CANON LAW AND THE QUESTION OF CHURCH ST AND STATE IN THE 21 CENTURY
Pope Benedict XVI offered this observation: “A society without laws is a society without rights. Law is a condition of love.” The legal system that we have in the Catholic Church today is the result of two thousand years of development. Even in the earliest days of the church, it became quite apparent that rules (or norms) would be needed to provide some sense of “belonging” to the group that sought to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Canon law which is the collection of rules guiding the life and workings of the Catolic Church, has evolved over the years. A lot of contemporary questions have arisen given the dynamics of human existential realities of which the church as a human society is not spared.
Keywords: canon, century, church, law, question, state