Restrictions in the Framing of the Canon on the Limitation of the Exercise of the Rights of the Faithful (can. 223 CIC)

Abstract

By taking as its staring point the redaction of can. 223, the article ana­lyzes the limitation of fundamental rights presupposed by the CIC. The correspon­dence between right and duty makes the mention of duties redundant in the § 1 of this canon ; the formulation of this para­graph also leads to a disjunction between the common good and rights which seems contrary to the coherence and har­mony of the juridical order. The critiques relating to § 2 mainly concern the omis­sions of the normative provision. The contribution highlights how the context in which the status of the faithful has been elaborated did not yield an easier understanding of the change connected to the personalistic principle in the ca­nonical order. The caution with regard to the conditions of the exercise of rights and the safeguarding of the respect to authority limit the exposition of the fun­damental juridical status (cann. 208-223). The full maturity of the new constitutional paradigm demands, however, the recognition of the centrality and of the intrinsic value of the iura fidelium.