vol. ii (3rd ed., 1857; French translation by the abbé Crouzet); Vering, 3rd ed. (Freiburg, 1893); Schulte,Das katholische Kirchenrecht, pt. i. (Giessen, 1860), &c.For the Greek Church: Pitra,Juris ecclesiae graecorum historia et monumenta(Rome, 1864); the later history of the Greek law: Zachariae,Historiae juris graecorum delineatio(Heidelberg, 1839); Mortreuil,Histoire du droit byzantin(Paris, 1843-1846); the recent texts in theConciliorum Collectio lacensis, vol. ii.;Acta et decreta s. conciliorum, quae ab episcopis rituum orientalium ab a. 1682 usque ad a. 1789 indeque ad a. 1869 sunt celebrata(Freiburg, 1876). Short manual of Institutions: Jos. Papp-Szilagyi,Enchiridion juris eccl. orientalis catholicae(Magno-Varadini, 1862). For recent canonical texts: Richter’s edition of the council of Trent (Leipzig, 1863); theCollectanea S.C. de Propaganda Fide(Rome, 1893); theBullarium, a collection of papal acts and constitutions; the editions of Cocquelines (28 vols., Rome, 1733-1756), and of Cherubini (19 vols., Luxemburg, 1727-1758), which are better than the enlarged reprint of Turin, which was unfinished (it goes up to 1730). The official edition of theBullariumof Benedict XIV. (4 vols., Rome, 1754-1758) has been reprinted several times and is of great importance; the continuation of theBullariumsince Benedict XIV. has been published by Barberi,Bullarii romani continuatio, in 20 vols., going up to the fourth year of Gregory XVI. Every year, since 1854, has been printed a collection of pontifical acts,Acta Pii IX., Acta Leonis XIII., &c., which are the equivalents of theBullarium. Dictionaries: Durand de Maillane,Dictionnaire canonique(Paris, 1786), re-edited by André under the title,Cours alphabétique et méthodique de droit canonique, and by Wagner (Paris, 1894), has Gallican tendencies; Ferraris,Prompta bibliotheca canonica, &c., several new and enlarged editions; the best is that of Migne (1866), completed by Father Bucceroni,Ferraris Supplementum(Rome, 1899). Articles on canon law in Wetzer und Welte’sKirchenlexicon(2nd ed., Freiburg, 1880 et seq.); Hauck,Realencyklopadie für prot. Theologie und Kirche(2nd ed., Leipzig, 1877-1888); Vacant-Mangenot’sDictionnaire de théologie catholique, in course of publication (Paris, 1899 et seq.). Periodicals:Analecta juris pontificii, ed. by Mgr. Chaillot (1863-1889);Analecta ecclesiastica(since 1893);Acta Sanctae sedis(since 1865);Archiv fur kathol. Kirchenrecht(since 1857);Le Canoniste contemporain(since 1878).
(A. Bo.*)
Canon Law in England and in the Anglican Communion.—There were matters in which the local English and Irish canon law, even before the 16th century, differed from that obtaining on the western part of the European continent. Thus (1), it has been said that—whereas the continental canon law recognized a quadripartite division of Church revenue of common right between (a) the bishop, (b) the clergy, (c) the poor, (d) the fabric—the English law maintained a tripartite division—(a) clergy, (b) the poor, (c) the fabric. Lord Selborne (Ancient Facts and Fictions concerning Churches and Tithes, 2nd ed., 1892) denies that there was any division of tithe in England. (2) By the general canon law the burden of repairing the nave, as well as the chancel of the church, was upon the parson or rector who collected the whole tithe. But the custom of England transferred this burden to the parishioners, and some particular local customs (as in the city of London) placed even the burden of repair of the chancel on them. To meet this burden church rates were levied. (3) A church polluted by the shedding of blood, as by suicide or murder, was reconsecrated on the continent. In England the custom was (and is) simply to “reconcile.” (4) A much more important difference, if the decision of the Irish court of exchequer chamber upheld in the House of Lords, where the peers were equally divided, correctly stated the English Canon law (Reg.v.Millis, 10 Cl. & Fin., 534) was in regard to the essentials of marriage. By the general Western canon law before the council of Trent, the parties themselves were said to be the “ministers of the Sacrament” in the case of holy matrimony. The declared consent of the parties to take each other there and then constituted at once (although irregularly) holy matrimony. The presence of priest or witnesses was not necessary. InReg.v.Millis, however, it was held that in England it was always otherwise and that here the presence of a priest was necessary. High authorities, however, have doubted the historical accuracy of this decision. (5) The addition of houses of priests to the provincial synods seems peculiar to England and Ireland.
