by Marc and Julie Anderson
mjanderson@theleaven.org
EMPORIA — There are 1,752 canons in the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church, and they govern the sacraments, the appointment of bishops, the building of a parish church and every other aspect of church life.
And while every diocese needs canon lawyers, there should always be at least three.
That’s because canon lawyers mostly focus on annulment cases, serving on the marriage tribunal in the roles of judge, advocate and defender of the bond.
As Father Augustin Martinez, associate pastor of St. Paul Parish in Olathe, and Father Carter Zielinski, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Emporia, are learning.
The two are enrolled in a canon law degree program through Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C. The program consists of online coursework throughout the academic year, with intense in-person summer classes. For example, this fall, Father Zielinski is enrolled in three online classes: procedural law, supra-diocesan structures and Latin III.
While courses focus on different aspects of canon law, both priests said the law’s entire focus comes down to one main point.
“The last canon, or the last law, in the Code of Canon Law tells us that everything we do as canonists has to have as its goal the salvation of souls,” Father Martinez said. “Every single process that has to do with the law in the church is there to help us save souls. And law in the church is ultimately there to protect the right relationships.”
Take annulling a marriage, for example.
“I guess there is a general sense that you can get an annulment anytime you want for any reason you want, and everybody gets one,” said Father Martinez. “But that’s not what the law of the church is there to do.
“It’s actually to give us certainty — moral certainty — of the reality that exists there. It’s not there to make up things or to change reality. It’s only there to establish with moral certainty that which is already the case.”
Canon law, the two priests agreed, is similar to but also different from civil law.
“It seeks to bring justice through its different procedures,” said Father Martinez. “Just like civil law, there’s lawyers involved, canons or laws involved. We have our Code of Canon Law just like civil law has its different statutes. . . . In those senses, [the two are] very similar.”
But canon law, said Father Martinez, is based on moral principles that don’t change, although civil law can change based on the will of the people.
For example, Father Martinez said, civil law could say “all day long [something is] legal but canon law would never do that because it’s against a moral principle.”
The nature of marriage, he said, is a case in point. While the 2015 decision of the Supreme Court of Obergfell v. Hodges legalized same-sex relationships as civil marriages in the United States, the Catholic Church does not, as a result, redefine the sacramental nature of marriage between one man and one woman.
A focus on American law really brings that point home, said Father Zielinski.
“Like a lot of things, [civil law] came from ancient Greece and Rome, through Gaul to England and then to us. So, you can definitely trace the genealogy of the law,” he said. Some things — like the use of Latin, for example — even remain the same. “That goes all the way back to the beginning, even things like common law crimes — the fact that something is evil in and of itself.”
Both priests said balancing the coursework with their ministry is often challenging — but necessary.
“We also understand that this is important for us to do, and this is the only way that we could realistically do it,” said Father Martinez. “Otherwise, a bishop would have to lose us from a parish for two or three years. We don’t have enough priests to do that.
“It’s been a challenge, but a good challenge.”
Father Zielinski agreed.
“CUA does a very good job of building [the curriculum] around a priest’s calendar as much as that can be done,” he said. But that doesn’t make it easy.
“It’s really a grind,” he said. “It’s basically just full-time class.”
Like any other graduate student completing a master’s or doctoral degree, both Father Martinez and Father Zielinski have to write a thesis. Father Zielinski is writing his on the obligations of the pastor in the governance of a parochial school, a topic he’s somewhat familiar with because his parish operates a grade school.
Which leads him back to his principal focus — his parish.
“That will always be my primary focus — the parish,” he said. “Still, it’s nice to have something that I can do to help, as important as that is.”
