Understanding ecclesiastical laws: Canon 17 in light of contemporary hermeneutics.

Abstract

Ecclesiastical law as an objectivation of the Church's understanding of its own spiritual and social life, puts itself into the great tradition of interpreting the expressions of human life which is hermeneutics. As the canonical tradition of interpretation of ecclesiastical laws brings to light the conflict between common sense and theory, hermeneutics stresses the dialogical nature of understanding, its dynamic character, its historical dimension as operating within and mediating with the different traditions, and its actuality expressed in application to the present. Some particular results of this research point to the traditional notion of the proper meaning of the words (propria verborum significatio) as demanding the consideration of a larger context which entails various disciplines of the Church's science. Similarly, the reflection on recourse to the mind of the legislator tends to disprove the voluntarist conception of the interpretation of the meaning of laws which equates the search for the will of the legislator with the ultimate goal of the interpretative activity in the canonical realm. The findings on the ground of the particular branches of hermeneutics entitle the A. to formulate an outline of a theory of understanding which incorporates some pertinent results of hermeneutical reflection, valid for the endeavor of interpretation of canon law. The analysis of the process of understanding permits one to maintain that the mutual interdependence and interactiveness of cognitional operations create a kind of hermeneutical circle. This allows the interpreter to discover the meaning of the whole by applying each particular insight to enrich, qualify, and correct the already achieved understanding of a legal text. Moreover, the analysis of the notion of a legal norm together with some ontological presuppositions lead to the concept of an evolutive interpretation. This evolutive character constitutes a particular feature of the endeavor to interpret the laws and guarantees keeping in touch with the requirements of answering the problems of understanding the significance of the law for the People of God in every time and place. To sum up, hermeneutics creates the awareness that the meaning of a legal text is not simply offered to a passive subject-interpreter in any routine procedure, but presents itself as a dynamic and creative reality requiring constant interaction between various subjective and objective, textual and extra-textual factors.