The historical position of the general canon law of the Catholic Church in the English provinces has, since the separation from Rome, been the subject of much consideration by English lawyers and ecclesiastics. The view taken by the king’s courts, and acquiesced in by the ecclesiastical courts, since Henry VIII., is that the Church of England was always an independent national church, subject indeed to the general principles of thejus commune ecclesiasticum(Whitlock J. inEverv.Owen, Godbolt’s Reports, 432), but unbound by any particular constitutions of council or pope; unless those constitutions had been “received” here by English councils, or so recognized by English courts (secular or spiritual) as to become part of the ecclesiastical custom of the realm. Foreign canon law never bound (so it has been taught)proprio vigore.
The sources of English ecclesiastical law (purely ecclesiastical) were therefore (1) the principles of thejus commune ecclesiasticum; (2) foreign particular constitutions received here, as just explained; (3) the constitutions and canons of English synods (cf.Phill. Ecc. Law, part i. ch. iv., and authorities there cited).
1. On the existence of thisjus commune ecclesiasticumand that the Church of England, in whatever sense independent, takes it over until she repeals it, seeEscottv.Mastin, 4 Moo.P.C.C.119. Lord Brougham, in delivering the judgment, speaks of the “common law prevailing for 1400 years over Christian Europe,” and (p. 137) says that “nothing but express enactment can abrogate the common law of all Christendom before the Reformation of the Anglican Church.”
2. As to foreign particular constitutions in England, there are a great number of them, of which it has been and is admitted, that they have currency in England. However papal in their origin, post-Reformation lawyers have regarded them as valid, unless they can be shown to be contrary to the king’s prerogative, or to the common or statute law of the realm. To this doctrine express statutory authority (as the events have happened) has been given by 25 Hen. VIII. c. 19, sect. 7. A striking example of the doctrine is furnished by the decree of Innocent III. in the Fourth Lateran Council against pluralities. This decree was enforced in the court of Arches against a pluralist clerk in 1848 (Burderv.Mavor, I Roberts, 614). The courts of common law from Lord Coke’s time downwards have recognized this “constitution of the pope” (as the queen’s bench called it in 1598). The exchequer chamber, in 1837, declared it to have “become part of the common law of the land” (Alstanv.Atlay, 7 A.andE.289).
3. The particular constitutions of English synods are numerous and cover a large field. At least in legal theory, the only distinction between pre-Reformation and post-Reformation constitutions is in favour of the former—so long as they do not contravene the royal prerogative or the law of the land (see 25 Hen. VIII. c. 19). The most important are collected together and digested (so far as regards England) in Lyndwood’sProvinciale, a work which remains of great authority in English courts. These constitutions are again divided into two classes: (a) provincial constitutions promulgated by provincial synods, usually in the name of the presiding archbishop or bishop; and (b) decrees of papal legates, Otho in 1236 and Othobon (Ottobuono de’ Fieschi, afterwards Pope Adrian V.) in 1269. Canons passed since 25 Hen. VIII. c. 19 have not the parliamentary confirmation which that act has been held to give to previous canons, and do not necessarily bind the laity, although made under the king’s licence and ratified by him. This doctrine laid down by Lord Hardwicke inMiddletonv.Croft(2Stra. 1056) was approved in 1860 inMarshallv.Bp. of Exeter(L.R. 3 H.L. 17). Nevertheless, there are many provisions in these post-Reformation canons which are declaratory of the ancient usage and law of the Church, and the law which they thus record is binding on the laity. The chief body of English post-Reformation canon law is to be found in the canons of 1603, amended in 1865 and 1888. The canons of 1640 are apparently upon the same footing as those of 1603; notwithstanding objections made at the time that they were void because convocation continued to sit after the dissolution of parliament. The opinion of all the judges taken at the time was in favour of the legality of this procedure. 13 Car. ii. c. 12 simply provided that these canons should not be given statutory force by the operation of that act.
In addition to the enactment of canons (strictly so-called) the English provincial synods since the Henrician changes havelegislated—in 1570 by the enactment of the Thirty-Nine Articles, in 1661 by approving the present Book of Common Prayer, and in 1873 by approving shorter forms of matins and evensong.
The distinction between pre-Henrician and post-Henrician procedure lies in the requirement, since 25 Hen. VIII., of the royal licence and confirmation. Apparently diocesan synods may still enact valid canons without the king’s authority; but these bodies are not now called.
The prevailing legal view of the position of the Church of England in regard to canon law has been just stated, and that is the view taken by judicial authority for the past three centuries. On the other hand, it is suggested by,e.g., the late Professor Maitland, that it was not, in fact, the view taken here in the later middle ages—that in those ages there was no theory that “reception” here was necessary to validate papal decrees. It is said by this school of legal historians that, from the Conquest down to Henry VIII., the Church of England was regarded by churchmen not as in any sense as separate entity, but as two provinces of the extra-territorial, super-national Catholic Church, and that the pope at this period was contemplated as theprincepsof this Catholic Church, whose edicts bound everywhere, as those of Augustus had bound in the Roman empire.
