EKPOMA REVIEW

The Church in her infinite wisdom gives ample opportunities for the proper reconciliation of souls in situations of danger of death. The last canon of the 1983 Code of Canon Law1 while specifically dealing on the need to exercise clemency in the act of transferring a pastor from the Church he has governed well for some time, remarked wonderfully that nobody should forget the salient fact that “the salvation of soul is the supreme law” (canon 1752).2 This mode of often placing last the most significant word of a sentence is typical of the Latin language from which the present code is derived. Even though the fonts of canon 1752 attribute the source of this maxim to latter Christian authors of the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. like Saints Ivo of Chartres, Raymond of Peñaforte and Thomas of Aquinas, deeper historical investigation reveals that the axiom was already cited in the Twelve Tables of the Roman Law of the 5th century B.C.3 In this Roman Law, Cicero posits thus: “the salvation (safety/welfare) of the people shall be the supreme law”.4 At the end of it all, it is the salvation, nor damnation, of souls that gives God the greatest glory. It would mean, ultimately, that the precious blood, suffering, crucifixion and death of Christ did not end in vain for such souls - most dear to the Incarnate Son of God. If there is a great joy among the angels over the initial repentance of a sinner, then there is undoubtedly a greater or immense joy in heaven when souls are saved.

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