Customer Reviews

A Concise Guide to Canon Law; A Practical Handbook for Pastoral Ministers

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pastoral ministers are faced with questions and challenges every day and the answers aren't always easy to find. Canon law can provide the answers to some of the most complicated questions, but busy pastoral ministers are often too strapped for time for extensive original research. Kevin McKenna's A Concise Guide To Canon Law offers a clear, concise, easy-to-use reference guide to church law that puts the answers into a convenient, practical, "user friendly" format. This hand reference provides a compact overview of the most important canonical issues facing pastoral ministers today. Arranged by topic, it offers a thorough summary of church law and is complete with reference numbers to relevant canons in the Code of Canon Law. A Concise Guide To Canon Law is an invaluable addition to the pastoral ministry reference shelf and is wonderfully useful introductory guide for students of Canon Law.

This book is not only excellent for its purpose, but it is a wonderful example of the way in which such manuals and guides should be done. The format is clear and concise. It has a Glossary which alone is worth the price of the book! There are indexes and sections on frequently asked questions which will also be of invaluable assistance. Canon Law, like any system of law, can be daunting to anyone not formally schooled in it. Father McKenna knows Canon Law. As a canon lawyer myself, this book makes me realize how extensive his knowledge is. He combines this with his God-given ability to teach and explain, and the reader is so much better for it.

I enjoyed this book. It makes a wonderful canon law primer for non-canonists, since it touches upon all the major areas where a pastoral minister will run into canon law in his day-to-day ministry. It is particularly strong with regards to the administration of the sacraments. For example, it lists the prerequisites for being a godparent, when a dispensation or special permission is needed for a wedding, and what to look for canonically when a non-Catholic desires to convert to the Catholic Faith. The book follows a simple format that is easy to read and easy to find what you're looking for.

It also makes a wonderful lecture and course outline for canon lawyers looking to teach a basic canon law course to pastoral ministers within one's diocese. I definitely could have used it, rather than invent my lecture outline from scratch, when in my former diocese I was teaching canon law to permanent deacons and candidates to the permanent diaconate.

This book makes reading about Canon Law very easy. It explains things in everyday language without loosing the relevance of the topic. I found it to be very helpful to a workshop I took.

Canon law is a snap for Canon Lawyers. However, there are many people who work in a parish who are not conversant in this mysterious subject, but are surrounded by people, things, and circumstances which pose questions that can only be answered by Canon Law. Although each diocese provides guidelines for many things like requirements for baptism and confirmation, or who can and who cannot be sponsors for these sacraments, sometimes things get a bit more complicated and when the pastor or priest is not around and the staff does not always know where to find those answers. There are the perennial issues like: when a dispensation or special permission must be obtained to perform a wedding. Going to the actual Code of Canon Law: Latin-English Edition, or using the New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law or the older versions: Code of Canon Law: A Text and Commentary and Code of Canon Law a Text and Commentary, Study Edition, is more frightening for the untrained staff than helpful.

This is a great tool to keep close by in any parish office. It is written by a Canon Lawyer for everyday people. Its Table of Contents provides easy entry to the subject for which you are looking for answers. It offers information primarily on the seven Sacraments, but also on parishes, the diocese, annulments, property and things like the obligations and rights of all Catholics. As the product Description says, it "puts the answers right at your fingertips."

Although this may prove indispensible for a parish staff, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about Church Law. It makes a good textbook for a class. It is a welcome addition to anyone's library who just wants to know more about how the Church administrates itself. It also provides actual Code #'s, should one want to delve into the Code itself.

Excellent little book which gives an accurate overall, simplified version of Canon Law. It is easy to understand and opens itself up to further research if the reader chooses to do so. It is a good resource for all Catholics and those interested in Canon Law.