It is right that this view should be stated, but it is not that of the writer of this article.
As toIreland, in a national synod of the four Irish provinces held at Dublin before the four archbishops, in 1634, a hundred canons were promulgated with the royal licence, containing much matter not dealt with by similar constitutions in England. In 1711, some further canons were promulgated (with royal licence) by another national synod. Some forms of special prayer were appended to these canons.
In 1869 the Irish Church Act (32 and 33 Vict. c. 42) “disestablished” the Irish Church, sect. 19 repealed any act of parliament, law or custom whereby the bishops, clergy or laity of the said church were prohibited from holding synods or electing representatives thereto for the purpose of making rules for the well-being and ordering of the said church, and enacted that no such law, &c., should hinder the said bishops, clergy and laity, by such representatives, lay and clerical, and so elected as they shall appoint, from meeting in general synod or convention and in such general synod or convention forming constitutions and providing for future representation of the members of the church in diocesan synods, general convention or otherwise. The Church of Ireland, so set free, created for herself new legislative authorities, unknown to the old canon law, viz. mixed synods of clergy and laity, and a system of representation by election, unknown to primitive or medieval times. Similar changes had, however, been introduced during the preceding century in some parts of the Anglican communion outside the British Isles (seeinfra). Sect. 20 of the same statute kept alive the old ecclesiastical law of Ireland by way of assumed contract (cf.Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction).
Under the provisions of this statute, the “archbishops and bishops of the ancient Apostolic and Catholic Church of Ireland” (so they describe themselves), together with representatives of the clergy and laity, assembled in 1870, in “General Convention,” to “provide for the regulation” of that church. This Convention declared that a General Synod of the archbishops and bishops, with representatives of the clergy and laity, should have chief legislative power in the Irish Church, with such administrative power as might be necessary and consistent with the church’s episcopal constitution. This General Synod was to consist of two Houses—the House of Bishops and the House of Lay and Clerical Representatives. No question was to be carried unless there were in its favour a majority of the clerical and lay representatives, voting either conjointly or by orders, and also a majority of the bishops, should they desire to vote. This General Synod was given full power to alter or amend canons, or to repeal them, or to enact new ones. For any alteration or amendment of “articles, doctrines, rites or rubrics,” a two-thirds majority of each order of the representative house was required and a year’s delay for consultation of the diocesan synods. Provisions were made as to lay representation in the diocesan synods. The Convention also enacted some canons and a statute in regard to ecclesiastical tribunals (seeEcclesiastical Jurisdiction). It expressly provided that its own legislation might be repealed or amended by future general synods.
In 1871 the General Synod attempted to codify its canon law in forty-eight canons which, “and none other,” were to have force and effect as the canons of the Church of Ireland. Since 1871 the General Synod has, from time to time, put forth other canons.
The post-Reformation history of canon law in the Anglican communion inScotlandhas differed from the story of that law in the last four centuries in Ireland. After the legislation under William and Mary disestablishing episcopacy in Scotland and subjecting its professors to civil penalties, little attention was given to canon law for many years. Synods of bishops at Edinburgh in 1724 and 1731 dealt with some disputed questions of ritual and ceremonial. In 1743 an assembly of five bishops enacted sixteen canons. A “primus” was to be chosen indifferently from the bishops, but to have no other powers than those of convoking and presiding over synods. He was to hold office only during pleasure of the other bishops. Bishops were to be elected by the presbyters of the district. Such election was subject to the confirmation of the majority of the bishops. In 1811, a “Code of Canons” was enacted by a “General Ecclesiastical Synod,” consisting of the bishops, the deans (viz. presbyters appointed by the bishops in each diocese to defend the interests of the presbyters and now for the first time given “decisive” voice in synods) and certain clerical representatives from the “districts” or dioceses. Future synods, called for the purpose of altering the code, were to consist of two chambers. The first was to be composed of the bishops; the second to consist of the “deans” and clerical representatives. No law or canon was to be enacted or abrogated, save by the consent of both chambers. These canons were revised in 1828, 1829 and 1838. The code of this last year created diocesan synods, to be held annually and to consist of the bishop, dean and all instituted clergy of the diocese. It also provided for the annual meeting of a purely episcopal synod, which was to receive appeals from either clergy or laity. In 1862-1863, another General Synod further revised and amended the Code of Canons. This revised code enabled the bishop to appoint a learned and discreet layman to act as his chancellor, to advise him in legal matters and be his assessor at diocesan synods. Assistant curates and mission priests were, under certain restrictions, given seats in diocesan synods. Male communicants were also permitted to be present at such synods, with a deliberative but not “decisive” voice; unless in special circumstances the bishop excluded them. Canon 46 provides that “if any question shall arise as to the interpretation of this Code of Canons or of any part thereof, the general principles of canon law shall be alone deemed applicable thereto.” This provision was reenacted in Canon 47 of 1876. Canon 51 of 1890, however, weakens this provision. It enacts that: “The preceding canons shall in all cases be construed in accordance with the principles of the civil law of Scotland. Nevertheless, it shall be lawful, in cases of dispute or difficulty concerning the interpretation of these canons, to appeal to any generally recognized principles of canon law.” The canons of 1862-1863 also provided for a lay share in the election of bishops. In 1890 the 32nd canon enacted that the “General Synod” should thereafter be called the Provincial Synod.
