Vatican official: current Code of Canon Law drafted during ‘naïve’ time

The Vatican official who is helping oversee the revision of the chapter of the Code of Canon Law that deals with canonical penalties said in an interview that the current code was drafted during “a period that was a bit naïve.” 

The 1983 Code of Canon Law was drafted during the 1970s, a time when canonists believed “we are all good” and that “penalties should be applied rarely,” said Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, a Spaniard and priest of Opus Dei who serves as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. 

Because “penal law was not working” in addressing sexual abuse cases, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under the leadership of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was obliged to act administratively, Bishop Arrieta added. 

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI, out of concern for the “integrity and consistent application of discipline in the Church,” gave the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts the mandate to revise the chapter, Bishop Arrieta said in 2010. 

Episcopal conferences have reviewed a first draft of proposed changes.