Is Canon Law like the Catechism?--Chapter Three

During a break at a recent Bible Study, I was talking with someone about married priests and the canons that allow for and validate their sacramental ministry. The individual asked, "Is Canon Law like the Catechism?" I was shocked by her question, apparently she didn't know about Canon Law. Later, however, I was reminded that I too had no idea what Canon Law was back in 1992. Our parochial education was more about The Catechism than it was the internal workings of our religion--the laws that the hierarchy use to govern the church or those that empower the people in the pews. Crossing the threshold into the world of church reform is like being on the inside of academia among the politics of the profession, or being in the political world itself. These are really "other worlds" unto themselves--a different subculture. I didn't realize this when CITI/Rentapriest propelled me into the church reform movement in 1992, but living it for the next four years made me curious about the origin of Judaism's "3-tenet" religion. Because of all the Catholic protesting going on regarding so many issues beyond a married priesthood (divorce and remarriage, women priests, homosexuality, etc.) I wondered if Jews had their own reform issues some years before that might have led to the branches of their religion: Orthodox, Conservative and Reform (plus a few in between), so that Jews with particular philosophies could worship together in respective groups. Somehow, I wondered if this might be a solution to church reform in Catholicism. A good friend of mine loaned me a copy of The Jewish Book of Why (Kolatch) in which I read of a "Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch who believed in harmonizing Judaism with the ways of the world and in maintaining a working relationship with all elements of the Jewish community." He wrote the book The Nineteen Letters about Judaism by Ben Uziel back in 1836, a book that was very hard to find. It, however, was translated into English in 1995 by a Rabbi Elias in Israel. The manifesto is a clever but fictitious dialogue between a philosopher and a youthful intellect challenging the identity and religious belief among Jews, and is fascinating for anyone to read, not just Jews, because these spiritual challenges can apply to anyone. The 19 Letters not only opened my eyes to reform issues in general, but especially how similar both religions are and that many of our Catholic traditions were adopted from the Jewish religion. Since the early Christians were none other than Jewish converts, it makes sense. Some of our similarities include:

• They have Circumcision (bris); we have Baptism.
• They have Bar/Bat Mitzvahs; we have Confirmation.
• The Torah (Old Testament) that is central to Jewish worship is kept in a curtained "ark" in synagogues; in the Catholic Churches, a Tabernacle holds the Communion Host, and both are isolated from the public when not in use.
• We each have a Sabbath, though on different days.
• Vestments are an important part of each religion's rituals.
• We have both have had dietary laws--some Jews still don't eat pork or shellfish; Catholics used to not eat meat on Fridays, now observe the law only during Lent.
• Our hierarchy even wear a Catholic version of the "Yarmulke," a type of cap worn by Jewish men during worship.

Apart from our hierarchical structure which contrasts Judaism's Home Rule, we believe that Jesus was the Messiah, not just another prophet.

There are also major differences between Catholicism and Judaism in the process used to arrive at practical laws for worship and conduct, and this is where Canon Law and our Catechism come in:

In Judaism, great emphasis is placed on the Torah (Old Testament)which contains the Ten Commandments. The Talmud is a written version of the old Jewish Oral Law and is an explanation of the Torah. The practical applications of the Talmud are then published in The Code of Jewish Law, all direct descendants of the Torah. So the evolution of Jewish follows as such:

1. Torah (Old Testament)

2. Jewish Oral Law, based on Old Testament

3. Talmud, written version of Oral Law

4. The Code of Jewish Law, taken from Talmud which is based on Old Testament

The Catholic lineage, on the other hand, is not so clearly defined. Our original "catechism" was called the Didache and was written in the first century of Christianity. (McBrien, Richard. 1981. Catholicism; Minnesota: Winston Press). It too, was an interpretation of the Old Testament; the New Testament had not yet been published. The Didache evolved through the centuries to our current Catechism, the newest 1995 version of which is a combination of the Old and New Testament, non-infallible Catholic teachings and Canon Law, a body of manmade laws by the church hierarchy, first published in 1917 just prior to the first printing of the original Catechism (1918). The evolution, therefore: 1. Old Testament and only a few chapters of the New Testament 2. Didache (original name of Catechism), based on above 3. Catechism and Canon Law were published almost simultaneously in the early 20th century, and were a combination of Old Testament, New Testament and non-infallible Catholic teachings (laws made by the Catholic hierarchy) with newer versions more of the same. So, while the Code of Jewish Law is a direct descendant of the of the oral law (Talmud), a direct descendant of the Old Testament, the Catechism is a conglomeration of the Old and New Testaments, the Code of Canon Law, and non-infallible Papal Declarations. Because Catholics are taught the Catechism, they are not aware of the body of laws that appear in The Code of Canon Law, even though several sections are written to empower the laity (i.e., inviting a married priest to celebrate Mass inside a Catholic Church building when no other priest is available). These appear in Book II entitled "The People of God", part I of which is called "The Obligations and Rights of all the Christian Faithful." The Rentapriest website (http://www.rentapriest.com/) lists the 21 canons that empower the people of God to use married priests without permission from anyone. #30