SOMMARIO: 1. Il disegno riformatore di Giovanni XXIII e le direttive per la revisione del Codice approvate dal Sinodo dei vescovi del 1967 - 2. Un nuovo statuto per i fedeli - 3. Il principio di sussidiarietà - 4. Codice e Concilio - 5. Un cantiere aperto - 6. Un punto di non ritorno.

Codification for the Latin Church. Must we return to the Decretals?

It was during the Synod of Bishops in 1967 that the world episcopate declared their expectations regarding the revision of the Code of Canon Law. They formulated ten principles that should inspired it. Among them, particular attention was paid to those concerning the statute of the faithful and the principle of subsidiarity, critically evaluating the practical actualisation which they then received in the new Code. But, among bishops and the people of God there was also a by far more general expectation to see the very soul of the Council transfused into the Code. The opinions about its actual implementation are quite divergent, also because there is no lack of those who consider the legislative form of the codification poorly compatible with the nature of the law of the Church. However even the most severe critics recognise that the 1983 Code marks a transitional stage of great importance in the life of the Church.