“The Catholic Church and Vatican City State: Due Process on Trial” di Geraldina Boni, Manuel Ganarin e Alberto Tomer (traduzione di Brian T. Austin)
In recent years, the canonical legal order and the Vatican legal order—distinct from one another yet closely interconnected—have been confronted with unprecedented challenges. These challenges, however, do not originate from external sources but arise from within their own boundaries. Within both the Church and Vatican City State, certain recent normative developments in the field of penal law, both substantive and procedural, together with certain practices adopted—particularly in judicial proceedings that have attracted worldwide attention, such as the ongoing case concerning the prosecution of Cardinal Becciu—appear to disregard, and thus place in jeopardy, the fundamental principle of due process and its corollaries. These are principles that enjoy universal recognition and which, in the canonical order—and hence also in the Vatican order, where canon law constitutes the primary source of law and the primary criterion of interpretation—are rooted in the ius divinum, which is absolutely inviolable. It is, therefore, urgent to examine the implications of violating these principles. As the present volume seeks to demonstrate, the consequences are not only grave and disruptive within the Church and the Vatican, but also extend beyond their confines, having serious repercussions on relations with secular legal systems.
Geraldina Boni is Full Professor of Canon and Ecclesiastical Law at the Department of Legal Studies of the University of Bologna, consultor to the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, and president of the Italian Governmental Commission for Agreements with Religious Denominations and for Religious Liberty.
Manuel Ganarin is Associate Professor of Canon and Ecclesiastical Law at the Department of Legal Studies of the University of Bologna.
Alberto Tomer is Researcher in Canon and Ecclesiastical Law at the Department of Legal Studies of the University of Bologna.
Rev. Brian T. Austin is Part-time Professor of Canon Law at the Faculty of Canon Law of Saint Paul University in Ottawa.
Argomenti: Catholic Church, Canonical Penal Law, Becciu, Monetary Agreement, Vatican City