Commentary Recommended by Vatican on Canon Law

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Introduction

Canon law is written in Latin. English translations with commentary are available. In June 2004, the Midwest Theological Forum published an English edition of the Code of Canon Law Annotated. His Eminence Julian Cardinal Herranz, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts in the Roman Curia, commented about this text, "I know of no other single resource that offers an up-to-date compilation of the complementary norms that have been promulgated by English language Episcopal Conferences." (See quote in context)

The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts is one of the departments of the Roman Curia. In exercising supreme, full, and immediate power in the universal Church, the Pope makes use of the departments of the Roman Curia which, therefore, perform their duties in his name and with his authority for the good of the churches and in the service of the sacred pastors. (More Roman Curia)

To read an approved English translation of the law itself visit Intra-Text Listed below are poignant excerpts regarding separation and civil divorce. Download this text in pdf

Canon Law

  • 1151 Spouses have the obligation and the right to maintain their common conjugal life, unless a lawful [church law (transcriberÕs note)] reason excuses them.
  • 1153 §1 A spouse who occasions grave danger of soul or body to the other or to the children, or otherwise makes the common life unduly difficult, provides the other spouse with a lawful reason to leave, either by a decree of the local Ordinary or, if there is danger in delay, even on his or her own authority.
              § 2 In all cases, when the reason for separation ceases, the common conjugal life is to be restored, unless otherwise provided by ecclesiastical authority.
  • 1154 When a separation of spouses has taken place, appropriate provision is always to be made for the due maintenance and upbringing of the children.

    • Cases Concerning the Separation of Spouses.
  • 1692 §1 Unless lawfully provided otherwise in particular places [by approved church law (transcriber's note)], the personal separation of baptized spouses can be decided by a decree of the diocesan Bishop or by the judgment of a judge in accordance with the following canons.
              §2 Where the ecclesiastical decision does not provide civil effects, or if it is foreseen that there will be a civil judgment not contrary to the divine law, the Bishop of the diocese in which the spouses are living can, in the light of their particular circumstances, give them permission to approach the civil courts.
              §3 If the case is also concerned with the merely civil effects of marriage, the judge is to endeavor, without prejudice to the provision of § 2, to have the case brought before the civil court from the very beginning.
[Transcriber's note: Civil court's divorce is separation of spouses while the bond remains. Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral law. There is a considerable difference between a spouse who has sincerely tried to be faithful to the sacrament of marriage and is unjustly abandoned, and one who through his own grave fault destroys a canonically valid marriage." (CCC 2386)]

by Dr. Javier Hervada
Annotated Commentary canon 1153
         Blameless, unhappy situations not only fail to constitute reason for suspension of the right and obligation to common life in its sense of solidarity and of sharing, but they also represent cases in which one of the ends of marriage, mutual assistance, must manifest itself in all its width and depth. It is not is the hands of the spouse nor in the power of human judges to suspend an obligation of natural law which has been imposed not only for favorable times, but also for the difficult and painful circumstances of life, when help is most needed from the person who is of the same flesh as the one suffering the misfortune ("[...] to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health [...]" Rite of Marriage 25).
         (Code of Canon Law Annotated. Second edition revised and updated of the 6th Spanish language edition. ISBN 1-890177-44-X. Woodridge, IL: Midwest Theological Forum. 2004, page 897)

by Javier Escriva Ivars
Exegetical Commentary canon 1153
3. Grave danger in common conjugal life (c. 1153 § 1)
         According to c. 1153 § 1, there is a legitimate cause for separation when a spouse makes common life too difficult. Making the common life unduly difficult is a generic expression that indicates a series of varied circumstances, which can make conjugal cohabitation very difficult or impossible. With this expression, the legislator makes way for all those manifestations of cruelty, verbal or physical abuse, harshness, and lack of consideration towards another, that produce a common life that is practically impossible.
         Physical cruelty includes violent conduct and physical aggression against one's spouse or one's material assets, cruel or merciless treatment, through beating, etc. Moral cruelty involves offensive conduct, in word, act, or omission, against the dignity, honor, and feelings of the person, through slander, insults, disregard, etc.Ê For separation due to physical or moral cruelty to be lawful, the following is necessary:
          - it must be grave, such that it makes common life dangerous for the spouse or children;
          - it must be repeated, because if it were merely occasional, it would not create the fear for future common life, which justifies the separation;
          - and separation must constitute the only means of avoiding the danger involved in common life.
         (Exegetical Commentary of the Code of Canon Law. ISBN: 1890177334. Woodridge IL: Midwest Theological Forum. 2004. page 1585)

by Dr. Luis Lopez Madero
Annotated Commentary canon 1692
         "... Leaving aside the prescriptions of particular law on this matter, § 1 establishes two ways of hearing this type of case;
         "1) Administrative: the case is brought before the diocesan bishop who, by decree, gives his decision as to whether the requested separation is to be granted, and establishes guidelines regarding the upbringing and adequate support of the children. ...
         "Paragraphs 2 and 3 [canon 1692] consider some cases where the spouses, after obtaining authorization from the diocesan bishop of their place of domicile, bring their case before the civil forum.Ê Since divorce laws have proliferated in many countries, the need to request the diocesan bishop's authorization is a necessary precaution, which prevents the fostering of [civil (transcriber's note)] trials whose judgments violate precepts of divine law, to the detriment of the spouses and with the risk of scandal to others."
         (Code of Canon Law Annotated. page 1324)

by Javier Hervada
Annoteated Commentary canon 1154
         This canon merely establishes a generic principle without going into the details found in c. 1132 of the CIC/17, since it considers that there are civil effects pertaining to the civil judge, though providing what is necessary for the Catholic education of the children is a Church matter which is within the province of the ecclesiastical judge."
         (Code of Canon Law Annotated, page 897)

by Dr. Escriva Ivars
Exegetical Commentary canon 1151
         "The procedure related to causes of separation is regulated in cc. 1692-1696. Barring anything lawfully provided by particular law, personal separation of baptized spouses can be decided by decree of the diocesan bishop (administrative channel) or by judgment by a judge (judicial channel). The administrative channel is pursued before the diocesan bishop, who will pronounce his decision by decree, in which he must decide whether the separation requested is according to law, and he must find regarding the education and support of the children (cf. c. 1154)" (c. 1151. page 1574)
         (Exegetical Commentary of the Code of Canon Law. page 1574)

by Joan Carrers,
Exegetical Commentary canon 1692
         "However, in other causes, the crises of married life are not due to a defect of marriage consent. In these cases, the solution cannot be a declaration of nullity, but if sufficient causes exist, in the issuance of an act of a constitutive nature through which the ecclesiastical authority brings about a transformation of the obligatory content of the union. Therefore, one is not dealing with a divorce but with the modification of the obligations to which the spouses are bound. .... [In] the case of separation, we are facing decisions, juridical or administrative, of a constitutive character.
         "Since the transformation of the obligatory content of the bond is not limited to the civil effects of marriage, c. 1692 § 1 implicitly establishes that the causes of personal separation of the baptized must be taken to the canonical forum, "unless lawfully provided otherwise in particular places." ...
         "a) In countries that permit the anticipation that the sentence issued in this matter will not be contrary to the divine law, the spouses can solicit the permission of the bishop of the diocese of residence to go to the civil forum."
         (Exegetical Commentary of the Code of Canon Law, page 1898)



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