The canon law in Scotland before the 16th century was generally that of the continent of Europe. The usages of the church were similar to those in France, and had not the insular character of those in England and Ireland. The canon law regulating marriage, legitimacy and succession was taken over by the Scottish secular courts (seeEcclesiastical Jurisdiction) and survived as part of the common law of the land almost unimpaired. Thus, the courts recognize marriages byverba depraesentior byverba de futuro cum copula—in this last matter following a decree of Gregory IX.—and also legitimationper subsequens matrimonium. But though one of thefontes juris Scotiae, canon law never was of itself authoritative in Scotland. In the canons of her national provincial councils (at whose yearly meetings representatives attended on behalf of the king) that country possessed a canon law of her own, which was recognized by the parliament and the popes, and enforced in the courts of law. Much of it, no doubt, was borrowed from theCorpus juris canoniciand the English provincial canons. But the portions so adopted derived their authority from the Scottish Church. The general canon law, unless where it has been acknowledged by act of parliament, or a decision of the courts, or sanctioned by the canons of a provincial council, is only received in Scotland according to equity and expediency.
The “Protestant Episcopal Churchin the United States” is the organization of the Anglican Communion in the American colonies before the separation. This communion was subject to “all the laws of the Church of England applicable to its situation” (Murray Hoffman,A Treatise on the Law of the Protestant Episcopal Church, New York, 1850, p. 17). This body of law the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States took over (op. cit.p. 41 et seq.; F. Vinton,A Manual Commentary on the General Canon Law and the Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church, New York, 1870, p. 16 et seq.). Much, however, of the English post-Reformation canonical legislation was not applicable to the United States, because of different circumstances, ase.g.a very large portion of the canons of 1603 (Vinton, p. 32). In 1789, a General Convention, consisting of clerical and lay deputies as well as of bishops, assumed for itself and provided for its successors supreme legislative power. The concurrence of both “orders,” clerical and lay, was required for the validity of any vote. Since 1853 a lay deputy to the Convention has been required to be a communicant (ib.p. 102). Upon the American bishops numbering more than three, they became a separate “House” from the “Convention.” The House of Bishops was given a right to propose measures to the “House of Deputies,” and to negative acts of the House of Deputies, provided they complied with certain forms. Similar “constitutions” providing for representation of the laity have been adopted by the different dioceses (Hoffman,op. cit.p. 184 et seq.). Deacons are also admitted to a deciding voice in every diocese but New Jersey, where they may speak but not vote. A great body of legislation has been put forth by these bodies during the past century.
Since 1870, at least, the “Church of the Province ofSouth Africa” has secured autonomy while yet remaining a part of the Anglican Communion. By its constitution of that year the English Church in South Africa adopts the laws and usages of the Church of England, as far as they are applicable to an unestablished church, accepts the three creeds, the Thirty-Nine Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, the decisions of the undisputed general councils, the Authorized English Version of the Scriptures, disclaims the right of altering any of these standards of faith and doctrine, except in agreement with such alterations as may be adopted by a general synod of the Anglican Communion. But in interpreting these standards of faith and doctrine, the Church of the Province of South Africa is not bound by decisions other than those of its own Church courts, or such court as the Provincial Synod may recognize as a tribunal of appeal. The Provincial Synod is the legislative authority subject to a general synod of the Anglican Communion, provided such latter synod include representatives from the Church of South Africa. The Provincial Synod consists of (1) the House of Bishops, (2) the House of the Clergy, (3) the House of the Laity. No resolution can be passed which is not accepted by all three orders. Bishops are elected by the clergy with the assent of lay representatives, subject to the confirmation of the metropolitan and comprovincial bishops. The metropolitan is to be consecrated in England by the archbishop of Canterbury. He now bears the title of archbishop. All bishops are to enter into a contract to obey and maintain the constitution and canons of the province. Canon 18 of the Code of 1870 recognizes the offices of catechist, reader and sub-deacon (Wirgman,The English Church and People in South Africa, p. 223 et seq.).
In the West Indies, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, provincial and diocesan synods or conventions have been formed on one or other of the types above mentioned and have enacted canons.