Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 82 No. 2, 2012.
Original scientific paper
Acceptance Into Full Communion with The Catholic Church
Josip Šalković
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The topic of this article is a commentary of the legal framework of acceptance of validly baptised persons into full communion with the Catholic Church. The foundation of ecclesiastic legal entity is to belong to the Church which begins with baptism as a constitutive act of the incorporation into Christ and into the Church, as the source (not just position) of ecclesiastic rights and obligations. According to Can. 96 of the Code of Canon Law, only the baptised person can fully execute the rights of a Christian in full communion with the Church. Elements of full commmunion with the Catholic Church include: confessing the faith, the sacraments and Church governance (pastoral leadership) (cf. Can. 205). The lack of one of these three elements leads the Christian to a communion that is not complete and perfect and with that »legal entity« and segregation of brothers in canon order is significantly limited. Each person has an inviolable right and obligation to act according to his own conscience (cf. Can. 748, § 2). This means that each Christian non-Catholic, according to his conscience has the right to decide to enter into full Catholic communion and by the same token, each Catholic according to his conscience through a formal act may fall out of full communion with the Catholic Church. The act of choice of each person must not be the fruit of inappropriate proselytism but must be a free and spontaneous decision. Pastoral worker faced with pastoral-legal challenges of acceptance into full communion with the Catholic Church must properly apply canonical framework for reception into full communion ensuring that the ritual is the fruit of ecumenical spirit, dialogue, progress of unity which is bound with Christ's will (cf. John 17:21).
Keywords
Code of Canon Law; person in the Church; Christian; unity with the Catholic Church; segregated brothers; ritual of acceptance into full communion
Hrčak ID:
84380
URI
Publication date:
12.7.2012.
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